Whose tune is it anyway?

Abhilasha Ojha takes stock of the new Indian "" and Pakistani "" bands that are altering the musical landscape in the country, as well as some older musicians that are hitting the high notes once again.

Bandish
Album: Kaise Kahoon (2006)
Christopher Powell (drums), Abhishek Nailwal (vocals), Desmond (guitar), Adil Manuel (guitar), Arpan Guha (bass)
Popular number: "Kaise kahoon"

Bandish began its journey in 2005, after Christopher Powell bid adieu to Euphoria after being drummer there for six years. "I had to move on, so I got down to writing songs and making melodies," he says.

A chance meeting with Abhishek Nailwal at a studio ("he was recording a jingle") led Powell into roping him as lead vocalist for the band. His brother, and well-known guitar player Desmond is also a part of the band, along with Adil Manuel and Arpan Guha.

The band's debut album Kaise Kahoon, says Powell, "has got its fifth repeat order for Guwahati" and is on the top five songs featured on MTV World Chart Express. The music of Bandish classifies as either rock or pop, though listeners refer to it as Indi-pop. Were there pitfalls? "Plenty," says Powell.

"The Indian music industry of the 1990s was vastly different from today's. I'm 35 years old and I began my career all over again in an industry where I'm competing with so many bands that are being churned out, almost on a daily basis." Powell incurred huge production costs (for just the album's mastering in Florida, he spent $1,400).

Call
Album: Jilawatan (2006)
Xulfi (guitar), Junaid Khan (vocals), Mohammad Sultan Raja (bass), Waqar Ahmed Khan (drums)
Popular number: "Sab bhula key"

One of the more recent bands to make its entry in India, Pakistani band Call released its album here in May 2006. The band is 12 years old and its track "Sab bhula key" has done extremely well on the countdown charts. The four-member band, comprising Xulfi, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Sultan Raja and Waqar Khan has also recorded a song, "Laree chhootey", for the Bollywood film Ek Chalees ki Last Local.

Raeth
Album: Raeth (2006)
Wajhi Farouqui (vocals), Hassan Farabi (guitar), Mustafa Asad (bass)
Popular songs: "Bhula do" and "Tumhare liye"

Raeth's eponymous album was released a week ago by Universal Music. A three-member band, Raeth has Wajhi Farouqui (vocals), Hassan Farabi (guitars) and Mustafa Asad (bass).

Their song "Bhula do" is doing well on the music channels and the nine-song album is a delight. "Bhula do", with its fantastic use of guitars, racy beat and a genuinely brilliant melody, is a treat, while songs like "Ansoo" and "Tumharey liye" are also must-hears.

The band members are "just-out-of-college-kids" and listeners may confuse them with Jal, even as the members argue that Jal has an acoustic sound, whereas they are simply rock and pop. Also not to be confused with Call's track "Sab bhula key."

Jal
Album: Jalpari (2004)
Goher Mumtaz (vocals/lead and rhythm guitar), Farhan Saeed (lead vocals), Shazi Aamir (bass)
Ex Member: Atif Aslam
Popular songs (Jal): "Aadat", "Vo lamhe"; (Atif Aslam): "Vo lamhe", "Judaa hokey", "Tere bin"

The Pakistani band that had Atif Aslam as a lead vocalist disbanded temporarily when Aslam went solo in Bollywood. His song "Tere bin" from the Sanjay Suri/Juhi Chawla/Urmila Matondkar starrer Bas Ek Pal is the latest hit on the Indian musical countdown shows.

Besides live gigs, three of Aslam's songs have now been selected for a Hollywood project, Man Push Carts, a story of the journey of a Pakistani immigrant in the US.

His hit songs in India with his ex-band Jal include "Vo lamhe" and "Aadat" from the film Zeher, while his solo track "Judaa hokey" from Kalyug and "Tere bin" from Bas ek Pal are a rage, especially in the discos. Jal, meanwhile, is concentrating on a host of live acts with Farhan Saeed Butt (lead vocals), Goher Mumtaz (vocal and guitars) and Shazi Aamir (bass).

Fuzon
Album: Saagar (2005)
Imran (keyboards), Shallum Asher Xavier (guitar), Shafqat Ali Amanat Khan (vocals)
Popular songs (Fuzon): "Aankhon ke saagar" "Tere Bina" "Khamaaj";
(Shafqat Ali Amanat Khan): "Mitwaa" (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna) and "Ye hausla" (Dor)

Fuzon began its journey in India with "Aankhon ke saagar" a song that appeared in Nagesh Kukunoor's Hyderabad Blues II. Soon after, they released their self-titled album in India that sold Saagar copies. The band's lead vocalist Shafqat Ali Amanat Khan began his solo career with "Mitwaa" for Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna that was a chartbuster.

More recently, his song "Ye hausla" from Kukunoor's Dor has been getting a lot of critical appreciation. While Khan has started has started taking his solo career seriously, he insists, "Fuzon hasn't disbanded as rumours suggest".

While he is concentrating on his first international collaboration with Santana, he says the band is working towards its next album too.

Aurko
Album: Aurko ('06)
Supratik (vocals), Souvik (vocals), Jeet (guitar), Dev (bass), Saumya (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Yathi (drums), Rritu (keyboard)
Popular song: "Nadiya 'o' nadiya"

This Bangalore-based band is six years old, and by the time their debut album released early this year, they had clocked over 200 live acts.

Their songs "Nadiyaa" and "Pooche ye dil se" have done reasonably well, though they still need to establish themselves firmly in the north Indian belt.

The band comprises of seven members and their music celebrates the folk tradition of India with generous use of percussions, dholak, tabla and other Indian instruments besides the regular drums, keyboards and guitars.

Silk Route
Albums: Boondein (1998), Pehchan (2000)
Kem Trivedi (keyboards), Kenny Puri (percussions and drums), Mohit Chauhan (vocals), Atul (percussions)
Popular Songs (Silk Route): "Dooba Dooba", "Boondein";
(Mohit Chauhan): "Guhncha" (Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh), "Khoon chala" (Rang De Basanti)

One of the most promising bands of the 90s in India, Silk Route did extremely well with its first album Boondein. Such was the success of their first album that their second album, unfortunately, sank without a trace. The band, according to rumours in the industry, disbanded and everyone went off in search of solo careers.

Lead singer Mohit Chauhan started his solo career singing for music directors like A R Rahman (Rang De Basanti) and turned music director for the film Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh.

"I am signing films and no, Silk Route hasn't disbanded. In fact, we are in the process of bringing out our next album," says Chauhan. This will be the band's third album after a gap of six years.

HFT
A J Sen (guitars), Lou Mojou (guitars), Adhiraj (guitars and drums)

One of the only "" and perhaps the best "" blues and jazz bands of the country, HFT is a motley of extremely talented musicians.

While Lew Hilt and A J Sen are veterans in Indian music circles, drummer Sam Sulai is a newcomer. One doubts if the band will be noticed in the commercial circles of the music industry, especially as they refuse to alter the sounds or lyrics, but if possible, do try and check out their live gigs in your city.