Soumya Vajpayee

Long considered the entertainment nucleus of the country, the city is currently playing host to a profound musical evolution. A new vanguard of independent artistes is actively rewriting the rulebook, bypassing traditional mainstream blueprints to carve out distinct sonic identities.

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Irshad Kamil has little left to prove. Over two decades, he has written some of Hindi cinema's most memorable songs, from Tum Se Hi, Nadaan Parindey and Kun Faya Kun to Agar Tum Saath Ho and the recent Saiyaara. Yet the National Award-winning lyricist insists he is still a student.

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If you grew up in India over the last four decades, you grew up with KS Chithra. Her voice drifted through prayer rooms and college canteens, weddings and heartbreaks. Kehna Hi Kya (Bombay, 1994), Yeh Haseen Vadiyan (Roja, 1992), Piya Basanti Re (2000), Raat Ka Nasha (Asoka, 2001), Tum Bin (2001). More than 25,000 songs across five languages, six National Film Awards, a Padma Shri and a Padma Bhushan. Yet, speaking to her at 61, days before her Mumbai concert Unforgettable Memories on July 17, the first thing you notice is not the legend but the student.

Somewhere on Instagram, a teenager has paired a Faiz Ahmad Faiz couplet with a 15-second rain-soaked montage. Elsewhere, Mehdi Hassan has become the soundtrack to late-night study sessions, while someone has stumbled upon Mirza Ghalib through a Spotify playlist assembled by an algorithm that knows nothing about Urdu but everything about mood. Separately, across Mumbai, preparations are underway for the 25th edition of Khazana, India's longest-running ghazal festival, where audiences will happily devote an entire evening to an artform that rewards patience, attention and reflection. Those worlds seem far apart, yet they are increasingly converging.

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| Soumya Vajpayee [email protected] | Jul 27, 2026, 04:00 IST Share ‘AGT was a pit stop, not the destination'

As Euphoria marks its return with Dhoomsday, Dr Palash Sen reflects on the songs that defined a generation, balancing life as a doctor and musician, and why staying true matters more than chasing trends