3 Independent Musicians Too Good For Bollywood Playback

Jul 28, 20203 min read

|By- Alok Parekh|

Music, one of the most boundless subjects to talk about, often becomes the most debatable topic amongst you and your friends. ‘Bhai kya faltu gaana baja raha hai yaar!’ or ‘Abey iske haath se phone lelo yaar koi’ are some of the most commonly heard sentences by y’all, isn’t it? This is maybe because some of you like indie music while your friends like songs from films. Had I conducted any polls for the same, which one do you think would have been the winner? To be honest, both of them have many gifted and adroit singers and of course, each one of them has incredible fan following. Now do you really think that any comparisons can be made here?

Well, now I think I might have already become a reason for many upcoming debates! So to keep myself safe, I think I must justify what I’ve said above. Let us all dive a little deeper into this and talk about some of the indie artists. All of us have already heard or read enough about them, but most importantly, let us talk about their noteworthy contributions in this masked category of music.

1) Prateek Kuhad:

Kuhad, who released his debut album In Tokens And Charms in 2015, earned an MTV Europe Music Award, Indie Album of the Year honours from iTunes and many more. Apart from this, he also achieved first place in the prestigious International Songwriting Competition. For an independent artist, or any artist for that matter, receiving as many awards is truly a great achievement. It was after then, that he started receiving international recognition and performed all over the world. His albums and EPs have made him a hot topic for discussion among the masses. He has also contributed to some bollywood songs like Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan from the movie ‘Baar Baar Dekho’. This, and one of his albums Cold mess are two of my favorites by him.

2) Darshan Raval:

Darshan, one of the most preferred songwriter, composer, singer and actor among the public, he started his music journey with his first performance at the reality show India’s Raw Star from where he emerged as the first runner up. His first ever indie song was Meri Pehli Mohabbat during this show due to which he gained popularity and people came to know about him. He too, has sung for many bollywood movies like Loveyaatri and Mitron with hits like Chhogaada and Kamariya. He became more famous after his singles like Tera Zikr and Asal mein. After the release of his latest song Ek Tarfa, he is recognized as a very soulful singer. Almost all of his singles have remained trending for many days after their release. Ek Tarfa and Chogada will always remain my favourites.

3) Sona Mohapatra:

A perfect example showing that women are no less than men no matter what is the task and irrespective of the field they are working in. Her debut album Sona was released in 2007 and her first few singles Diljale and ‘Paas Aao Naa in 2009. However, people came to know about her from the show Satyameva Jayate where she appeared as a lead singer and performer and gave hit theme songs like Mujhe kya bechega rupaiya and Ghar yaad aata hain mujhe. It was after the show that people started recognizing her. Her appreciable contribution in the bollywood industry has resulted in increasing fame and people have also started following her work. Some of her songs like Ambarsariya from film Fukrey is my favourite. Her single Tori Surat has got all my attention.

There are many more indie artists who are better than some Bollywood singers. Bollywood is more inclined towards remaking old melodies and just ruining them and the memories people cherish with those songs? I would definitely never compare the two. Now it’s your turn to understand that both are equally important and pleasing to our ears.