Sanjeeta Bhattacharya: “Swimming” in Indie
By Rishabh Vashishtha
If the contemporary independent singer-songwriter renaissance in India started with artists like Prateek Kuhad, then it continues strong in the hands of a talented artist like Sanjeeta Bhattacharya. She is one of many artists who fit under an umbrella that Spotify has neatly coined through a playlist known as ‘IndiEnglish’ - Indian English indie. However, Bhattacharya is not one to be constricted by tidy labels; the Berklee-educated musician is a medley of influences, from classical Hindustani to flamenco. When she isn’t breaking genre barriers, you can find her crossing over languages from English tracks such as “Red” and “Natsukashii” to Hindi-language tracks like the wildly popular “Itne Pyaar Se (Thoda Darr Lagta Hai)” and “Khoya Sa”. Her accompanying catalog of music videos are equally pristine and boundary-pushing - the video for “Khoya Sa” details a forbidden romance between two women, while the visuals for “I Will Wait” display the smoky fragments of millennial love. She has even made the official leap to the small screen with her excellent appearance on “Feels Like Ishq” on Netflix, where she plays a bisexual woman with tumultuous emotions toward a coworker.
Despite some great solo musical work, Bhattacharya has undoubtedly made a career for herself through collaborations and duets. She has paired vocals with indie artists like Dhruv Visvanath, Aman Sagar, Tanmaya Bhatnagar, and even Madagascar-based Niu Raza. Her latest single, “Swimming” is a vocal duet between herself and Kamakshi Khanna, who first performed the song in March of 2022 at the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai. With its stark minimalist instrumentation and soft vocals, the balladic and wistful tune musically resembles something off Swift’s “Folklore”. The song, which was written by the two, came together in the midst of the pandemic and formed itself through WhatsApp voice notes and remote production.
As the Spotify-termed “Desi Indie” and “IndiEnglish” playlists grow increasingly crowded with talented artists, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya has made a mark through her diverse sounds and dynamic collaborations. The future of indie music in India remains bright with artists like this around.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjeeta_Bhattacharya