Curry’s multilingual mash-up: How the Mumbai trio is reimagining AR Rahman classics

Consider this Curry’s latest serving. The Mumbai-based trio from Mangaluru, Ashish Palanna (Sheesh), Ria D’Souza (Ryo) and Sumanth Shetty (Kanasue), have spent the past few years making multilingual music their thing, performing in more than 22 languages. Their latest video sees them revisiting AR Rahman favourites, including Chinamma/Rukmini and Ye Haseen Wadiyan/Pudhu Vellai Mazhai, but with a Curry-shaped twist. Shot with the energy and aesthetic of a live concert, the music video brings together Hindi and South Indian influences in a multilingual mash-up.

Curry on finding their sound through multilingual music and South Indian roots

When asked why they particularly picked these numbers, Kanasue tells Indulge, “We tried a bunch of different songs, but these felt the most natural. They also had Hindi and South Indian versions, so it made sense for us, as we could create a multilingual mash-up within the same song.”

For Curry, the idea behind a cover is not to recreate the original but to reinterpret it through their own musical identity. “We don’t want to retain the original feel of the song. When we cover something, the idea is to do it our way. If we try to compete with or match the original, it is never possible and will most certainly sound dull to us. The process of creating the accompanying video was equally exciting, though not without its challenges. We understand the feel of the song, and it is simply a matter of achieving that same emotion in our own way.”

The process of creating the accompanying video was equally exciting, although not without its challenges. “It was amazing. It was super hectic, but our supremely talented video team, headed by Aniket and Ayush, pulled it off. The entire set was very elaborate, and this was the first time we had worked on something of this scale,” they say. The band had previously worked with the same video team on their EP Suprabhatha. “It turned out amazingly well, so we knew we were surrounded by great talent. Our band also played a very important part. We perform with these guys live every second day, so it was super fun!”

Curry’s sound is rooted in a fusion of contemporary pop and South Indian musical influences. The band believes that this combination emerged naturally as they explored their individual identities as musicians. “Every artiste discovers their roots as they work on their music, which is the only thing they can be truly authentic with. We are also huge fans of pop and dance music, so it only made sense to fuse the two,” they say.

The trio formed Curry in 2020, having each been involved in different musical projects before coming together. Their interest in exploring their roots played an important role in shaping the band’s identity. “When we wrote our first few original songs, we wanted to explore our roots, and that is where the South Indian aspect came about. We also perform a lot of live music, so we were always performing songs in many different languages.”

Even the name Curry reflects this idea of bringing together different Indian influences. “The name came about when we were looking on the internet for something very Indian and something that everybody around the world could identify with India. In a way, it represents who we truly are — a blend of many different Indian influences.”

While the band members come from different musical backgrounds, their individual styles have gradually found a natural rhythm within Curry. “The more you work together, the more naturally things tend to flow. Ryo and Sheesh bring vocal and harmonic influences from church music, while Kanasue brings a rooted musical influence along with modern musical sensibilities,” they explain.

Their multilingual identity has now become one of Curry’s defining characteristics. What began as a playful experiment has evolved into one of the band’s biggest strengths. “It started as an idea to find out how many languages we could possibly fit into a song — more like a fun challenge! Then it sort of developed into our USP. I think we have really managed to represent most of the widely spoken languages quite well,” says the band, who aspire to work with Anirudh Ravichander one day.

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