Watch: When Bhojpuri song Lollipop Lagelu became international

Do you visualise sleaze and objectification of women everytime you hear a Bhojpuri song? A new cover of the Bhojpuri hit Lollipop Lagelu, by aspring playback singer Siddharth Slathia, is here to change that perception. The song also went international with the new version: American violinist Kimberly McDonough also features in the video.

Do you visualise sleaze and objectification of women everytime you hear a Bhojpuri song? Evidently, you are in a for a surprise. This cover of the Bhojpuri hit Lollipop Lagelu, by an aspring playback singer Siddharth Slathia, is here to change that perception.

Musician Siddharth Slathia.

The video of the cover song, that was uploaded on September 7, has crossed one lakh views on YouTube in less than five days. An ambitious project, the Bhojpuri number even managed to go international with this version, featuring American violinist Kimberly McDonough.

Siddharth Slathia quit his engineering college midway and is now studying music in Jammu.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Slathia says, "We intended to shock people. I wanted people to see that a song does not have to be sleazy just because it is Bhojpuri." The 24-year-old from Jammu plans to come up with a similar cover to Tum To Thehre Pardesi, by Altaf Raja. He also hopes to work with composer Salim Merchant on a song cover in a few months.

An aspiring Bollywood playback singer, Slathia uploaded his first YouTube video in 2010 - another cover of a Bollywood number - and has not looked back since. Currently, he collaborates with the music label Sa Re Ga Ma and is also the chief mentor at Indian Idol Institute, Kolkata.

Watch Slathia's cover of Lollipop Lagelu

Slathia's life has an interesting Bollywood twist to it. He claims to have watched Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots just months after joining an engineering college in Jaipur and immediately called up his father to tell him that intended on following his passion for music and not engineering. Though he did not act immediately on his decision, he went on to complete his second year in the college, before dropping out of college.

Slathia has always considered music to be an integral part of his life. Even at the age of ten, he impressed his tutors in school and was encouraged for talent. Unfortunately, the people he needed encouragement from - his parents - did not did not support him. "My dad is still concerned by my choice. He is insecure about the showbiz industry. He keeps telling me that I will only end up teaching music in a school or a college," he says.

Watch the original song

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