Funny, flamboyant and famous, that is Arvind Vegda for you. Credited with bringing together various folk tunes of Gujarat and helping rediscover others, Vegda tells Priya Adhyaru-Majithia how he earned the title of King of Desi Rock n’ Roll
l A three-year-old fussy eater throws a tantrum, until his mother gives in and plays his favourite bhai-bhai
l A soldier from Rajkot takes with him the bhai-bhai song to de-stress himself when stationed at Kargil. Soon, the men of his camp fall under the spell of the song and give up their bhangra beats.
l A German procures bhai-bhai from Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. Now, he is a Vegda convert who calls the singer and says: “I don’t follow a single word of the song, but simply love it.”
Perhaps, it is borderline blasphemy to mention Gujarati Arvind Vegda’s bhai-bhai with Korean Psy’s Gangnam Style in one sentence, but it is no myth that our Gujju-bhai has fast emerged as the King of Desi Rock n’ Roll. Vegda, who has no formal training in music, is the first ‘bhai’ to get more than two lakh hits on YouTube for his 45-minute musical video, Bhai-Bhai. His videos, a la desi rock, are characterised by a funky rhythm with a strong background score. His repertoire of other songs is a take-off from his signature bhai-bhai.
Rules and clichés aren’t weighing heavy on Vegda’s music but at the same time, he’s gone old-school to belt out foot-tapping numbers at will. Unlike his lean-mean pop contemporaries, Vegda is fat and his music may seem unorganised and clumsy to the uninitiated. Yet, his agile moves are proof of an inherent grace and the contagious energy rubs off on the listener, almost instantly. “I simply mix various tunes together and magic happens,” says Vegda, his eyes already glistening with the hypnotic magic he speaks of.
Bhavai and tunes borrowed from Saurashtra’s Rama Mandal (theatrical form of music) form the core of his musical style. In fact, the influence in bhala mori is too obvious to miss. “One day, I just happened to discover the old Rama Mandal tune of bhala mori rama,” says Vegda. “I started humming it using various intonations. To add a casual conservational appeal, I playfully added bhai-bhai to this tune. It clicked! A group of friends murmured they loved the fusion, and the tune was born,” he recollects.
The tune not only put Gujaratis in touch with their folk music, but also led to the birth of a popular performer. “I was 13 when I started singing on stage during Navratri,” says Vegda, who hasn’t received any formal training in music. “I was made to stand in the second row, a safe distance from the microphone!” Today, he takes centrestage to a blow-the-roof-off reception from the audience. One wonders how a back-row singer transformed into a soloist par excellence. “I never thought of exploring music as a profession,” says Vegda. “I had joined a diploma programme in drama, but quit to pursue commerce. I was a marketing agent with an air-conditioner firm!” He excelled there too and after 12 years in the profession, he was appointed the first non-engineer president of Indian Society of Heating and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineers.
But music beckoned, and Vegda started learning the harmonium under the guidance of Narendra Rao. “He inspired me to pursue singing and we later formed an orchestra which began performing at various garba venues after 2002,” says Vegda. However, it was on Ashtami (the eighth day) of Navratri in 2006 that fame came knocking on his door, though in a strange way. “I got a frantic call from organisers informing me of the demise of famous Garba singer Maniraajbhai – the man who popularised Sanedo. I was asked to take over his scheduled programme sponsored by Divya Bhaskar,” says Vegda. He was elated at the opportunity to perform but was distressed over the demise of Maniraajbhai. “I reached the venue and for the first time presented ‘bhai-bhai’. The audience loved it and that was the first day when my work was celebrated,” said Vegda.
He also achieved big time success with his 45-minute musical video bhai-bhai. “In the video, we wanted to offer something unusual, exciting and gripping. And working with Dhruval Sodagar helped me create the magic,” he said.
Vegda’s Sapno ka Saudagar
Dhruval Sodagar, the creative director for Vegda, is the brain behind the Bhai Bhai CD. It should then be no surprise that the singer calls Sodagar his ‘sapno ka saudagar’ (merchant of dreams). As with everything else in his career, Vegda’s meeting with Sodagar was not smooth. “I consulted several artistes when I decided to make my album. All of them quoted Rs25,000 but Dhruval asked for Rs3 lakh. I struck him off my list immediately,” says Vegda. Later, Vegda wondered why Dhruval had quoted such a high price. “I enquired and learned that Dhruval had some refreshing ideas on packaging and I soon joined hands with him,” says Vegda, whose video has animation clips from comic films of Charlie Chaplin and funny commercials as the backdrop for the music and dance. The video has grand costumes, flamboyant manners, peppy music and bold dance moves – merged with folk music worded in easy and funny local language. “The album attracts the young and the old alike. It appeals to urban and rural audiences due to its unique fusion and packaging,” says Dhruval. The way they forayed into the market too is interesting. “We introduced the album in Ambaji in September 2011. One pan shop played the CD and others followed suit and a trend was born. We sold more than 10,000 albums within nine days of Navratri in the Ambaji market alone,” says Dhruval. To date, he is the only performer who has been able to fuse the different folk musical traditions of Gujarat and create a vital hotchpotch to win over the young and old.
BJP, Cong too went ‘bhai-bhai’
Arvind Vegda’s bhai-bhai was also used as the punch line for the 2012 election campaign by both BJP & the Congress. Chief minister Narendra Modi invited Vegda to campaign for the BJP in 2012 to cash in on his popularity in urban and rural Gujarat. “My lyrics are easy and communicate a message to the point. They are direct yet subtle. Use of localised accents sharpens the appeal. The CM chose us as a medium for election campaign due to the conversational quality of our lyrics. My tune is catchy and the words create a direct rapport with the listeners,” he adds. Vegda says that the lyrics had to be altered so as to comply with the election commission’s Model Code of Conduct. Given the way it attracted the crowd, Congress too used the tune weaving their own message in it, most of it poking fun at the chief minister.
