First of all,  an apology:

Since I had a bad bout of fever I was not able to write anything last week. But this fever gave me a craving for reminiscience. Made me travel back to the 90s. I am a 90s kid. Yes I am and am much proud of it. Since I am among the last remnants of that particular species who could still boast of a bit of innocence, innocence in every bits and pieces. The enchanting Doordarshan with its black and white and of course technicolor dreams. The cable boom was yet to sweep us. It was a close knit society with a flavour of sweet yet coarse memories.

Among the most prominent cultural edifices of the 90s, Indipop definitely stands out. Before you maul me, let me say that the initial days of Indipop saw the arrival of some of the most talented musicians ever in the country who fused western elements with eastern flavour to cook up a storm. The beginning was great, auspicious and if you do remember, there was a tv series called Ek se Bar kar Ek (starring the talented three- Tiku Talsania, Asrani & Ravi Baswani) which gave us the glimpse of that sassy, irresponsible yet musically tangy world.

So I present you my top 5 Indipop songs. All from the 90s. (I don’t listen to Indipop anymore. That innocence is gone, it has lost its romantic syntax and substituted with cheap and drastic dramatization. RIP Indipop.)

1:Bombay Vikings- Kya Soorat Hain

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A very strange name and a very quirky style of music, Bombay Vikings emerged on the shores of Mumbai redefining the sound that we were accustomed to. A mix of bollywood music fused with European classical and the lyrics in Hinglish made this band an overnight success but it also got its share of criticism for they said that Bombay Vikings were diluting an already diluted era. In this particular song you can hear the zany and tremendous effect of the “Bombay Vikings Sound”. A mad-hatter following his Alice and entrapping one and all around him. The song along with the video is still a favourite with ritual playings in certain pubs and also for the likes of us in their forlorn laptops who just want to travel back to that lane of nostalgia. Bombay Vikings quickly changed their sound keeping in mind the enamours of commercialization. Their lead singer Neeraj Sridhar is now a famous and much in demand playback singer in Bollywood. But yes, if you have an Alice and have the guts you can sing this song for her.

2:Nazia Hassan feat Biddu- Boom boom

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The Nightingale of Pakistan came to India and then disappeared suddenly. She was forgotten soon except for her loyal fans from both sides of the borders till Biddu, India’s Disco Man brought back her memories from the crutches of oblivion by remixing her song Boom Boom. The song which was already famous got another generation of fans who came to knew about the power of disco and Indipop. Sadly they cannot make any songs like this anymore. The voice is missing, the motivation is missing and also the willingness to hear something good in Indipop is missing.

3:Euphoria- Dhoom pichak

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My favourite. Period. One single Hindi song that made me go mad and sway with its powerful pop,rock and classical fused. If eclectic is your choice of word to define this song then so be it. It is powerful and Palash Sen’s energy as well as gratifying synergy just rules the song. This song is definitely one of the few songs that came out from an era which was slowly going the decadent way. The attack of the cable had begun. Vtv and The video was neat and beautifully shot. Europhia thanks to you for creating this song.

4:KK- Yaroon

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The song that changed the equations of friendship. The song that made friendship an act to cherish. Have something to tell, this was the song, had a fight with your friend, this was the song to makeup with him or her and if there was this no reason at all, still this was the song. The song was multitudinous- heard everywhere, sung everywhere and loved by everyone. Another great creation from the 90s.

5:Lucky Ali- O Sanam

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Lucky Ali’s O Sanam contains one of the most endearing and sweetest love ballads that came out from the Indipop era. The shaky, grainy voices solidifies the song while a bittersweet mixed with melancholy summarizes the entire feel of Lucky Ali’s debut album through this one particular song. He captured the imagination of the people and also proved everyone wrong by creating a wonderful love ballad in Indipop

Indipop is dead. The cable killed it. Everyone wanted to be the next Indipop superstar. The videos started getting repetitive. Same for the songs. The listeners got brainwashed. The ghosts still linger around looking for a listener while the monsters dance with delight.