Bollywood vs The Bands
jmag - April - #38
Ask anyone about Indian culture and Bollywood’s bound to get a mention. The glitz and glamour of Indian films have captured the international imagination and it’s easy to see why. Most blockbusters like the underwater thriller, Blue jump between genres quicker than you can blink, going from cheesy romance to all-out action. Even if some plots don’t make much sense, Bollywood knows how to entertain and has the bank balance to prove it with annual takings of over $2.4 billion.
”The dominance of Bollywood is undeniable,” says Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy, a 27 year old musician from Mumbai.
“The Indian lifestyle is food, clothing, shelter and films. People need it and they love it.”
But Bollywood doesn’t just dominate the multiplex, it also controls the music scene. In every movie, the dialogue suddenly stops and the music gets louder, the cue for actors to start dancing and lip-synching.
“The music is a big star in any Bollywood film,” says Vishal Dadlani, one half of the composing duo, Vishal and Shekhar.
“(As composers) we get to play the narrator, accent an emotion but most importantly…touch a billion people. These are the songs that people take home with them.”
But Bollywood isn’t the only show in town. The alternative music scene is determined to steal some limelight with hundreds of bands playing original material from folk to rock, electro to metal. Gigs are held at makeshift venues and outdoor festivals with India’s abundance of colleges providing the perfect opportunity to entertain bored students.
When jmag arrives at Mithibai College in the Mumbai suburbs, the place is bursting with a thousand excited teens. The free night is paid for by corporate sponsors who pimp their products around campus. Scribe open proceedings with their Indian take on America’s hardcore punk and metal scenes, influenced by Dillinger Escape Plan and Sick of It All. The five piece play confidently amidst pyrotechnics and smoke machines. The crowd shows their appreciation by hoisting several crowd surfers towards the stage. India’s studious nature seems to be a good thing for the live music scene.
Being a part of this cultural shift is exciting says Scribe frontman Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy but his band is still struggling to fuse their Indian identity and musical influences.
“We probably eat curry for breakfast that’s how Indian we are but what we do isn’t necessarily Indian. We still find it difficult to justify singing in English.”
Most musos agree they are trying to distance themselves from the mainstream, especially modern Bollywood.
“Bollywood used to be extremely cool, like I’m talking slasher flicks and b-grade pulp,” says Vishwesh.
“It had an indefinable charm, cheesy, unbelievable and fucking entertaining…but what Bollywood is becoming now is an ugly rip-off.”
Scribe have revived Bollywood’s golden days in their music. They re-appropriate riffs meant for bad guys, use funny voices for backing vocals and drop references in song lyrics.
But some of the indie scene resents Bollywood’s dominance. At Unconvention, a conference to help the industry take the next step, the MC led the audience in yelling, “Fuck Bollywood.”
Surprisingly, Unconvention’s organiser, Vijay Nair doesn’t share the bitterness.
“You can be on the roof of the tallest building and shout, ‘Fuck Bollywood,’ and no one is going to give a damn because 95 per cent of the country loves Bollywood. They think it is the reason they are not going ahead but that’s not true. Either the music is not good enough or they are not working hard enough.”
Vijay knows what he is talking about. As a teenager he dropped out of college to manage a band and now music is his livelihood. At just 25 years of age, Vijay’s company, Only Much Louder advises some of India’s top bands, including Pentagram and Swarathma. But he’s picky and for every band he signs, Vijay knocks back another 100.
2009 was a big year with Only Much Louder booking hundreds of gigs and Vijay winning the British Council’s International Young Music Entrepreneur Award. He is living out the do-it-yourself philosophy with his own label Counter Culture Records, video production company and a digital sales business.
But Vijay’s success aside, the indie scene has serious problems. There are a lack of proper venues, major record labels aren’t interested, airplay is non-existant and there is a shortage of industry professionals.
However, Vijay says the biggest problem is most bands aren’t serious.
“They assume they are going to do it for two years while they are in college, get laid and then give it up. Bands hold themselves back by complaining but you have to build your own audience.”
Raghu Dixit is one muso finding plenty of fans. His band, The Raghu Dixit Project has a distinctly Indian sound blending folk, sufi and classical music. Raghu’s conservative upbringing heavily influenced his music, with his family preventing him from listening to western tunes and encouraging him to explore his Indian roots. It has paid off with Raghu’s debut record selling 38,000 copies, the highest of any non-film album in 2008-9.
“I always believed that I could sell that many albums and I intend to keep doing it. People don’t go to cd stores anymore and that is changing what we do. Playing live is the best venue for us to sell records.”
This year Raghu will re-release his record with a live dvd and sign an international artist management deal. Not bad for an artist largely ignored by Indian tv and radio stations. But Hashim D’Souza says the lack of airplay is easily explained, Indians prefer other kinds of music. He is the head of programming at the international music television station, VH1, which has a 5 per cent airtime quota for Indian bands. Other stations like MTV and Channel V play even less.
“The audience would rather watch (Bollywood star) Shah Rukh Khan strut his stuff and international acts over an unknown Indian band any day. We hardly ever get requests for Indian acts.”
Since VH1’s India 2005 launch just three Indian acts have made their Top 10 list.
Some savvy artists like Kailash Kher, Sonu Nigam and Vishal Dadlani are exploiting their Bollywood profile to increase the audience for their original material. Vishal is the frontman for Pentagram, one of India’s biggest and longest serving groups. They have an impressive set of achievements, including an appearance at the UK’s Glastonbury festival. However, Vishal says no matter what Pentagram does, the reality is his film soundtracks will always outsell the band.
“With (the film soundtrack) Dostana we sold 1,500,000 and Pentagram sold 22,000. When you make something for the mainstream it is natural that it will outsell something that’s alternative.”
The numbers may look depressing but the indie scene is developing. A few years ago, most bands were playing Guns and Roses and Metallica covers but now they are releasing original material. International music publications are setting up shop and India is slowly getting on the touring circuit with Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons and The Black Lips all visiting in 2009.
One guy who is watching closely is Ali Sachedina, a lawyer and manager from New York. Ali represents Indian artists abroad and believes it is only a matter of time before an Indian band breaks overseas.
“In the United States there is a demand for ‘ethnic music’. Raghu Dixit and others who do that can make it but I don’t see any hope for the metal bands, I don’t think they have absorbed their surroundings.”
To take the next step, Ali says, bands need to focus on originality, incorporate an Indian vibe and avoid imitation. If they do that, he believes success will come at home and abroad.
But Scribe aren’t trying to conquer the overseas market or overtake Bollywood, their goals are more modest. This year, Scribe plan to release their second album and tour extensively. Lead singer Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy says they just want to feel like a real band.
“If we’re playing at a club we want it filled up, I don’t want a three hour traffic jam outside every gig. We just want a little space within the culture here.”
Judging by the crowd at Mithibai college they’re not far off.
