Telugu spice in Masala Coffee
The clock strikes eight. Diners wearing glittery outfits walk into the Prism Club & Kitchen with hopes of having the time of their lives. A team of sound engineers have taken over the stage to set up a perfect mix. The bartender practises the juggle, which is the only source of amusement for those waiting to hear the live music for which they shelled out Rs 500-Rs 3,000.
The clock strikes nine. The pub aerates with the smell of starters, beverages and myriad perfumes of party animals. The disco lights go on and the stage lights up amid a puff of fog. “Where are they?”, “I should have arrived late” — the diners get impatient as recorded tracks are played. They while away their time by shaking a leg, but nothing to match what lies ahead.
The clock strikes 10. Screams, howls and applause fill the pub as Kerala-based chart-topping Indie-folk band Masala Coffee take the stage. “Are you ready, Hyderabad?” intonates lead vocalist Varun Sunil as the crowd responds with a thunderous ‘YES’.
Krishna Raj sets the pace of the gig on his violin, and one after the other, all the band members join him. They soon breaks into the melody of Aadiyillallo Anthamillallo. The crowd seems like it has gone into a state of trance. The band, which has been winning many hearts across the country over the years, soon belts out another hit number, Aaromole. The soul soother crooned by vocalist Crishna transports everyone on the floor to another dimension. Then comes Kaantha, which drastically changed the mood. Hands went up in the air, screams got louder and the people got into the flow of the peppy Malayalam folk track.
Masala Coffee also performed Marana Ghosha, a song that the band has composed for an upcoming Telugu film. For this one though, the audience remained quiet as they had not heard it before.
“We have been composing another Telugu single,” says Vishal, the founder of the band. “It is a new spice to our coffee,” he adds. “We don’t know if people are going to like it, but I am sure we will do our best in creating this number,” he says.
Marana Ghosha is about the struggle the band has been through to be where it is today, says Crishna. “Hyderabad is and will remain our second home. We have played in the city several times now and are getting requests to make something in Telugu,” says Aslam, the Indian Idol winner who is now part of the band. For Vishal, food and people make a home, home. “We love both of these in Hyderabad. We are excited about our Telugu debut, which will be aired on all audio streaming platforms in October. We will stay in the city for a couple of weeks,” he says.
Kerala-based chart-topping band Masala Coffee left Hyderabadis in awe on Thursday night after an intimate gig at Prism Club & Kitchen in Financial District. We catch up with the band in their greenroom and bring to you the mood from the pub.