Manj Musik spices up sounds at India Live

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      Although India Live, a free Granville Street block party taking place this weekend, offers something for pretty much everyone, it’s clear that music is the main attraction.

      Past the sari- and turban-tying lessons, the roti-making workshops, and the Bollywood makeovers, the downtown event will host a diverse array of sounds, including the beautifully introspective jazz of the Neelamjit Dhillon Quartet, the sitar-and-beatbox fusion of Lapis, and the rousing horns of Vijay’s Brass Band.

      But once headliner Manj Musik takes the stage, it’s a given that the day will end with a full-on Bollywood dance party.

      “I’m known for making banging, thumping music that plays in clubs and that plays at parties and weddings and events,” says the singer and producer otherwise known as Manjit Rai, “especially when I mix a lot of the western with the eastern touch.”

      As one of the three English-born brothers behind bhangra supergroup RDB, Rai has made more than his share of floor-fillers, including collaborations with rappers Snoop Dogg and Ludacris. Now that he’s set out on his own, following the death by cancer of his older brother Kuly, Rai doesn’t plan to deviate far from RDB’s template of “rhythm, dhol, and bass”.

      Still, his self-titled debut as Manj Musik finds him broadening his palette just a bit, with tracks that range from the heavily programmed Sikh house of opener “Khuda” to the folk-inflected, acoustic-guitar-based “Aja Mahi”.

      “I personally listen to all genres of music,” Rai notes. “I even listen to heavy metal from Germany and classical music from China. I was born and bred in the U.K. and listened to everything from Michael Jackson to Punjabi folk music, so I am really a mixture of everything. My brain kind of just soaks in every type of genre of music, and that’s what I want to show with my musical skills.”

      Still, his bread and butter, both sonically and economically, remains writing theme songs for Bollywood movies, which is what he’s doing when the Straight reaches him at his Toronto recording studio. In fact, he’s putting the final touches on a tune he’ll debut at India Live: the theme song from the upcoming Dr. Cabbie, shot in Toronto and coproduced by Indian star Salman Khan.

      Directed by former NFB filmmaker Jean-François Pouliot, the film follows the adventures of a young Indian immigrant who finds himself driving a taxi in Canada. Impatient for his medical papers to clear, he turns his cab into a mobile clinic, earning the love of his inner-city neighbours—and, presumably, the ire of the authorities.

      The premise hasn’t been hard to turn into song, says Rai, who adds that music plays a crucial role in marketing Indian films. “With Bollywood soundtracks, the whole movie’s based around songs,” he explains. “They’re practically musicals, and so my job is to make sure that they have one cracking track that hits the dance floors and promotes the movie. I make a really good song for these guys, they make a promotional video and put it out, and then they promote the heck out of the song on the basis of promoting the movie. It kind of works the opposite way round [from Hollywood]: rather than the film being picked up and the music doing well from there, they push the song first and see how the movie picks up after that.”

      Hence Manj Musik’s high-profile slot at India Live—and the on-stage presence of Dr. Cabbie star Vinay Virmani, who’s got some dance moves of his own to share with what’s sure to be an appreciative crowd.

      Manj Musik headlines India Live in the 700 block of Granville Street on Saturday (August 9).

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