At the beginning of his first show in years, Indian musician Himesh Reshammiya poses a question: “Should I sing from my mouth or through my nose?” The crowd responds, “Through the nose!” and Reshammiya sings in his distinct nasal voice, entertaining the audience with his hit songs.
Reshammiya has long been a polarising figure in Indian pop culture, mocked for his nasal vocals yet loved for that very uniqueness. He has been written off after shifting focus from music to acting, but those career obituaries proved premature. Now he is back, singing the same songs in the same style, and managing to attract tens of thousands of fans.
Everything was intended to evoke nostalgia at his concert in Delhi, with the set list drawn from the late 2000s, during which he released some of his most memorable songs. Fans received replicas of his iconic red cap, worn by Reshammiya along with his signature black leather robes that inspired a fashion subculture. The production took care of everything else, with energetic dance troupes, sophisticated light and sound backdrops, and a full-fledged backing orchestra.
Fans seemed to be on a whole other level of euphoria, jumping out of their seats and breaking into little dances. Some came dressed like him, in black cap, black jacket, and a cropped beard, and carried banners: “Love you, Lord Himesh”. The impact was disarming, with the success of his concert making him a lowercase god of post-ironic worship: Lord Himesh.
Reshammiya was born in Mumbai into a musical family and started his career as a TV producer at the age of 17. He composed his own songs in his free time, waiting for the right moment to unleash them on the world. That moment arrived in 1998, when he made the music for Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya, starring Bollywood star Salman Khan. The film was a roaring success and earned Reshammiya mainstream recognition.
As his stature as a composer grew, Reshammaiya famously featured as one of the judges in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, a hugely popular reality TV singing show. It was here that he coined the famous line, “Jai Mata Di Let’s Rock”, an eclectic war cry that mashed devotion with rockstar energy, and has become emotional memorabilia for his fans.
In 2005, Reshammiya completely flipped the script with the film Ashiq Banaya Aapne, introducing the world to his signature nasal voice. The twangy sound flew with the masses, with the songs being sloppily produced but the words so emotional and the melodies so catchy that no one cared. He even looked younger, swapping his clean-shaven exuberance for a moodier vibe, crooning ballads beneath a cap and shades that hid his face.
Jokes followed him, along with scathing critics who dismissed him as a fleeting trend and his music as corny and repetitive. But with every hit, he got closer to challenging these notions, earning him the moniker “hit machine”. In 2006, he became the first Indian to perform at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Reshammiya then opted for another grandiose reinvention, turning to acting, which turned him into one of the most famously memed figures in India. His stoic stares on screen lent themselves to so many jokes, but he flipped that around too, taking the best from both and turning it into something unique and inordinately fun.
Between extreme fandom and pouring scorn, Reshammiya took the best from both and turned it into something unique and inordinately fun. So when people made fun of him, he joined in, posting videos of him working out, poker-faced and staring right into your soul, which sparked waves of jokes online. Instead of getting discouraged, he began to post more, saying “Enjoy life man, don’t take it so seriously”.
His films have enjoyed limited success, but he stays on course, saying “With the right film, I can do wonders. I know people would mock me for saying this, but I know what I am doing”. It was this same unapologetic attitude that made his show a roaring success too. Despite the ridicule, Reshammiya is not interested in chipping away bits of his personality, instead, he embraces his quirks, turning them into a commercially successful signature.
Reshammiya is one for the masses, one of the great cultural equalisers in India, proudly owning his style for years, and now his fans are too, even the reluctant and ironic ones. At his concert, two friends were having a conversation, with one asking, “Why do you think I like his songs this much? Is it nostalgia?” The other responds, “Bro, his songs still slap, what else do you need?”
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