{"id":19308,"date":"2011-04-23T11:15:50","date_gmt":"2011-04-23T11:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.tehelka.com\/?p=19308"},"modified":"2011-04-23T11:15:50","modified_gmt":"2011-04-23T11:15:50","slug":"pop-goes-the-wannabe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/pop-goes-the-wannabe\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop! Goes the wannabe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bollywood may have killed Indipop but a small group of musicians are refusing to give up the dream, says\u00a0Aastha Atray Banan<\/strong><\/em>
\n

\"All<\/a>
All in one Meenu Singh<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nIN OSHIWARA<\/strong>, they still have popstars. The\u00a0Made in Indias<\/em>,\u00a0Miss Indias\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Bolo Ta Ra Ra Ras<\/em>\u00a0have faded out of our lives. We don\u2019t dance anymore to Malkit Singh\u2019s\u00a0Gud Nal Ishq Mitha\u00a0<\/em>or Baba Sehgal\u2019s\u00a0Manjula\u00a0<\/em>during a\u00a0sangeet\u00a0<\/em>ceremony. But in Oshiwara, they still have popstars. Record companies are no longer looking for new talent and music channels are not trying to find the Indian Spice Girls, but the popstar dream has not faded for a handful of singers, many of whom live in this suburban Mumbai neighbourhood. Take Nandini Jumani. A few months ago, 20-foot billboards sprouted across Mumbai advertising Krazy Kool Kat\u2019s new album\u00a0Krazy Kool Kat Been Bajake.<\/em>\u00a0Most people reading this would have never heard of Nandini aka Krazy Kool Kat\u2019s album. As Amit Gurbaxani, music writer and senior editor at\u00a0Mumbai Boss<\/em>, says bluntly, \u201cNot a single person I know listens\/buys\/ watches this brand of Indipop.\u201d But Krazy Kool Kat occupies a small ecosystem of celebrity of her own, with her own screaming fans and her own idea of what a popstar should be.
\nShe has released five albums and performs the songs from those albums all year round in B-town India. In a slow month, she does at least seven live shows in small towns such as Nagpur, Sholapur and Sangli. In a better month, she is touring overseas \u2014 for corporate shows, cruises and weddings. For each show, she earns around Rs 2 lakh. Jumani has an extensive wardrobe of mini jumpsuits, hot pants and bikini tops \u2014 all \u201csensual\u201d, not \u201csexual\u201d, she insists. Her videos (which flit by on Zee and ETC) are raunchy with lots of gyrating and writhing. She largely sings remixes like\u00a0Yama Yama, Kaante Nahin Katate<\/em>,\u00a0Sapera Been Baja Mein Nachoongi<\/em>.
\nFor someone who goes by the moniker Krazy Kool Kat, Jumani seems sane. Her Facebook status messages are unlikely for a steamy video queen but let us say, topical. \u201cI am with Anna Hazare, but why isn\u2019t Kiran Bedi in the public committee\u201d and \u201cBhag neta bhag, Anna aaya<\/em>\u201d. No make-up, except a hint of\u00a0kajal<\/em>, dressed in gym clothes, with diamonds sparkling in her ears, she looks like a Bollywood wannabe who could possibly just make it. But Jumani has already made it.
\nThe scenes at her live shows are more often than not chaotic \u2014 the largely male audience (businessmen, local traders or junior executives) doesn\u2019t hesitate to express their affection for the performer and scream \u201cNandini, marry me\u201d or \u201cKrazy Kat\u00a0bas meri hain<\/em>\u201d . Her lyrics are intended to cause a faint breathlessness. Sometimes her fans do get close enough to even touch her but her bouncers ( \u201cI have 30 bouncers sometimes,\u201d says Jumani with wide-eyed pride) are prepared for the jostling.
\nJUMANI IS<\/strong>\u00a0just one of the handful of practitioners of Indipop who are still splashing around trying to survive the tsunami called Bollywood music. Indipop has been dead and cremated long time ago. Today, record companies ask you to make your own album and a video before you approach them, and you still have to pay them to release it \u2014 the musical equivalent of vanity publishing. Their logic: pop doesn\u2019t sell. Bollywood music rules the roost \u2014 at discos, weddings and even cricket matches. Bollywood killed pop music and, in effect, our many popstars, many of whom got forced into playback (Sonu Niigaam, Alisha Chinai, Daler Mehndi), or into judging reality music shows, and many who just withered away. What\u2019s left are the likes of Jumani who admit they continue to struggle not only because they love pop, but also because they don\u2019t really know what else to do.
