The ethereal Susheela Raman believes she’s still learning; and her performance tonight at the Times Pune Festival is just a part of her travels; another destination, another way of looking at music.
Admittedly, her profile has gotten higher ever since Salt Rain was nominated for the Mercury Prize in the UK, where she was born and is currently based. She, along with guitarist collaborator/partner, Sam Mills, have somewhere along the line created their own rehash of fusion, drawn from Susheela’s own luxated Tamil moorings that she’s kept close through her existence as a foreigner, even in her music.
Salt Rain itself was largely Indo-centric, but she only garnered attention in India after the release of her song ‘Yeh Mera Deewanapan’, that went borderline viral when Sunny Leone poledanced to the song on Big Boss. Here it is – the song, not the pole dance.
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Susheela Raman, of course, has much and more in her catalogue, that’s already five albums old. Some of those old renditions might reappear at the Chennai Global Music Festival, which will be her next big showing in the country.
Her song, ‘Raise Up’ has been hot too, with a video that’s alternately exhilarating and farcical. Check it out here.
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