Just like in the movie, five city youngsters juggle work, academics and music to make their mark as a band Avtaar
Just like in the movie, five city youngsters juggle work, academics and music to make their mark as a band AvtaarInstead of just pounding on the computer keyboard like their fellow young professionals, five Mumbaikars have hit a different key. They created their own music band. On Saturday, their efforts over the past two years bore fruit and the band, Avtaar, was given the longest slot at a three-band concert held in Thane.
Sudhir Khollam (23), the rhythm guitarist and initiator of Avtaar, said it all began when they were studying at the Veer Jijamata Technical Institute (VJTI) where they were part of the college band. But it took them a while to strike out on their own.
Said lead singer Balaji Venkatraman (22), "We wasted a couple of years before we realised that we wanted to form a band."
But once they made up their minds, they did some fast work. They have already come up with eight original compositions. "We normally sing the latest songs, but we enjoy the process of creating an original track," he added.
Juggling actWith four of the five members working and one still studying, their lives are a hodgepodge of tight schedules.
But no matter how busy they are, they come together every weekend to rehearse. Said Lalit Bhagwat, the band's lead guitarist, "Come what may, if we have decided to meet, I will be there."
And if someone absolutely can't make it, they work around the problem. "If we have a deadline and I can't be there for recording, the others send me the track. I record the song and send it back to them," said Venkatraman.
And this dedication is beginning to pay off. The band is now in talks with some media firms for a commercial launch.
Meet the band>>Balaji Venkatraman (lead singer), an electronics engineer planning to pursue MBA
>>Sudhir Khollam (rhythm guitarist), a civil engineer working with a property developer
>>Amol Shende (drummer), a production engineer working with a construction giant
>>Lalit Bhagwat (lead guitarist), graduated as an IT engineer
>>Saurabh Deshmukh (keyboard player), TYBSC student from KJ Somaiya College
