While planning her Jaipur concert, at one point, Neha Bhasin toyed with the idea of entering the stage in a pink coffin. The act was to symbolise killing the ‘old version’ of herself. The team vetoed the idea. But to the singer and songwriter, it represented what I Believe, her concert, is all about—a new chapter in her two-decade-plus career.
On April 26 evening, Bhasin took to the stage for her first solo ticketed concert. As she spoke to mid-day in the run-up to the gig, the singer began with how India’s live music scene took a beating after the pandemic. “Post-COVID, we’ve finally started seeing a surge in ticketed concerts now. Even the biggest artistes once gave in to free-pass culture. We were all stuck in the loop of corporate and wedding shows, which don’t appeal to me,” she said.
I Believe was her effort to put the emphasis back on ticketed live shows. She wanted to ensure the audience got their bang for the buck. Bhasin and her team spent two months shaping the show—complete with a dance crew, custom visual production, and a stage set-up that she oversaw. “We’ve been doing 10 to 12 hours of dance rehearsals.”
Performance has been a crucial part of her career from the start. In 2002, she was among the five women chosen from across the country by Channel V Popstars, a reality show that put as much emphasis on screen presence as it did on musical talent. With that, India got its first all-girl pop band Viva, and Bhasin, the jumpstart she needed in the industry. After the group disbanded in 2004, she continued her journey, lending her voice to hits like Dhunki (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, 2011), and Jag ghoomeya (Sultan, 2016). The concert was a walk down memory lane as she belted out her playback hits, indie tracks, Punjabi folk, and Rajasthani folk, created specifically for the local audience. “Whenever I go to a city, I want to bring their folk music together with mine,” she reasoned.
She had only one caveat. That she would do one medley, no more, of songs that weren’t hers. “I don’t get why so many artistes sing other people’s music at their shows,” she said, bemused. “This is my time to sing what I made with love.”
India has become a hotspot for international pop stars with Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, and Green Day having performed here this year already. When told that the Indian audience, especially Gen Z, is more tuned into the international music scene than the domestic counterpart, Bhasin said, “It’s not my job to track what they’re listening to. My job is to create what I believe in. I’m hoping something from this show travels online. That’s how we get to do this again.”
Neha Bhasin’s songs we swear by
1 Swag se swagat
2 Jag ghoomeya
3 Madhaniyan
4 Din shagna
5 Laung gawacha
