The Treblemakers
Unaccompanied singing gets a boost as Penn Masala’s five-minute music video goes viral on YouTube
Dressed like Raj Kapoor in Shree420, six young men start off by crooning ‘Suhani Raat’ and end with grandson Ranbir Kapoor’s stylish moves in ‘Badtameez Dil’. The five-minute-long video has gone viral on YouTube both for its fine vocals and evolving sartorial style. On March 29, members of Penn Masala, a South Asian ‘a cappella’ group from the University of Pennsylvania, uploaded a video tracking the evolution of Hindi film music from the 1940s to 2014. The 13-member all-male ensemble chose defining songs of each decade and melded them together to create a medley which instantly brings a smile to your face.“We wanted to celebrate the impact that Indian cinema has had on our lives,” wrote members Akiff Premjee, Varshil Patel and Anil Chitrapu in an email interview.“We also made sure to not take ourselves too seriously.”
The video, however, isn’t their first moment in the spotlight. They have performed for Barack Obama at the White House Diwali Celebration in 2009 and for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Formed in 1996, Penn Masala is renowned for mixing American pop hits with Hindi chartbusters and playing with genres such as pop, hip-hop, Indian classical music and R’n’B. Aged between 18 and 22 years, the members of the ever-evolving group (new members are enrolled through an audition after the existing ones graduate and leave) include Akiff Premjee, Varshil Patel, Anil Chitrapu, Dilip Rajan, Ashwin Muthiah, Prashant Ramesh, Chetan Khanna, Aneesh Kanakamedala, Brendan Mcmanus, Pranay Sharma, Hari Ravi, Praveen Rajaguru and Kashish Hora. The current group says they all have a “naturally soft spot” for the music of the 2000s as most “grew up listening to the songs of the decade”. It also reflects in their oeuvre—they have released eight albums so far—which has seen them cover numerous songs by A.R. Rahman and Vishal-Shekhar. Other favourites are Ilaiyaraaja and Amit Trivedi. by Suhani Singh