Nalin Kohli, greatest referred to as one of many BJP’s most recognisable faces on primetime tv debates, slipped into a completely completely different avatar over the weekend. Sporting a traditional gray beret, an unbuttoned shirt over a tee and blue trousers, Kohli turned the highlight away from politics and onto rock ’n’ roll at Delhi’s famed jazz venue, The Piano Man.
Opening with the enduring “Born to Be Wild” alongside his sister Vandana, Kohli transported the viewers into the spirit of late-sixties rock earlier than switching gears to the retro Bollywood favorite “Monica O My Darling.”
It was not simply the music that grabbed consideration, but additionally the power. Between courtroom arguments and tv sound-bites, the senior advocate appeared fully comfortable on stage, transferring the group with animated gestures, dance strikes and a efficiency steeped in nostalgia.
Calling it his “fourth gig”, Kohli described music as one thing deeply embedded in his life. He and Vandana, impressed by sibling duo Nazia Hassan and Zoheb Hassan, have been performing collectively because the Eighties. From singing Rabindra Sangeet whereas rising up in Kolkata to forming their very own band “Sourdough” two-and-a-half years in the past, the weekend efficiency was much less a interest and extra the most recent chapter in a decades-long musical journey.
Talking to India As we speak on-line, Kohli mentioned music had been a part of his life for many years, recalling how he and his sister Vandana carried out collectively by way of the Eighties and Nineties. Impressed by sibling duo Nazia Hassan and Zoheb Hassan, the 2 ultimately fashioned their band, “Sourdough”, round two-and-a-half years in the past.
“We grew up in Kolkata, studying Rabindra Sangeet and different Bengali music between 1980 and 1985. Going to Tollygunge Membership, singing Rabindra Sangeet at features…the expertise got here very younger and Bengal performed an essential position,” Kohli advised India As we speak on-line, crediting Bengal’s cultural environment for shaping his musical journey.
Calling the efficiency a “welcome change,” Kohli mentioned many individuals had been pleasantly stunned to see “somebody from the BJP doing rock and roll in English.” Referring to reactions on-line, he mentioned somebody from Punjab with 3.5 lakh followers had tweeted: “Din mein pravakta, shaam mein yeh jalwa.”
The reactions on-line had been full of awe and shock. Famend writer Gautam Chikermane didn’t cover his pleasure, writing, “Knew Nalin Kohli as a soft-spoken senior advocate and BJP spokesperson. However final evening he unleashed his ‘wild’ facet with the proficient Sourdough the Band. The 18–80 yr olds at @TPMcafes went completely ballistic.”
Responding to the publish on X, Nalin Kohli wrote, “Subsequent gig, I’m jamming with you!”
Kohli advised India As we speak on-line that his first main public efficiency got here in November 2024 to have fun his designation as a senior advocate. “Somebody advised me after the present that fifties is the brand new thirties,” he recalled.
The BJP spokesperson added that he was now eyeing performances in japanese and northeastern India after receiving encouraging suggestions, particularly from the Northeast. “Folks from the North East referred to as me and mentioned that is what we like and need to see,” he mentioned.
In keeping with Kohli, he and Vandana have been performing collectively for practically 40 years, usually at household gatherings and buddies’ properties, earlier than lastly deciding to “give extra expression to the stage”. He additionally mentioned a few of the music carried out on the occasion included unique compositions written by the siblings themselves.
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