Babla, known as the ‘Rhythm King’ (a title bestowed on him by the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) was among the first musician to try out remixing way back in 1979. He is known for redefining dandiya tunes by mixing disco beats in them, thereby creating the ‘Disco Dandiya’ genre.
The younger sibling of the legendary music duo Kalyanji-Anandji, Babla has been a part of hit compositions like ‘Khaike paan Banaraswala...’ (Don) and ‘Laila o Laila...’ (Qurbani). He was the first to introduce the Roto Drums in the Indian music scenario. Babla has independently composed music for films like Hero Hiralal and some albums. Kanchan has also sung for films like Rafoo Chakkar and Dharmatma, besides Qurbani.
Disco Dandiya, an instrumental album released way back in 1981 by Babla, comprising his own compositions and hit songs from films, rendered a new sound to traditional Navratri fare. The album became so popular that it changes the name of Dandiya to Disco Dandiya.
Babla and Kanchan’s love for live shows and orchestra music took them away from India. They extensively toured the world doing live in the USA, Canada, West Indies, Ghana, Surinaam, Holland, London and Austrialia amongst other places as the ‘Kanchan and Babla Orchestra’. The duo are the first Indian artistes to catch the fancy of West Indians. Their albums Kaise Bani and Kuch Gadbad Hai are popular in West Indies. Kanchan has also been featured as a celebrity mom in a diaper ad in that country.
Their experiment with the ‘Soca’ and ‘Calypso’ genre has resulted in the new peppy album Kuch Kuch Baby now launched in India. The couple has passed on their musical talent to their daughter Nisha, an upcoming singer, and son Vaibhav, who is said to be a child prodigy at 12 years of age. He can play a series of instruments like Bongo, Timbali, Roto Drums aand synthesizers among others, and has done over 500 live shows. He gave his first performance when he was just two-and-a-half years old in Canada, and has today made a mark with his drum-playing ability. He is also a part of Kalyanji-Anandji’s group ‘Little Wonders’, and besides playing the instruments, he also sings. Vaibhav has done the rhythm programming for his father’s album titled Krishna O Krishna.
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