The slowly-building tension of Viva La Vida meeting the melody of Jashn-e-bahara, Pasoori and Shape of You finding a common beat to dance together, or Stereo Hearts merged seamlessly with Zaalima – if you listen to music on the internet, its unlikely you haven’t heard a Penn Masala cover taking your favourite Bollywood songs and weaving them with an English hit. The a capella group is set to tour India, performing in six cities, including Bengaluru. “Since 2026 is the 30th anniversary of Penn Masala being formed at The University of Pennsylvania, we wanted to pay homage to our founders and our roots in India. It’s also been three years since the last tour so we wanted to showcase our new music to some of our favourite audiences,” says Aadi Shah, the president of the group.
Their album titled '1996' is set to release this week and, as Avik Agarwal, the group’s music director explains, “The album has one original a capella song that has not been released yet as well as some singles that we’ve released in the past, like Pasoori x Shape of You, We Found Love x Tum Hi Ho Bandhu.” He adds, “The album is us remembering the last 30 years’ alumni and their music but also looking forward to the kind of music we’re going to continue to make for the next 30 years. 30 years ago, if you’d asked Penn Masala what they thought would happen, I don’t think they would have expected that we’d be touring India, performing at the 2024 Paris Olympics or the White House.”
Giving a glimpse into how their a capella songs come together, especially with members having different levels of musical training, Agarwal shares, “Even if you have a Hindustani or Carnatic background, being able to sing a capella is different. You have to be able to hear others’ voices, make sure you blend in and sing in tune with them. Everyone joins the group at different levels but works hard to get up to speed. As a result, we’ve seen 30 years of each iteration of the group sounding good, because we pass on that knowledge.”
This brotherhood, the three agree, has remained at the core even as members have gone from burning CDs and making long YouTube videos to sharing short covers on TikTok and Instagram Reels. A change that they’re happy to witness though is that while the group may be the first South Asian a capella group, they’re far from the only one now. “It’s amazing to see the number of South Asian a cappella groups today; almost every college has one,” shares Shah.
For some members, the group is a conduit to discovering a deeper connection to Indian music and through it, to their roots. “I never really had any deep ties to my Indian side growing up so I was never exposed to Indian music,” confesses Jaydon, a first-year student, adding, “When I came to Penn, one of my teachers told me to check out the show and I loved it so much that I auditioned, got in and never looked back. I couldn’t even tell you three songs off the top of my head, before, but now I find myself listening to Bollywood music while going to the gym.”
With their performance in the city, the group is adding a local touch with Raghu Dixit joining them on stage. Agarwal teases, “The song for that is being finalised, but it’s between two songs and one of them is not a Hindi song – so definitely look forward to that.”
(The show is on May 22, 7.30pm at Good Shepherd Auditorium, Museum Road. Tickets on bookmyshow.com)