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Photo: K. Gopinathan

Silver tongue Nikhil Chinnappa

He’s always on the move. Going from one party to another, going from one city to the other, from Ibiza to London, and DJ-ing, VJ-ing or RJ-ing.

Nikhil Chinnappa is like a cat on hot coals. And the hot coals here, is music. He catches up on sleep mostly on his flights, because most days he’s partying till 5 a.m. “My life is in transit.”

With a job that’s every teen’s dream, this MTV VJ from Bangalore is never at a loss for words and answers. Right now he is busy with Sunburn 2007 (December 28 and 29 in Goa), which will be the first of its kind electronic music party with international participants.

“There’s been a huge amount of interest in Sunburn. People who’ve come to know of it have been cancelling plans to go to Thailand and Sri Lanka to be in Goa.” A week ago he celebrated the first anniversary of Submerge, a platform that Nikhil and girlfriend and fellow-VJ Pearl started off in 2003. It has revolutionised the clubbing music scene in India.

Tired of the same old music playing at most clubs, DJs got together to play the music they wanted to – the best and cutting edge house and progressive music from the global scene, that was hot off the press and not many had the privilege to hear yet. “You can see from the website ( www.submerge.in) that there’s a strong sense of community… people are making friends that last beyond the dance floor.”

He says there aren’t too many people in India who understand this music. “I don’t want the whole world to be listening to this music… different music means different things to people. I don’t want to shove it down people’s throats if they don’t like it.” But he insists that if you haven’t really heard it, at least come and give it a listen.

And to the uninitiated, Nikhil explains that house music is essentially dance music played in clubs all over the world. “It’s that dhin-chak-dhin-chak music? It actually has four beats that give it that sound – four kick drums and four high-hatchets. Dance music has changed dramatically the world over.

People now dance for the music and with the music. It’s not necessary to have a partner. Long ago when I had once danced on the floor alone, I was looked down upon as a loser and a stag on the floor. I know it’s almost sounding evangelistic as I talk like this…” he trails off .

Nikhil Chinnappa hasn’t tired in 10 years of VJing and DJing. “I have found ways to entertain myself. It will be naïve of me to tell others ‘Find an interesting job’ but you need to find a sense of balance. I lead an extraordinarily hedonistic life and I love it,” he declares.

A scuba diving freak, he’s completed 49 dives and wants to start a scuba diving school. He’d love to fly a plane before he dies.

He wants to start an Internet-based business to sell single tracks and not entire albums on the Net (therefore cheaper), encouraging people to pay for their music, cutting down piracy.

And what’s Nikhil the actor doing? “Nothing,” he says vociferously. “I’m not an actor. I attempted it for friends…But I have no Bollywood aspirations.” Isn’t VJing also about acting? “No, it’s a lot to do with communicating. Of course it does work as a stepping stone for some people to become actors.”

Nikhil is now also back to his first love – radio. He’s doing a show on Radio One in Mumbai, and is also exploring opportunities to start a radio station with a friend in the Maldives. And what has he to say of the RJs? A deep sigh and distraught “No comments” follows. “I don’t know which school they went to… but they seem to think talking in a singsong manner is good!” Exasperation.

So where did he learn to VJ? “It came from listening to people… that’s when you’ll know when to keep quiet.”

The public Nikhil is talkative because that’s when he’s supposed to talk; but the private Nikhil is very quiet, he insists. Even when he’s with Pearl. “The best quality of a show host is to know when to shut up.”

BHUMIKA K

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