Apr 06, 2015 04:49 PM
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There is a clarification I must make at the start of this review. My thoughts and appreciation expressed in words here pertain to the original Indian Ocean line-up of Susmit Sen, the late Asheem Chakraborty, Amit Kilam and Rahul Ram. That was the real Indian Ocean. Today, with Asheem having passed away and Susmit leaving the band he founded(the name of the band was, in fact, coined by Susmit’s dad), what remains is a pale reflection of The Great Indian Band called Indian Ocean.
Readers of this review and fans of the band are encouraged to watch a documentary film called ‘Leaving Home’ – made by Amit’s brother, Sumit Kalam. It isn’t great on production values but it tells the story of the band’s early years and rise to fame in an engaging style – with lots of live music thrown in. Must watch!
The uniqueness of Indian Ocean lay in their sound.(I deliberately using the past tense here) Never before had a guitar, tabla, bass guitar and drums been combined to create such an earthy, innately Indian sound – ethnic yet urban, youthful yet mature.
Thanks to the power of movies, everyone talks about ‘Bande’ from the film Black Friday. Yes, it’s a great song – but there’s more to Indian Ocean than Bande. Their rich oeuvre of work includes blockbusters like Desert Rain, Kandisa, Bula Raha Hai, Jhini, Maa Rewa and many, many more.
Several reviewers here have talked about the wonder of seeing Indian Ocean perform live. That was always one of the hallmarks of this band. I too was fortunate to see them perform live at the Garden of Five Senses, New Delhi. They always sounded better on stage than in the studio! They had presence. They had energy. They had enormous showmanship – Asheem being the King of the Stage accompanied by the antics of Rahul and the steady rhythms of Amit; even the underplayed Susmit was distinctly noticeable even though he shied away from the limelight.
What a band!
