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Desi imports, musically yours
Until sometime back, an Indian singer?s utmost ambition was to chase an international dream.
Until sometime back, an Indian singer’s utmost ambition was to chase an international dream. Today, budding Indian singers settled abroad are making a beeline for Indian shores. Arjun Nagpal from Canada, Shera Batth from Sydney and Gauri Saksena from California are three such names.
What brings them here? “It’s not a sudden drift. The trend began when Malkit Singh from London and Shweta Shetty from Germany, among others, did it,” says composer Jawahar Wattal.
Shera, a restaurateur, feels it has to do with getting the right ‘guru’. He explains his decision to work with Wattal: “Had I not gone through the right channel and met the right people, I’d be lost.” His album has eight Punjabi tracks with western punch.
Gauri, who will cut a remix album, says: “I quit my job with Sisco Systems to pursue singing.” Similarly, Arjun left his family business in Canada to come to India and cut his debut album, Rang De.
And these three are not one-off cases. Confirms Wattal: “Soon, I’ll be working with a ghazal singer from New York. Two more singers from Dubai and Singapore have also made a beeline.”
