“We were pretty ahead of our times,” says Neha Bhasin, of her first venture into the independent scene 15 years ago with all-girl pop band Viva. Now she has returned to the spotlight on YouTube, with a single that ties a revamped image with her Punjabi roots. It’s almost as if she never left. Her rendition of the popular folk number ‘Chan Mahi’ has amassed over 6,00,000 views in 10 days and she says it’s the numbers that keep her going.
Career goals
“I focused on my non-film career at a time when social media didn’t really exist in India. When I started, I had a few thousand subscribers. To see that number grow to where it is now is so encouraging,” Bhasin says. She calls it her “saving grace”, a moment of artistic creativity amidst the dysfunctional industry that is Bollywood.
And it’s no surprise. Bhasin’s recent comments on the gender disparity in playback singing on Anupama Chopra’s Film Companion panel have gone just as viral as her single, the buzz generating an outpouring of love from her fans across the globe.
She’s unabashedly different, choosing to focus on the sound she puts out rather than the surrounding frills. “So far, it’s worked with my repertoire. I’ve been able to gain faith from the audience and credibility as an artist,” she tells us. The single is part of her passion project, and although playback singing has garnered her an audience that’s a force to be reckoned with, the Internet is still where she finds love today.
Online presence
“It’s my baby,” she says fondly, referring to the single that has her performing thumkas alongside fan-turned-choreographer Naina Batra. Batra’s dancing covers on the video sharing platform caught the attention of the public, including Bhasin’s team, who decided to collaborate with her.
“We really wanted to bring someone new to the industry. She’s not a professional, but she has an Internet presence that I felt would work really well with what I was trying to do,” Bhasin says. The partnership has paid off and created visuals that Bhasin says “have given the song so much life.”
Cultural clash
And yet, there are the naysayers who question her heritage, intentions, and morality. As she charms the camera in colourful Western wear and blue-tinted waves, the purists ask why she’s not in a patiala pantsuit, hair gathered in a long single braid.
Her response is simple. “The blend of cultures that you see, that’s me. I love folk, but I grew up with Western music. My original work lets me bring the best of the two worlds that I understand most.” The cover rediscovers folk music for the Bollywood-bred millennials. She says it’s a need of the hour, staying rooted in contemporary times and embracing the identity that has made her who she is today. “Why do we have to be defined? I think we can be whatever we want to be, as long as we stay true to ourselves and the music we enjoy,” she concludes.
