Raveena Arora, with angelic curves and twinkle in her eyes, graced the stage at Lollapalooza India in Mumbai last weekend. In an iridescent, shimmery dress, with her hair tied in a wavy ponytail, the 29-year-old Indian-American singer clutches a mic covered in pink and purple flowers, and hums one of her most popular songs, “Honey” . ..,” her dreamy voice washing over the crowd.
For Raveena, performing in India is like a dream come true. His music veers between genres, drawing influence from R&B, pop and old-school Bollywood. “In my own journey as an artiste and visually, I love the combination of Bollywood influences. It’s the dreamiest, most ethereal place. It’s what I grew up on, it feels so natural,” she says, in an exclusive interview with Hindu.
Her latest concept album, awakening of hope, follows Asha, a Punjabi space princess who explores love, loss, modern society and herself. The Indian touch is undeniable, with soft taps on tabla introducing the song “Samay Udta Hai…” and a chorus in Hindi on “Kismat…”.
“We are going to sing in Hindi now,” she shouts to the audience. , One, two, then, four, come on, with me:She sings the opening of “Kismet”, adding the shimmering moves and dramatic sighs that defined Hindi films in the 60s and 70s.
Powerful, Soul Shaking Songs
Raveena’s artistic strength lies in her ability to pair soothing sounds with powerful, soul-stirring lyrics. “There’s a certain sweetness, but also incredible strength and passion for Indian women. I love exploring that contradiction in my music. We hear so many voices of famous Indian women in music like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, There’s such a charming and innocent quality about them. But what we go through as brown women is tough. It’s really insane what we put into these bodies as women. So I’m going to experience that I try to talk to
Her lyrics have tackled topics such as sexual assault, heartbreak, sexuality and identity politics. The raw quality of his songs and his melodic style create a safe safe space where loving, learning, and losing come together, without feeling cheesy. Raveena says that music “saved” her as a way to process and reflect on these experiences. “Everything I do is based on this healing quality, it’s about calming myself down and inspiring other people to love themselves deeply and take care of themselves and understand themselves better, as that I do myself.”
Raveena Arora: “What we as women are going through in these bodies is really insane. So I try to speak from that experience.
being a changemaker
Raveena is extremely proud of her Indian roots. Raised by Sikh-practicing parents, she grew up in a prosperous Indian immigrant community between New York and Connecticut. “I grew up in a very gray place. I just felt like I had something to offer musically, experiencing it in both cultures. It’s definitely a challenge because musically it’s very different.” There’s different, really different scales, and totally different sounds and rhythms and, and patterns. But I think that’s the beautiful challenge of being a musician.
Raveena’s exploration of sexuality and identity positions her as a changemaker, especially with regard to South Asian representation.
In her 2018 single, bait, she revealed that she is bisexual. Being able to perform in India, at a time when the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and social acceptance is in full swing, she says, gives her the opportunity to “provide a little bit of representation in that space and be a little bit of an agent of change.” Feel honored to be there.” , I know there is a long way to go… but hopefully this is a step in the right direction.”
Lollapalooza in India, which was produced and promoted by BookMyShow, saw Raveena pay tribute to Asha Bhosle. Swinging his guitar on his ponytail, he began strumming the beats to “Dum Maro Dum” from the 1971 Bollywood film, Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Lowering his voice to match Bhonsle’s, and then increasing it with his own, sent the Lollapalooza crowd into a frenzy.
Raveena sang “Dum Maro Dum” at Coachella in California last year, where she was the first artist of Indian origin to perform. She says she later learned that her performance had triggered racist comments directed at South Asians. she says that while awakening of hope A “really hit” among brown people, the album told them that, “there was a lot of education to be done in America, around some of the stereotypes, around Indian music, that are still around South Asians.”
Raveena sang “Dum Maro Dum” at Coachella in California last year, where she was the first artist of Indian origin to perform
However, performing at Lollapalooza India really feels like a big moment for her, she says. “It is really interesting to come here and feel more famous and more understood… It is very comfortable. I feel at home and loved.
Though she used to visit India regularly while growing up, this is the first time Raveena was in Mumbai for work. She says that touring as an artist allowed her to gain “perspective” on India’s art scene as a member of the Indian diaspora. “I want to be a student right now and just soak it all up and learn from people. There’s so much amazing art coming out all the time, I want to learn from all the creatives out here.” who also performed at Lollapalooza, and from the diaspora, Bangladeshi-British singer Joy Crooks and Indo-British artist Jay Paul.