Those familiar with the music scene in the 90s—when indie-pop was taking baby steps—would remember The Aryans fondly. The band, comprising three unlikely members—one a civil services officer, no less—went on to leave quite an impression. With its soulful romantic numbers such as ‘Ye hawa’ and ‘Aankhon mein tera hi chehra’, the trio won many hearts. Now, almost after more than a decade, vocalist, lyricist and composer Sadasivan KM Nambisan aka Sadu—one-third of the trio—is determined to carry forward the legacy. During the lockdown, Sadu kept himself busy belting out his old favourites from ghazal legends and uploading them on social media platforms. When his renditions received a massive response, he decided to turn his focus on recreating a new kind of sound. A fan of Pakistani poet Ahmad Faraz’s poetry, he couldn’t think of a better choice to start than ‘Aankh se door na ho’. It became his first foray into the genre of ghazal-pop.
While the production and sound of the track is in sync with what contemporary audiences are familiar with, Sadu has maintained the balance between tradition and modernity. “The new generation is deprived of the fantasy of ghazals, hence I thought of bringing the mystic ambience back with the latest sound so they can relate to it easily,” he says. Talking about how he contemporised famous ghazals from the past for modern-day audiences, Sadu says there is no regular formula to arrange a song musically, and it differs from composition to composition. The process he uses is to closely study the song’s lyrics and composition, and experiment with various permutations and combinations of chords, tempos and instruments before finally coming to a conclusion.
He is particular about making sure that no instrument is harsh, which would disturb the soul of the composition. “The arrangement of music has to enhance the very sound of the song. It should be soothing and pleasing to the ears,” he says. In such a way, he believes that if presented well, classic genres will still find footing among contemporary audiences. Little wonder that after a rocking start, the band went incognito when the music scene became too loud for their aesthetics. In fact, The Aryans can also be credited with introducing Shahid Kapoor—then a chubby-cheeked teen—to showbiz.
In December 2019, Sadu returned to the scene in all his might with his solo single ‘Mausam’. The track received lakhs of hits across streaming platforms. It was recorded with live instruments and no programming. Sadu’s first single this year ‘Hor kinne suboot lyawaan’, released in February. With timeless lyrics, the song is an ode to lasting love and is set to contemporary beats in a soft electronic arrangement. While his signature has been love songs for decades, in June Sadu released a scathing piece of poetry summing up the apathy of human beings towards nature and its resources. Titled ‘Uss chaon ko tarsoge tum’, the poetic rendition was born out of the artist’s feelings about the state of the planet.In the coming months, this creative force has quite a few tracks lined up, across genres. We will be tuning in, for sure.