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Invasion of desi Vikings
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Neeraj Sridhar of Bombay Vikings fame on music, Bollywood and more
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Many other singers from England are today trying to do the same thing I did many years back Neeraj Sridhar
ON A HIGH: Neeraj Sridhar in New Delhi Photo: S. SUBRAMANIUM
Once upon a time, Neeraj Sridhar worked at McDonalds as a youngster raking in that wee-bit of extra moolah to support his weekends, back in Stockholm, Sweden. A lot has changed since then. For one, McDonalds forayed into the Indian market some years back. Meantime, Neeraj took his passion for music seriously enough to launch himself in the country of his origin with the musical sensation "Bombay Vikings". A clever name to begin with, for it neatly holds the idea of his cocktail identity while indicating the kind of music the group plays.
Well, the hybridisation does not stop at their music, for the menu card of McDonalds was radically altered too (it reads like mcaloo tikki burger) after a period of early resistance from Indian foodies.
`Remaking'
But `remix' is a word Bombay Vikings apparently doesn't have anything to do with. "We are remaking oldies, not remixing them. Our younger generation living overseas need to be familiarised with our Indian melodies, and for them to accept it, it needs to be remade. Nothing's wrong with that," says Neeraj.
Bombay Vikings began its musical journey around 1995 when the still-rocking "Kya soorat hai..." was released. "I think Bally Sagoo and I brought in new sounds." Perhaps they should be put behind bars for that, he suggests, because now they have to live with the "agony" that these early experiments spawned. For over a musical decade, Bombay Vikings has released many albums and videos, all boasting a decent sale record on the marquee. Primarily recognised as the singer of remixes like "Woh chali..", "Hawa mein udata jaye... ", "Angel eyes... " and more recently, "Chod do aanchal..", the group has been imparting "lessons" in Hindi oldies, their self-imposed duty, and promoting the language alongside. "Some years back, when I was performing in South Africa, some children had prepared a song for me in Hindi. I thought that was amazing," relates Neeraj.
Though not wishing to sound like "a big daddy at all," Neeraj believes his treatment of older melodies is much different from others in the industry. "Many other singers from England are today trying to do the same thing I did many years back," he says. Coming from an advertising background in Stockholm, Neeraj showed early promise as a musician even without formal training. "David Coverdale, Led Zeppelin, Bad Company... it was rock I began with but soon moved to Hindi as well."
Bollywood can wait
As far as breaking into the Hindi film industry goes, Bombay Vikings will wait till something really decent comes along. "It has only been six months since I have moved to India. Talks are on but I am not in a hurry. Right now, I am experimenting with English lyrics more freely," comes his reply. Hoping this time some original melodies may also surface along the churning out of many older compositions.
ATIKA RAO
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