The Year Of Changes For Indian Independent Music

This year, the burgeoning music scene in India saw a revolutionary and contrasting change. Also, new music festivals were established. Many of our favorite indie bands released their albums. International artists toured India. Also, because of this, cities opened up venues exclusively catering to music. And most importantly, the people of the country started truly recognizing the talent rather than just Bollywood. Hence, a never-seen-before following for indie bands was seen.

So much so, that top Bollywood artists have gone back to their roots and released independent music as a result. The following are 6 Bollywood artists that went Indie in 2017

1. Shankar Mahadevan – My Country, My Music

First of all, Shankar Mahadevan has always appealed to the young and urbane India, with music that transcends boundaries. Similarly, both as a prolific singer and as a part of the musical powerhouse of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, he has set a high bar for musical composition and performance. Earlier this year, Shankar announced his plans for the multi-lingual music saga project – My Country, My Music. His vision is to focus on the rich and diverse musical heritage, hence, by collaborating with masters of folk music of our country on one stage. The singer explains to Mail Today. "'My Country, My Music' is about bringing music in languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Marathi together. It's about bringing musical genres together different scenarios in which music is displayed  in one show. There is not even a single show in the country which encapsulates all the art forms of music, folk songs, Bollywood songs."

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In addition to the various cities within India, Shankar has plans of taking the show abroad as well. Most of all, the singer also wishes to turn the stage show into an album and consequently collaborate with more artists.

2. Shaan – Surilee

The poster boy of Indie music in India who went on to have a successful Bollywood career, Shaan also announced that he planned to release a lot of music as a result of the digital platform uprising in India. Hence, a prime example of this was Surilee, released this year through Gaana Originals. Above all, the titular song video took viewers back 2 decades, crooning the alongside the singer who brought us some great Bollywood hits like “Don” and also “Behti Hawa Sa tha woh”

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEq-ssoPar4 [/embedyt]

The Tanha Dil singer-songwriter expressed to Hindustan Times, “Youngsters today have an easy access to internet and are mostly on their smartphones. They consume most of the content digitally and watch music videos on Youtube. Because of this,  I think artists should focus on it”

3. Sunidhi Chauhan – 2017 AIBA Youth Women’s Boxing Championship Theme Song

In a surprise entry in this list, our very own Saregamapa darling Sunidhi Chauhan, lent her voice to the Theme Song of the 2017 AIBA Youth Women’s Boxing Championship Theme song.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8zjE4QP8yo [/embedyt]

In association with Spicejet and also the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), Sunidhi Chauhan delivered her signature power vocals brought to life by Kunwar Juneja’s lyrics under the mentorship of Shaan. Furthermore,  the anthem is high on youthfulness, power, energy, fun and inspiration and revolves around the participants of the AIBA Youth Women’s World Boxing Championship and also AIBA legend and brand ambassador of the championship,  MC Mary Kom.

4. Sonu Nigam – KSHMR Collaboration

After being in the news for the most interesting of reasons, the Bollywood voice king Sonu Nigam collaborated this year, with the Indo-American DJ, Recording artist and producer Niles Hollowell-Dhar A.K.A KSHMR for the new single “Underwater”.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnKvKo7VJqk [/embedyt]

The song sees Sonu Nigam in a maybe never-seen-before avatar in an electronic dance video, though there is a lot of familiarity in his voice to be heard by his die-hard fans.

5. Namami Brahmaputra – Everyone

This list would not be complete without a mention of Namami Brahmaputra, the note worthy anthem for the river Brahmaputra. Conceptualized, composed and produced by Papon, the song brings together some of the best Assamese singers for the Assamese version and veteran Bollywood stars for the Hindi Version. The song will  probably remind you of the Doordarshan staple “Mile Sur Mera tumhara”

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5S4TrlCn5 [/embedyt]

The Hindi version of the anthem boasts of big names like Shankar Mahadevan, Kailash Kher, Arijit Singh, Shubha Mudgal, Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Dadlani and even the ubiquitous Amitabh Bachchan.

6. Badshah

Finally, to our last entry by BADSHAH, probably the #1 Hit Machine. Badshah is back with a bang with a sensational new song - ‘MERCY’ from his forthcoming album O.N.E. The song has the gorgeous and super talented Lauren Gottlieb of SYTYCD and ABCD Fame grooving to it. From being the first song shoot in the O2 Arena in London to  a Boeing in the backdrop accentuating grandeur, ‘MERCY’ is an ear worm and has a cool vibe which is quintessential Badshah.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyst8oIHOAY [/embedyt]