Akshar, the Hyderabad-based rock band, is at its best when it brings its regional element into play. Producing music covers of popular film numbers in Telugu and Hindi, their strength is the alternative spin they give to conventional music. Having performed twice in the city last week at Klub Trinity and Heart Cup, the five-member band comprising Manmohan Raj (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Surabit Haflongbar (bass guitar), Dill (lead guitars), Gopal Sahis (keyboard) and Aaron Wesley (drum set) came together four years ago for an annual fest at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad and ended up winning it. As winners, they got to perform with the popular Pakistani band Strings in front of a crowd that numbered a thousand and that was indeed a big leap.
During their journey of performing at several university shows and corporate events, there’ve been interesting instances of crowd acclaim.
The most satisfying one for them was at a Doctor’s conference held at The Park, the previous year. “We were wondering if the occasion was too official for our kind of music. But, seeing all the leading doctors across the city head-banging to our act made our day,” Manmohan Raj reminisces.
The vocalist talking on their brand of music says their intent has always been to cater to normal people over music enthusiasts. “Our aim has been to give a layman, a better musical connect and offer them a unique experience. That’s one reason we’ve done covers of popular songs including the melodic metal version of ‘Oh Papa Lali’, the rock version of ‘Anando Brahma’ while adding our stamp to the Agent Vinod song ‘Raabta’ as well.”
And their work was good enough to earn acclaim from Akkineni Nagarjuna himself. Manmohan insists that the covers of these film numbers are only a stepping stone to reach out to people and that they do have originals coming up for the future.
Akshar
Origin : 2012
USP : Covers of film numbers
Genre : Rock, Reggae and Metal
Inspirations : Ilayaraja, A.R. Rahman
