Perhaps the biggest hidden talent for Mumbai audiences was the live performance of Chennai-based Amrit Ramnath and his band at the Jio World Centre, BKC, Mumbai, on 22^nd August, 2024.

On his debut, Amrit showcased his varied compositional talent on stage with a tightly-rehearsed band consisting of Akshay Yeshodharan (guitar), Vinay Ramakrishnan (drums), Navin Napier (bass), Nitin Muralikrishna (keyboards), and Rithu Vysakh (strings).

With an initial musical background of Carnatic music, Amrit appropriately commenced proceedings with a prayer. While two acoustic ballads followed in quick succession with Nee Oli and Megangal, it took a song about a sparrow who listens to gossip among families and shares it with others, called Oorkuruvi, which had the audience perk up further as the so-called “seventh member” of the band. Commencing with a bass solo from Naveen, with Amrit almost appropriating a hand-jiving beat for the rockabilly-tinged Oorkuruvi, where the audience sang-along to the title, the song concluded with a jugalbandi between the vocals of Amrit and guitarist Akshay who doubled up in mimicking his voice as sax.

In providing a “big shout out to my friend Sreejata (Gupta; head of Sony Music’s indie sub-label known as Day One)”, Amrit introduced his EP, ‘100,000 dreams’ (which was released across global platforms on the following day), as being a “journey of dreaming through helplessness, a journey of emotional vulnerability, a struggle…a cry for love, hope, will, and liberation from all visceral feelings”.

Inspired by an event in Amrit’s life when his mother, the acclaimed singer Bombay Jayashri, suffered a medical emergency of brain haemorrhage while on tour of the UK in 2023, and the four-week stay at a Liverpool hospital was a catharsis of sorts for both mother and son, culminating in some of the songs featured on the EP.

Commencing with Prelude, it was followed by Nila, another soft acoustic-driven song based on a poemwritten by Amrit’s mother, which spoke of the bright side of the moon. This track was followed by Kanaguvugal Kanden, which was the first song released as a single from the EP on 25^th July, in which Amrit sang of his seeing “a million dreams”, one of the more haunting melodies composed by Amrit. While the audience participated in the harmonies, the slow starting song picked up pace with the introduction of drums, and featured a shiver-inducing showcase of vocal acrobatics from Amrit that stands tall alongside better Indian performances.

In returning to a repertoire outside the EP, Amrit continued with Nyabagam, a keyboard-based ballad, followed by the up-tempo Manase which, once again, encouraged audience participation.

Amrit Ramnath is Day One’s first signing by its new head, and a close listening of the performance reveals his knack for shifting elements in and out of the sound mix by adding subtle embellishments precisely when a little emphasis or variety is needed. Amrit's ingenuity lies in the way he straddles pop, and classical – both Indian and Western – as though there were no distinctions between them.Appropriate and effective usage of strings (either by cello or on violin) provided a whole new musical dimension to the 90-minute performance.

In knowing how to capture audience attention through his compositions, a tight-band, and appropriate narratives as introductions to the songs performed but, among it all, was the common thread of Amrit Ramnath’s clear-cut vocals that became more of an instrument in itself on the more mellow songs. The biggest learning from the musicianwas that his music, although containing lyrics written in Tamil, paradoxicallyremaineduniversal!

By Parag Kamani

Photos by Abhishek Gupta

Parag Kamani has been part of the media and entertainment industry across 35 years, having worked for licensors such as Warner Music and EMI/Virgin in music, as well as Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Pictures in the field of films. Parag continues pursuing his passion as a profession.