Evolution of Acapella

A group that brings together Bollywood and Western music with acapella, Penn Masala is a heavyweight online and offline as well. In India recently, they talk to us about their origins

Penn Masala rose to Internet stardom with their acapella medley ‘Evolution of Bollywood’ and there has been no looking back since. The charismatic group recently toured India earning rave reviews for their unique music style.

Tell us about your journey, how the group began and how you all met. Hari Ravi: Penn Masala was started in 1996 by four college students in a dorm room at the University of Pennsylvania. They had seen other acappella groups on campus and loved singing, but realised that as Indian Americans, they could bring something new to the table by combining the two cultures that they grew up with. Over the 20 years of the group’s existence, Penn Masala has graduated a number of seniors and taken in new freshmen as well. Because of this rotating system, many of us met only after joining the group! Many members of the current group actually met after being accepted into the group itself!

What made you choose acapella as your form of music Praveen Rajaguru: When Penn Masala started twenty years ago, there was acapella, there was Hindi music, and there was Western music. However, the three had not been done together. All they needed was a few guys, no instruments at all, and they could perform new versions of familiar songs, which sounded harmonious, full, and unique. The draw and thrill that acapella brings has continued to sustain us even now as we’ve reached our twentieth year, and we hope to keep innovating in the field.

Is there a huge audience for Bollywood music in the west Wrik Sinha: We believe that our attempts at bridging the American and Indian influences we all grew up with resonate with our American audience. For many of the Indians who grow up outside of India, watching and listening to Bollywood movies’ songs is a major way of getting in touch with their roots. Aside from that, the statement that Bollywood has made in the US is evident thanks to the growing number of Hindi movies in American theaters. Even some of our non-Indian friends listen to Bollywood songs!

Evolution of Bollywood Music blew up on the Internet. What did that feel like Hari Ravi: It was a whirlwind experience for all of us, and we all loved working on the project. We wanted to try something a little different from our usual music videos, and the reception was incredible. The video’s success paved the way for many of the opportunities we have had since its release, including performing at IIFA and in Pitch Perfect 2!

You recently came to India to perform, how was the experience. Did you get a chance to visit places around Pranay Sharma: We just finished our 2016 India Tour, which covered Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Delhi, and I think I speak for everyone when I say we loved every minute of it! It was so awesome seeing and hearing from fans who we normally only get to interact with through social media. Additionally, we had the honour of meeting big names from the industry such as Shaan, Tulsi Kumar, and Roopkumar Rathod. I think I can safely say that these 12 days were nothing short of unforgettable.

Do you have plans of touring India again Praveen Rajaguru: Absolutely. Our tour was everything we could have imagined, and more, and as long as the fans will have us, we will make every effort to come back––hopefully with greater frequency, too!

Would you ever like to do playback for Indian films Hari Ravi: There is nothing that we would like more than to do just that! We’ve had some great experiences collaborating and meeting current playback artists like Jonita Gandhi and Tulsi, and we were thrilled by the offer to appear in the Hollywood film Pitch Perfect 2. Since most of us are such huge Bollywood fans already, we would love the opportunity to work on a song that actually appeared in a Hindi movie.