"Do you get it?" taunted MTV India's tagline when it flooded the airwaves in 1996. The next year, the channel struck out on a Desi cool path, introducing a range of newly minted pop stars to the subcontinent.
Remember these masters of style?
1) Made in India by Alisha Chinai
This is the album that saw Alisha Chinai come into her own. Before this, she'd floundered as an ersatz Madonna, but this song was a hit not only in the subcontinent but on the Desi party circuits in the US and the UK too. Don't miss the coiled python, loitering cheetahs and bare-chested Milind Soman.
2) Sayonee by Junoon
Pakistan’s most successful band, Junoon, has been pioneering the cause of Sufi rock since 1990. The band was founded by songwriter and lead guitarist Salman Ahmad. EMI/Virgin Records released 'Azadi' in 1997, with this track, Sayonee. It sold over a million copies in three weeks in India alone.
3) Sa Ni Dha Pa by Colonial Cousins
This catchy band combined the Indian classical sensibility of Hariharan with Leslie Lewis's pop stylings. Their eponymous album was released in 1996 to enormous acclaim.
4) Dooba Dooba Rehta Hoon by Silk Route
With influences like Dire Straits, Sting and Simon & Garfunkel, Silk Route featured Mohit Chauhan as its lead singer. Their dreamy, earnest vocals in Dooba Dooba Rehta Hoon in 1998 from the album Boondein coupled with the soothing, underwater video won hearts.
5) Kya Soorat Hain by Bombay Vikings
Formed in 1994 in Stockholm, Bombay Vikings put a 90's European-pop spin on classic Bollywood music. Its remixes of old-time classics like Kya Soorat Hain, Chhod do Aanchal and Who Chali were a rage across both India and Pakistan, and it was widely agreed upon that, indeed, there was "no one so saxy in the whole galaxy".
Listen to these numbers as a single playlist here on YouTube.
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Remember these masters of style?
1) Made in India by Alisha Chinai
This is the album that saw Alisha Chinai come into her own. Before this, she'd floundered as an ersatz Madonna, but this song was a hit not only in the subcontinent but on the Desi party circuits in the US and the UK too. Don't miss the coiled python, loitering cheetahs and bare-chested Milind Soman.
2) Sayonee by Junoon
Pakistan’s most successful band, Junoon, has been pioneering the cause of Sufi rock since 1990. The band was founded by songwriter and lead guitarist Salman Ahmad. EMI/Virgin Records released 'Azadi' in 1997, with this track, Sayonee. It sold over a million copies in three weeks in India alone.
3) Sa Ni Dha Pa by Colonial Cousins
This catchy band combined the Indian classical sensibility of Hariharan with Leslie Lewis's pop stylings. Their eponymous album was released in 1996 to enormous acclaim.
4) Dooba Dooba Rehta Hoon by Silk Route
With influences like Dire Straits, Sting and Simon & Garfunkel, Silk Route featured Mohit Chauhan as its lead singer. Their dreamy, earnest vocals in Dooba Dooba Rehta Hoon in 1998 from the album Boondein coupled with the soothing, underwater video won hearts.
5) Kya Soorat Hain by Bombay Vikings
Formed in 1994 in Stockholm, Bombay Vikings put a 90's European-pop spin on classic Bollywood music. Its remixes of old-time classics like Kya Soorat Hain, Chhod do Aanchal and Who Chali were a rage across both India and Pakistan, and it was widely agreed upon that, indeed, there was "no one so saxy in the whole galaxy".
Listen to these numbers as a single playlist here on YouTube.