Remember the time?

After Apache Indian’s comeback tour last month, we take a look at what other pop stars from the ’90s are up to.

Apache Indian is the reason I got into music,” mentions Style Bhai, who was very popular in the early ‘90s for his self-titled song Style bhai… “When Apache came to Mumbai in 1991 to perform, I remember making a demo that cost me Rs 150, to show it to him,” says the singer. Now in his mid-30s, Jai Ratan Menun has had a tumultuous career. After his second album, Menun decided to go back to New York, where he grew up, to study filmmaking at the New York Film Academy.

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“I missed being a part of the Blair Witch Project film team, because when they approached me, I told them that ‘I’m not into horror’. Talk about famous last words,” he says. Shuffling between scriptwriting and cinematography in NYC and composing music in India for music directors like Pritam, Menun has been working under the alias Indee. “I’ve given vocals for Shikdum... from Dhoom (2004), Halka nasha… remix with Sonu Niigaam, and Garam Masala (remix) as Indee. But now I’m coming back as Style Bhai,” he says.

Around the time Menun returned to New York to study film, another chartbuster was already raging the scene— Baba Sehgal aka Harjit Singh. His song Dil dhadke… was the first music video by an Indian to be shown on MTV Asia. “Pop music has become paap music in the past 10 years,” says Sehgal who’s become a fitness-freak. “I’m working on toning my body and if not a six-pack, I will at least have a good physique going.” You may not know it, but Sehgal has been very active in Tollywood and sings fluently in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada without completely understanding the languages. “It started with a song with actor Chiranjeevi, called Chik chik chiklette… for his film Riksha Vodu, 12 years ago. Since then I’ve been performing abroad on Tollywood songs in addition to hits like Dil dhadke…, Thanda thanda paani… and Manjula...” Sehgal is planning to release his new rap and hip-hop album this year. “My new single, Snoop baba… should be out in a few months,” he says.