Bombay Vikings

Bombay Vikings

Bombay Vikings is a pop and rock group that combines Indian and classical music. It was formed in 1994 Stockholm, Sweden. The band was originally started by Neeraj Shridhar, Oscar Söderberg and Mats Nordenborg.

The group Bombay Vikings caused a sensation both in India as well as overseas among the Indian music community due to its unusual combination of classical Bollywood style and European experimentation. It has been one of the most notable musical groups in India to emerge in the past decade. It is the first group to produce songs in Hinglish, i.e., a mix of Hindi and English. This idea of combining the two languages to produce a beautiful and melodious song first came to the mind of the frontman of Bombay Vikings, Neeraj Shridhar. Nowadays, Neeraj also sings as the playback singer for many Bollywood films, and has delivered many hits in recent years.

History

Forming The Band

The leader of the band, Neeraj Shridhar hails from Jallandhar, Punjab in India. Neeraj moved to Sweden when he was 13, and developed his passion for music there. He enjoyed listening to both western and Indian classical songs. He formed his band , "Bombay Vikings" in 1994, which performed at many places in Europe. The band mainly performed English songs with Neeraj adding a strong Indian influence. After some years, most of the band members got separated, but Neeraj chose to keep the name of the band for forming another band with the remaining members, but this time, he was ready to perform in India.

Kya Soorat Hai (1999)

Neeraj produced his first ever album, 'Kya Soorat Hai', in the year 1999, after keeping the project in the closet for almost 3–4 years, because most of the Indian Music Companies did not find a reason for the album to be popular among the Indians, due to its strong English and Western influence, and demanded changes in it. Finally, Sony BMG agreed to produce the album in India, without any change. The album consisted of 8 tracks, all of which were remakes of old Indian songs. Every song was basically English, with a few 2-3 songs containing hardly 3-4 lines of Hindi. But in spite of this, the album was a huge success in India, and opened the doors for westernization of music in India. The songs 'Kya Soorat Hai', 'Mona Re' and 'Night Is So Perfect' were a rage among the teenagers. The video of the song 'Kya Soorat Hai' starred South-Indian Star Prabhu Deva's brother, and was a huge hit due to its hip-hop feel. The song 'Mona Re' was also made into a video.

Woh Chali (2000)

Soon after the success of this album, Bombay Vikings came up with yet another successful and innovative album, 'Woh Chali', in 2000. This album contained 4 remakes of old songs, and 5 originals, with which the new face of Neeraj Shridhar came up, i.e., a modern world-class music composer, which shut up the mouths of all the critics who blamed Neeraj to do simply 'Copy and Paste' although he never remixed any song, but remade them. All the songs of this album were basically hits, especially the songs 'Woh Chali', 'Jambola', 'Angel Eyes' and ' Jump Up'. The song 'Angel Eyes' was not only successful in India, but was a huge international success as well.

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar was so impressed with the remake of her song 'Main Chali', that she even invited Neeraj in her own function on her birthday, to perform.

Three songs of the album were made into videos-'Woh Chali', 'Jambola' and 'Angel Eyes'.

Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye (2002)

Following this, Bombay Vikings released another superhit album 'Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye', in 2002. This album again revived the old songs in a modern way, hence making the youth admire the beauty of the old songs as well. This album was a complete function, and produced some of the greatest songs in India.

This time Neeraj worked with guest singers Linnea Sporres and Indian singer Falguni Pathak to produce superhit songs. The videos of the songs 'Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye' and 'Tera Mera Pyaar Sanam' were huge hits as well. In the same year, the album 'The Best Of Bombay Vikings' was released, which contained the biggest hits of Bombay Vikings till then, along with a playback song of the film- 'Rules:Pyar Ka Superhit Formula', in which Neeraj had sung a song called 'Kabhi Phool Dena' for music director Sandesh Shandilya.

Chhodh Do Aanchal Zamana Kya Kahega and Fusion Remixes (2004)

In 2004, Bombay Vikings came up with 'Chhodh Do Aanchal Zamana Kya Kahega'. This song, and the album, was again a huge hit. The title track had the main lines sung again by Linea, and was a huge hit along with its video, which was played in every music channel for almost a year. The youthful songs 'Ik Badal' and 'Aa Raha Hoon Main' were also milestones, and the video of the song 'Aa Raha Hoon Main' was a commercial hit. In The same year, Neeraj produced a single titled 'Hum To Anything Karega', a remake of the song 'Hum To Mohabbat Karega'. This song, along with Neeraj's previous few hits, and the songs of other artists such as Falguni Pathak, were released in the album 'Fusion Remixes'

Zara Nazron Se Kehdo (2006)

Success of the band followed when it came up with yet another superhit album 'Zara Nazron Se Kehdo'. This song along with its video, which starred Bollywood actress Celina Jaitly, was a huge hit. The song 'Mere Dil Ne' was also made into a video. After this album, Neeraj chose to take a short break.

This was the final Bombay Vikings album till date.