\nLike every popstar, Jumani has a story of how her stardom was meant to be. This Assamese girl has an MA in history and comes from a family of professors. She wanted to be an IPS officer. \u201cIt seems so funny I ended up in this profession. My mother was shocked. I did a few ads and then realised I loved the camera. I am shy but in front of the camera, I transform. Maybe because I am super ambitious, and I know being sexy and wearing sexy clothes is what sells. But then what are our top heroines doing as well? I like being looked at when I am on stage. And I am confident of my body,\u201d she says matter-of-factly. \u201cWhat hurts me is that people think I am like my image. They think I\u2019m easy, and don\u2019t take me seriously. I\u2019ve lasted all these years because I took the right steps.\u201d She has been around for six years now and has rock-steady confidence. \u201cI am Kareena and Priyanka rolled into one. I\u2019m the \u2018It\u2019 girl,\u201d she adds.
\nNot everyone is as lucky as Jumani, but that hasn\u2019t stopped them for giving pop a shot.<\/p>\n

As Shefali Jariwala was making a sensation with her blue thongs in Kanta Laga, poor Shashwati Phukan did the actual singing<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Devashish Sargam, who released his first album under the T- series label in 2008 after seven years of struggle, is now waiting for his second album to surface. The 33-year-old Bengali thanks his parents for helping him survive all these years. \u201cMusic producers forget their own days of struggle when they see new people like us. It\u2019s been a hard road. I was going to be a CA but I knew singing was my passion. And I didn\u2019t want to give up. I have been told not to release an album. But I think if you are talented, your album will work,\u201d he says confidently. His first album,\u00a0Bewafa Yaar Tha,\u00a0<\/em>was a hit in small towns because of the one \u201csad song\u201d T-series advised him to sing. \u201cBut my new album will only have peppy songs. It\u2019s called\u00a0Sorry Tujhe Salam<\/em>. Great name, right?\u201d he asks as hopefully as a child.
\n

\"A<\/a>
A shot in the dark Devashish Sargam<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nSARGAM IS<\/strong>\u00a0inspired by the romantic greats such as Sonu Niigaam, Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan. His next album (self-produced), has the kind of music he likes \u2014 romantic peppy tunes with danceable beats. He has composed and written three of the songs in the album. Now T-series will release it. \u201cUsually albums don\u2019t use acoustic sounds but we have used trash cans to give a new texture to the album. The lyrics are all about love and there is a mix of Hindi and English \u2014 that\u2019s what I want to be known for.\u201d Sargam hasn\u2019t done many shows till yet, and doesn\u2019t even know how much his first album sold. \u201cRecord companies will say it didn\u2019t sell anything!\u201d But he is sure he doesn\u2019t want to give up just yet.
\nMuch like Meenu Singh, who released her debut album\u00a0Dhol Vajda\u00a0<\/em>in January. The spunky mother of one sits in her Lokhandwala flat, advising a producer couple about how to make a movie. Meenu came to Mumbai 15 years ago, first to become an actress (she landed a bit part in BR Chopra\u2019s\u00a0Mahabharat<\/em>), then got married. She had always loved writing, so she started by writing a song for singer Bali Brahmbhatt. Soon, she found herself writing hit songs for Daler Mehndi and Mika. But Meenu couldn\u2019t ignore that nagging feeling inside her. \u201cI always wanted to be famous. Money doesn\u2019t matter but I wanted to be in front of the camera.\u201d And so, she decided to release her own album, which she has produced, financed, composed music and written lyrics for. \u201cI even made my own video and then T-series released it.\u201d In her hip-hop styled video, Meenu has lots of bling and fur. One song goes\u00a0\u201cIndia ho ya London shondon ya ho Amrika, bin tere sanu na sanu lagda sab hai fika fika\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 lyrics she describes as \u201celegant\u201d. She describes her style in a marvellously simple way: \u201cI look like a foreigner.\u201d She would rather perform in the UK than India and will keep releasing albums till she has the money to do it. \u201cIt\u2019s my passion and I am just getting started.\u201d
\n
\"Crooning<\/a>
Crooning queen<\/strong> Nandini Jumani aka Krazy Kool Kat<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nBut not everyone has the money or indulgent parents to fund their dreams. Live performer George, who has been dancing and singing Bollywood and Punjabi hits for eight years, is a steward in an airline. The Delhi boy says he is ready for the struggle. \u201cI\u2019m trying to save enough money to try and release an album. I do live shows whenever I can and my friends help me get corporate events. And thanks to my cabin crew training, I am super confident. It\u2019s a very tough industry and I shouldn\u2019t even be wasting my time. But singing and performing is my passion. I am an artiste. Where do you go when that\u2019s your scene?\u201d
\nAN UNEXPECTED\u00a0<\/strong>twist. Krazy Kool Kat, the It girl of B-grade pop, informs us she doesn\u2019t sing her own songs. She lipsyncs. \u201cI don\u2019t sing my songs but I do decide what songs we should remix as well as the styling of a video. While we process this information, she defends herself, \u201cBut I sell the album. Everyone wants to see a beautiful girl. I do feel bad for the singers, though,\u201d she rues in her soft voice and then flashes a brilliant smile. She lipsyncs. So who sings her songs?
