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CRAIG'S CALL

Rock to chew on

Aasma rocked the music world with a foot tapping `Chandu ke chacha'. Now, they are inventing new sounds

SKY IS THE LIMIT Aasma has set its sights on Bollywood numbers Photo: Anu Pushkarna

Aasma's first time rocker Chandu ke Chacha made people Get up, Get up and Dance. Three years down the line, the now mature artistes and performers, Jimmy Felix from Jaipur, Neeti Mohan from Delhi, Sangeet Haldipur from Mumbai and Vasudha Sharma from Delhi feel it's their ability to gel with one another that has made them rock.

Composition, originality, Bollywood songs, remixes, live shows... a lot seems to be on their mind. In the city recently to perform at VJTI Institute of Technology, they set the place on fire with different genres from Tumse he pyaar karna hai, to Ban ja mere balma, to Rubabru, from the Rang de Basanti to the hip and happening Kajarare and finally building up the crescendo with Chandu ke Chacha Ne Chandu ke Chachi.

Now they have set their eyes on Bollywood numbers with one music video of a yet to be released film Mirror that has been composed and sung by them.

"We will have to find our own path," says philosophy graduate Neeti, the lady who was chosen by dance as she puts it. What makes them stage pyromaniacs is not their songs but their inner harmony. "None of us has ever done that consciously, whatever we do on stage is what we are," explains Jimmy.

Vasudha, youngest and a maniacal lyricist, says, "It also has to do with our relationship with each other, and the kind of space we give to each other."

What about egos?

After all artistes are known to be sensitive folks with massive egos and in a field as competitive as music what makes them stay together? "I think the bigger picture we have in mind is that of Aasma," says Vasudha, and Sangeet pitches in: "I think Aasma itself is an ego. And now that we have moved out of Channel V contract, we want to explore the industry," says Sangeet, the musical backbone and pianist.

And how has the reality been for them? "You see a lot of others in similar situations, it makes it tough. But at the end of the day, whatever songs are done, true talent lasts," adds Jimmy.

"Till now we have been singing someone else's numbers. Now, we want to bring out a new album that will have a distinct Aasma identity," says Sangeet. "The new album will have high energy, , lots of acoustics, lots of drums, piano, lots of hip, hop and will have appealacross generations," promises Jimmy.

PUJA. S. NAVIN

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