Mid-Day Anniversary Special: Indus Creed relive their early days, and why Rang Bhavan is special

It looks like an abandoned camp, now frequented by photographers in search of a rustic vibe. Yet, the venue beside the Directorate of Technical Education in Dhobi Talao was once Valhalla for Mumbai rock fans. Mahesh Tinaikar remembered, “We used to break in by jumping the wall of the technical college, before they got smarter,” the 61-year old guitarist laughed. As part of Rock Machine, and later Indus Creed, Tinaikar was on stage for some of the most iconic moments of the venue.

(Top, from left) Mark Selwyn, Shriram Shrikant, Bobby Duggal, Uday Benegal, Mahesh Tinaikar, Zubin Balaporia and Jayesh Gandhi. File Pic

“It is a rite of passage for every rock fan, I suppose,” added vocalist Uday Benegal. As a teenager Benegal remembered watching Andy Powell lead the British group, Wishbone Ash on stage at Rang Bhavan in 1981. Interestingly, Tinaikar was also at the same concert. Another member Zubin Balaporia, also first visited the venue as a teenager in 1985. “Dizzy Gillespie was performing in the city as part of Jazz Yatra. Someone told me this genius Indian pianist named Louis Banks would be accompanying him,” Balaporia recalled.

Pic Courtesy: File Pic

“Every kid who can play three songs on a guitar dreams of being a ‘rock’ star. We were no different,” shared Mark Selwyn. In the early 1980s, Selwyn had just returned to Mumbai after a scholarship in Sweden. At the same time, Tinaikar and Jayesh Gandhi had been mulling about the idea of a band. “Mark was the first person we approached. He recommended Suresh Bhadricha [drummer] who was playing with Atomic Forrest then,” shared Tinaikar. Ian Santamaria joined them on vocals. Balaporia would join a little later. “The story goes that nobody asked me to join. I was just hanging around, and became a part,” the composer quipped.

Balaporia at the ticket counter of the venue. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

In 1983, after a year of playing covers, the band got their first invite to Rang Bhavan. “We distributed flyers in colleges,” shared Tinaikar, underlining the ‘rock star’ status. The name of the band, however, was the result of a misprint. Forced to find a name for a gig, Tinaikar and Gandhi picked Rock & Roll Machine, a nod to the Rick Emmett album they were listening to. Thanks to an overworked and underpaid printer, flyers came out with the name Rock Machine. It stuck.

“It was not till much after, during our third album tour to Los Angeles, that someone suggested a change. Since we wanted to pay homage to our Indian roots, Indus Creed was born,” shared Balaporia.

With Farhad Wadia setting up Independence Rock in 1985, Rang Bhavan became the go-to destination for rock fans in the city. “It was affordable, fun and raucous. The tickets were about Rs 20, cheap enough for college kids across the board,” explained Benegal. Not that it was always smooth. “There were times when some fans would get handsy, launching things on stage. I recall Farhad [Wadia], all 6’3 of him, plowing into one such unruly crowd during a performance,” the vocalist shared.

Selwyn recalled the edition in 1988 as one of their best moments. “We had just done a tour of Russia then. It was before that tour that we decided on composing an original album that became Rock N’ Roll Renegade. On return, we played the album for the first time to a packed crowd of 5,000 at the fest. That was the moment I knew we could do this,” he shared. The quiet gates of Rang Bhavan still hold that memory.