\nEnter Shashwati Phukan. Thirty four- year-old Phukan is the singer of many remixed Indipop songs, but nobody knows she even sung them. She has sung many of Krazy Kool Kat\u2019s songs. What you will remember is the sensation- causing video of \u00a0Kanta Laga<\/em>\u00a0with Shefali Jariwala. While Shefali was making a sensation with her blue thongs, poor Phukan did all the singing. As she says sadly, \u201cBeing beautiful is very important here. If you are not stunning, well you can sing as well as anyone fipossibly can, but you will get nowhere.\u201d The Assamese singer, who has been in Mumbai for 15 years now, sees no point giving money to record companies. She\u2019d rather wait it out. \u201cMy husband is a programmer and one day we will release an album,\u201d she smiles.
\nJUMANI WOULD<\/strong>\u00a0be considered a Bgrade performer by most. Many industry insiders were horrified they would be featured in a piece that even mentioned Jumani. The Indipop industry itself is confused about how it got to this point. For instance, popstar-turnedplayback singer KK says, \u201cPop music needs to get back its lost glory.\u201d On the other hand, KK also says that real popstars like him and Alisha Chinai were absorbed by the playback industry because they were talented and lucky. Jumani and the second rung, he surmises, just can\u2019t break into playback singing.
\nTulsi Kumar is 25 and strangely placed in this strange world. The hip, young daughter of the late Gulshan Kumar, and a part of the T-series empire says, yes, Bollywood music is the only kind of music lucrative for record companies to sell. Yes, you could blame the radio, which gave no air time to pop songs. And audiences so star-struck that a song or video without Shah Rukh doesn\u2019t work for them.
\nTulsi loves pop but can\u2019t see a revenue model in it. \u201cI took the reverse route. I did Bollywood singing first and then released an album as I didn\u2019t want people to say \u2018she released an album only because she can\u2019,\u201d she says, \u201cbut even that didn\u2019t work. We just released around 36,000 copies, and that\u2019s a very average show. People told me I should have had a star in my video and then maybe it would have worked. But is that what pop music has been reduced to?\u201d
\nTulsi went back to playback. She has faint but damning praise for other pop wannabes. Much like KK. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to break into Bollywood. Playback is cut-throat competition. So it\u2019s great they are doing what they can to make their living. I am not planning to release an album anytime soon but will try and introduce the single concept in India. I hope it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meenu Singh has produced, financed, composed music and lyrics for her album. She says she\u2019d rather perform in the UK than India<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Harmeet Singh, part of the production duo Meet Brothers, who gave music for\u00a0Do Dooni Chaar<\/em>, has been on the Indipop bandwagon for a long time now. You may remember them from their super hit song, Mika\u2019s\u00a0Aye Bhai\u00a0<\/em>Tune Pappi Kyun Li, inspired by Mika\u2019s real life kiss episode with Rakhi Sawant. Harmeet is completely dismissive of the genre now but he is also one of the few people who get what drives the pop wannabes. \u201cHonestly, pop is dead and in the coffin now. I blame it on piracy, free radio, MP3 formats and the Internet. Why these guys are still surfacing is because they have a\u00a0keeda<\/em>,\u201d he laughs. \u201cThey need to be out there. But I advise all my brothers and sisters who want to be in pop music, don\u2019t do it. And if you do, have a back-up profession to rely on.\u201d
\nThat is something Jumani and gang knows well. But as Harmeet also pointed out, the\u00a0keeda\u00a0<\/em>is an itch you just can\u2019t ignore. \u201cThe camera and I have a relationship,\u201d says Jumani, \u201cI can\u2019t even imagine not being in front of it. I love seeing myself on tape. I dance in front of people and see them go mad about me, what more can I ask for?\u201d Meenu answers in a dreamy tone, \u201cI was tired of my songs being sung by different popstars but I got none of the starlight. I\u2019ll repeat it again: I want to be famous.\u201d
\nAastha Atray Banan is a Senior Correspondent in Mumbai with Tehelka.<\/em>
\naastha@tehelka.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bollywood may have killed Indipop but a small group of musicians are refusing to give up the dream, says\u00a0Aastha Atray Banan IN OSHIWARA, they still have popstars. The\u00a0Made in Indias,\u00a0Miss Indias\u00a0and\u00a0Bolo Ta Ra Ra Ras\u00a0have faded out of our lives. We don\u2019t dance anymore to Malkit Singh\u2019s\u00a0Gud Nal Ishq Mitha\u00a0or Baba Sehgal\u2019s\u00a0Manjula\u00a0during a\u00a0sangeet\u00a0ceremony. But in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":19313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[56],"tags":[5725,5863,5864,5865,5866,5867,412,5868,5869,5870,600,5871,5872,5873,5874,5875,5876,5877,5878,5879,5880,5881,5882,5883,5884,5885,5886,5887,5888,5889,5890,5891,5892,5893,5894,5895,5896,5897,5898,5899],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}