Chudiyaan

Every once in a while comes a crooner, one who sings lilting melodies with flat notes that tug your heart string. With powerful timber to the voice and a great combination of keyboard, guitar and drums. Then this band finds the right story, one that lends itself to such emotional voice, and then finds lyrics that fit the theme spot on. Then they find a theme, an object, one that may otherwise be just something random, but they make it symbolize the entire story.

Before I talk about the let me introduce, Kaash. A Delhi based band, Viren and Shivam are credited with lyrics and also produced the music videos. That voice is Viren's, who caresses the microphone that reminds me of Axel Rose. Shivam at keyboards, Nishant Parashar and Sonic Shori on the lead and bass with Nirvan Parvera on the drums. The comparison with Axel goes on, the music video has a 'theme' interspersed with shots of the band in a desert. The song itself  is a romantic ballad, pictured on a young couple in love, their moments of tenderness and silliness, and a breakup. If your mind flashes back to 'Estranged', I am not sure that connection to Guns n Roses is just coincidental.

Main Laut Aaugna starts with a girl stuffing clothes in a suitcase to leave. As she slams the door, a picture of the two of them together falls and cracks. The song then turns to glimpses of a happy relationship, silliness of a newly married couple, with an emphasis on bangles, the pride and love with which the guy puts them on a girl's wrist. The relationship turns  sour when the guy makes a drunk pass at someone and when his (wife?) tries to hold him back, he breaks the glass bangles, and so does the relationship. As he sings 'mein laut aaunga', he goes back to get her, he takes a box of bangles to win her back. Symbolizing the chudiyaan for their love, the video makes it a theme, a center piece to the story of this young love. The attractiveness of glass bangles contrasts with their fragility, in a way that suggests that love, attractive as it may be as it adorns a young couple, can be equally fragile and delicate, and when it breaks, it hurts.

The music video has a few interesting easter eggs, at 0:28 the phone shows 'Shivam Khare' as one of the contacts, not sure if that's a hint at  credits. Another interesting shot at 1:30 into the song is when Nirvan has something in his hand that he tosses aside just in time as if someone cued him it was time to start playing the drums and he had been distracted elsewhere.

Kaash defines Hindi Rock by distilling the purest emotions an Indian soul showcasing it with luminous production quality and stunning songs.

Watch the video or listen and check them on social media