Rise of Bollywood career (2006)

Neeraj started working as a Bollywood playback singer in 2006 with the song 'Tumko Dekha' for the film (God Tussi Great Ho) starring Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra, although this film got released later. In the year 2006 his songs 'Halke Halke' (Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.) and Bhagam Bhaag (Bhagam Bhaag) were huge hits, which opened all the doors for him to be successful in Bollywood as well. The video of the song 'Bhagam Bhaag' at that time was the most expensive Bollywood video produced.

Career in Bollywood (2007)

After this, Neeraj tasted a huge amount of continuous success in bollywood. Right from the beginning of the year 2007, he delivered hits like 'Ticket To Hollywood' (Jhoom Barabar Jhoom), 'Heyy Baby'(Heyy Baby), and 'Ishq Subhanallah' (Mere Baap Pehle Aap), 'Ishq Ka Kalma' (Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal), and the biggest of them all 'Bhool Bhulaiya' (Bhool Bhulaiya), commonly known as 'Hare Raam Hare Raam'. This Akshay Kumar starrer song was the biggest hit of the year, and was even nominated for the Filmfare awards, one of the most prestigious awards in India, along with the songs 'Ticket To Hollywood' and 'Heyy Baby'. Neeraj also co-wrote the song 'Bhool Bhulaiya' with Sameer.

Success continued when Neeraj successively gave hits after hits, and soon he gained the experience of working with almost all the main bollywood music directors. Till Date he has worked with Sajid-Wajid, Salim-Sulaiman, Pritam, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar, Nadeem-Shravan, Anu Malik, Sandesh Shandilya, Aashish Pandit, and many more. He has mostly worked with Pritam. Although he has never worked with Salim-Sulaiman on a bollywood song, but he worked with them for the song of the famous television reality show 'Khatron Ke Khiladi', the Indian version of 'Fear Factor'.

Career in Bollywood (2008)

In 2008 also, Neeraj had all of his songs superhits. Namely he sang the following songs for their respective films- 'Race Saanson Ki', 'Race Is On My Mind' and 'Sexy Lady' (Race), 'Chandni Chowk To China' (Chandni Chowk To China), 'Love Mera Hit', and 'Rockin' And Reelin' (Billu), 'Vacancy' and 'Tha Karke' (Golmaal Returns), 'Aai Paapi' (Kismat Konnection), 'O Re Lakad' (Krazzy 4), 'Nobody Like You' (Mission Istanbul), 'Soniyo' (Raaz – The Mystery Continues), 'Bas Ek King' and 'Talli Hua' (Singh Is Kinng), 'Sooni Sooni Raahein' and 'Main Ro Na Padoon' (Hum Phir Mile Na Mile), 'Pom Pom Pom' (Horn OK PLeasss), 'Samandar' (Mr. White Mr. Black), 'Khalbali' and 'Bhuri Bhuri' (Khalbali). This year he sang for a number of bollywood actors, such as Saif Ali Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, and Shahid Kapur. Neeraj also sang a Telugu song called 'Om Namaste Bolo' from the film (Ready), staring Genelia D'Souza. Also, Neeraj wrote the songs 'Ae Aa o' (Billu), 'Vacancy' (Golmaal Returns), 'Aayaare' (Kolkata Knight Riders- 2 Hot 2 Cool), which he also sang.

Career in Bollywood (2009)

Neeraj sang songs like ' Pal Yeh Aane Wala Pal' (Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge), 'Aaja Mahi' (8x10 Tasveer), Prem Ki Naiyya' (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani), 'You Are My Love' (All The Best), 'Bebo' and 'Beautiful Woman' (Do Knot Disturb) , 'Tension Lene Ka Nahi' (Jugaad), 'Jashn Hai Josh Hai' (Kal Kissne Dekha), 'Lakh Lakh Nakhre' (Kambakkht Ishq), 'Twist', 'Chor Bazari', and 'Aahun Aahun' (Love Aaj Kal), 'Tum Mile' (Tum Mile), 'Shiri Farhad' (Dulha Mil Gaya), 'Pe Pe Pein' (Chance Pe Dance).

Career in Bollywood (2010)

In the year 2010, Neeraj slowed down on working on Bollywood songs, due to his involvement in his own album. Neeraj sang the song 'Mera Jeena Hai Kya' (Aashayein), which is altogether a different kind of song from what he had done in the past. Another recent song of his is the song 'Kya' from the Emran Hashmi-starrer film Crook-Its Good To Be Bad. This is his most recent hit. Neeraj also sang the songs 'Ale' and 'Desi Kali' of the film Golmaal 3, and 'Ajab Lehar' of the film Break Ke Baad, starring Imran Khan, and Deepika Padukone.

Forthcoming Bombay Vikings album

Bombay Vikings has announced a forthcoming album entitled 'U n I' but a release date has not been announced.

Discography

Studio Albums

• U n I (May 2011)
• Zara Nazron Se Kehdo (2006)
• Chhodh Do Aanchal (2004)
• Hum To Anything Karega-Fusion Remixes (2004)
• The Best Of Bombay Vikings (2002)
• Hawa Mein Udati Jaaye (2002)
• Woh Chali (2001)
• Kya Soorat Hai (1999)

External Links

Bombay Vikings Official Site

Neeraj Shridhar Official Site