Pics: MTV Unplugged Launch @ Blue Frog, Mumbai > NH7 | Discover new music from India and around the world

After all the hype created around Coke Studio India, post a phase when music television was given the back seat in preference of reality shows like MTV Roadies, the hype didn’t really live up to the expectation. Following fairly average reviews to the Indian edition of the beverage manufacturers’ show, and constant comparison to its Pakistani counterpart, MTV decided to bring the MTV Unplugged franchise to the country.

The show, MTV Unplugged, was launched on Monday, September 26 (it will go on air on October 1) at Blue Frog, Mumbai. The music director of the show is Ranjit Barot, who seemed persistent on making his presence felt that evening. The lineup of artists for the evening mainly included Bollywood playback singers (barring Delhi fusion act Advaita) such as Mohit Chauhan, Shilpa Rao (both part of The Dewarists), Javed Ali, Rekha Bhardwaj and Rabbi Shergill.

VJ Anusha kicked off proceedings on the night, like VJ Bani did at the Coke Studio Minicert at Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai. After the customary introductions and sponsor-ed gratitude, Advaita took stage to perform two songs, ‘Gates of Dawn’ and ‘Durga’ from their debut album Grounded In Space. Mohit Chauhan took the stage next. There’s no doubting Chauhan’s excellent voice, but his inebriation didn’t help his explanation of why MTV Unplugged was close to his heart.

Playback singer Shilpa Rao performed two of her lesser known Bollywood tracks, ‘Nain Parindey’ (Lafangey Parindey OST) and ‘Dhol Yaara Dhol’ (Dev D OST). Ranjit Barot, joined the in-house band on the drums at this point, only to make constant reappearances either on the drums or vocals. Javed Ali, who shot to fame with ‘Jashn-e-Bahaara’ (Jodhaa Akbar OST, composed by A. R. Rahman), performed ‘Guzaarish’ from the Aamir Khan-starrer Ghajini, composed by Rahman again. Popular Bollywod folk singer Rekha Bhardwaj, known for he unique delivery took stage next, but didn’t perform any of her popular Bollywood tracks from films such as Omkara or Ishqiya. The folk singer performed ‘Lakad’ and was later joined on stage by a beatboxer as well.

The closing act, or so we thought, was Rabbi Shergill. The folk rocker, performed a couple of tracks that he has performed on the show and closed his short set with the largely popular ‘Bulla Ki Jaana’. Post this, Ranjit Barot took stage again to perform the title song of his debut Bollywood film as a music director, Shaitan (read more about the film’s indie scene links here and here). All performers of the evening joined the loud drummer on stage, converting the song into a medley of sorts with Mohit Chauhan refusing to stop playing well past the point of excess.

The first episode of the show, starring Rabbi Shergill was then screened with most punters preferring the free drinks and finger food on offer. Going by the proceedings of the evening, the show seems to be yet another initiative to revive music television being washed away by the Bollywood OD currently on the channel. But we’ll reserve our review till the show is out. Show premieres on Saturday, October 1 at 8pm on MTV India.

Photos by Naman Saraiya