It is a common notion that GenY is not very spiritually inclined, but if you happen to meet 23-year-old Shivali Bhammer you might be pleasantly surprised to know how she has imbibed spirituality as a part of her life. This London-based singer has recently launched her first album titled The Bhajana Project, which has nine bhajans and mantras recomposed with modern beats. The artiste was in the capital recently and spoke to us about her first endeavour.
The thought of blending bhajans with R&B, acoustic guitar, tabla and drum beats was actually accidental, reveals the singer. She says, “We thought of mixing modern beats with bhajans when I was chatting with my friend Arjun, who has played and produced the album. These songs are contemporary expressions of religion and I think today’s youngsters will connect with it instantly. I have got rave reviews and a positive feedback on my re-created songs and many youngsters come and tell me how they found these songs very soothing.”
Shivali was born and brought up in UK and she says she has had a very spiritual upbringing. She informs, “I grew up listening to bhajans at home and religion is something that comes very naturally to me. Our family is very religious, but not conservative, so I thought of recomposing holy verses in a way that everyone could associate with them. In kalyug, just the name of Krishna is enough, so I wanted others to know about these beautiful songs.”
The young singer is happy to fulfill her dreams and aims to popularise bhajans among the hip-hop happy generation. “I think bhajans should not lose the element of bhav and one should enjoy listening to them. I wanted to spread the message and I hope to be doing so in the future as well,” she adds.