Once written off for his “nasal voice” and “cringe”, Himesh Reshammiya has cashed in on those very things to become Gen Z’s darling
Himesh Reshammiya’s comeback is a masterclass in tongue-in-cheek self-awareness. Pic/Getty Images; (right) The May 31 concert at Jio World Garden, BKC, was a trip down nostalgia lane for Gen Z and Millennials, who grew up blasting Reshammiya’s songs on the radio in the 2000s. Pics/Instagram@himesh reshammiya fanclub
It was a tandoori night! Himesh Reshammiya fans reading this will know why it makes perfect sense to use this phrase to describe his recent concert in the city as part of his Cap Mania Tour.
Right from the venue layout — which had sections labelled as Badass Pit, Jhalak Zone, Hookah Bar Lounge, Suroor Zone, Tere Naam Zone, and Tandoori Nights Zone — to a giant baseball cap near the stage, Reshammiya’s branding was on point.
Soon after the concert, Instagram was flooded with posts by Millennials and Gen Z donning caps, dancing, and singing along to the “badass” performer.
Shayan Mondal and friend don caps specially monogrammed with “HR” for Reshammiya’s concert
“I think this was one of the best concerts because we had no expectations,” says Dolly Vaswani, a 28-year-old chartered accountant who travelled from Pune to Mumbai to witness Reshammiya live. “I remember spending so much time and energy on Coldplay tickets, so I had high expectations from their concert. But Himesh’s concert was so unexpected.”
What Vaswani particularly loved was that Reshammiya had a strong presence on stage and was constantly interacting with the crowd. “In that moment, he did not seem like a big artiste. He was talking to everyone and having fun. We were all there rooting for him as fans,” she adds.
Shayan Mondal, a 26-year-old vlogger, has grown up listening to Reshammiya’s numbers. He’s always regretted not being able to attend the music composer-singer-actor’s concert in his hometown, Kalyani, near Kolkata. When the Mumbai event was announced, Mondal decided he wouldn’t miss it. “None of his compositions are boring,” he says, “His music has always been original, groovy… something you can dance to. Now, Bollywood music is only remixes.”
Narendra Kusnur; Dolly Vaswani and Amit Gurbaxani
Mondal adds that the concert experience was better compared to others. “It was better organised, we had more access to hydration stations and washrooms. The costumes, the fireworks, lasers — all of it added to the experience.”
Vaswani says that it was the first concert where she saw everyone in the crowd enjoying and singing along. “We all knew the lyrics! [Initially] It would feel like we didn’t know the song, but Himesh would start singing, and suddenly you could remember the lyrics and sing along. It was the first concert where I saw vendors, and even the police, dancing and having fun.”
All through the 2000s, Reshammiya has composed and sung bangers like Aashiq Banaya Aapne, Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Teri Meri Kahani, and his debut album, Aap Kaa Surroor.
They are still imprinted in our collective memory.
As Gen Z grew up around a time when all the hit songs were Reshammiya’s, it makes sense that this generation is drawn to him. “For younger Millennials and older Gen Z, he represents a more innocent time,” says freelance music journalist Amit Gurbaxani.
But this level of admiration and adoration for Reshammiya feels new. For the longest time, he has been a polarising figure. He’s given Bollywood some iconic pop numbers, but he has also been widely mocked for his nasal voice and acting skills.
His latest film, Badass Ravikumar, which released in February, cashed in R13.78 crore at the box office. It also recovered its R20-crore budget through music sales and rights deals before its theatrical release. It might not qualify as a blockbuster, but it sure was a sleeper hit.
And Gen Z revered the film. Sunday mid-day’s Gen Z writer, Spandana Bhura, reviewed the film and thoroughly enjoyed it. Primarily because this generation enjoys brain rot. Bhura wrote, “The dialogues were, without a doubt, my favourite part of the film. It became clear to me why the production team of the film felt the need to add ‘badass’ as a prefix to Ravikumar. Every line delivered by Reshammiya was absurdly impactful, to the point of being unintentionally genius.”
Listen closely to the chatter around Reshammiya, and it seems like he’s cracked the code to appeal to the younger generations. “He’s almost become like a king of cringe. He’s owning it,” says Gurbaxani, “It seems like he realised that this is what I represent, and what people like me for, so let me just own it. He’s doing it in a self-aware manner, and amping up the ridiculousness of it all, because he knows that people are not coming to watch him seriously. They are coming to have a good time.”
There is ample proof of Reshammiya’s self-awareness. At his concert in Mumbai, he had the crowd laughing and hooting when he asked, “Regular gaaoon ki naak se gaaoon [Should I sing in my regular voice or my nasal voice)?”
“Naak se gaao [Sing from the nose]!”
The fact that Reshammiya called this the “Cap Mania Tour” (after his signature look), and also handed out a few free caps at the beginning of the concert, goes to show that he’s cashing in on everything his critics have previously picked on. Gurbaxani puts it well, “He’s very much feeding into it.”
India’s best-selling artiste, no cap
Despite what critics have said about him, Himesh Reshammiya’s popularity has always been off the charts. The “nasal singer” claims to hold the record for India’s best-selling album of all time. Aap Kaa Surroor was released in June 2007 and claims to have sold 5.5 crore copies worldwide. No other Indian icons have managed to come close.
Globally, Michael Jackson’s Thriller holds the highest record at 7 crore copies sold, followed by AC/DC’s Back in Black and Whitney Houston’s Bodyguard tied at 5 crore in sales. So, yes, Reshammiya has the second-highest album sales in the world. And, we have rarely acknowledged this.
Besides, Reshammiya also made history as the first Indian to perform at Wembley Stadium in 2006.
“His music was clutter-breaking,” says music journalist Amit Gurbaxani, “In the 1990s, there used to be all these Govinda songs, and they had this kitschy aesthetic. And I think Himesh was very much in that kind of space. So his songs just took off.”
Narendra Kusnur, freelance music journalist, says, “As a composer, he knew the pulse of the market. He was making music for people in the interiors, and that’s why people from everywhere were humming, singing and identifying with his music… Then suddenly he started singing, and that’s where all the criticism started, because he had this nasal voice.”
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