Singer-actor Chaitanya Kanhai is on a mission to change the perception that people have about spiritual songs. He feels most listeners think of it as a slow genre. But Kanhai wants to see devotional music become a rage. It is the same thought that led to his latest single, Bhakti Bomb, which is about Lord Krishna.
“The thought of the song came to me during the lockdown while I was going through a low phase. I wanted to hear something that lifts the spirituality in me with upbeat music. I searched for it, and couldn’t find it. That was when I thought I should make something like that,” says Kanhai, who hails from Vrindavan.
Kanhai dug deep into his roots and add the spiritual angle in the song and then gave it a fusion spin. Talking about it, he says, “When it comes to bhakti, people think one has to be in a specific zone, like sit with yourself and vibe with the slow music, which you can’t listen to in every place. But I wanted something which we can listen to everywhere, be it a car, during a workout or a party”.
Ask him if he is trying to make spiritual songs more accessible, with a special focus on the youth, and he agrees to it. “I wanted something which I can enjoy and vibe with it, and thought if my friends and family can vibe with it, others can too. I wanted to change the perception that people have about bhakti songs,” he says, adding, “The entire goal of making it is that I want to have a bhakti rage in the next three years. We listen to music at many concerts such as Tommorrowland. I thought why can’t we have something on the same line where we can dance to the tunes feeling more connecting to ourself and the God?”.
Explaining his point further, he says, “The bhakti songs need to be cool now. I don’t think people of our generation talk about it very openly. But we all need it at some point of life”.
It took him over two years to get the song right with Remo D’Souza’s team coming down to shoot the video. He admits that cracking the music was the hardest thing to do as it didn’t want to touch a wrong chord with people, and not get commercial as well, as he admits, “I wanted to see if it is possible and if people will vibe to it”.
Going forward, he will continue making bhakti songs, but only when they come from his heart.
“I don’t know how fast that process will be. Making commercial music is very easy, but bhakti songs deal with sensitive and powerful subjects to make music and lyrics where it doesn’t offend anyone. It takes a lot of hard work and prep. At the moment, I am working on creating my team,” he ends.
