6/11/11 Bollywood wedding at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia PA

My groom for this wedding inquired about Bollywood music for the cocktail hour. He hired a string trio (two violins, one violin who can also play guitar, and cello), asked me to score 9 Bollywood songs for string trio, and asked for Western classical music for the wedding ceremony.

The song list (and please note, some of these songs took 13 hours a piece to write out):

1. Ek Ladki
2. Tujhe Dekha
3. Hoton Se
4. Chandi Jaisa
5. Jai Ho
6. Kabhi Kabhi
7. Aapki Nazro
8. Chaiyya Chaiyya
9. Yeh Dil

Also of note: when I showed up for the wedding ceremony, the officiant asked if we had any traditional Indian classical music for the fire ceremony. The groom forgot to tell me about this. But wait, it ends well! Now, I studied South Indian (Carnatic) music for 10 years, and my teacher JUST cleared me to play in public (that's just the way it is in that tradition), so I sat down cross legged near the altar when the fire ceremony was about to start, detuned my violin, put coconut oil on my fingers, and played 10 minutes of the Chakravakkam raga for them.

The cocktail hour was an even mix of songs from my MTV fake book (the other violinist switched over to guitar sometimes), and the Bollywood songs. We had the crowd DANCING to acoustic music!

Every year, I end up with one big wedding that's the wedding of the year. I have to say, this wedding plus Lori's daughter's wedding (see next post) make it a magical year of TWO huge weddings! If you want Bollywood or classical Indian music (South Indian, aka Carnatic violin), I've got that too! I can't think of any other musician in this geographical area who can do both the music arrangements and traditional Indian classical music. Plus, we had a BLAST!

Love,
Catherine

6/12/10 Wedding in Atlantic City

UPDATE (2/4/11): There are two youtube videos of Bollywood music with solo violin:
1) Ek Ladki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkySIyxEMjY
2) Tujhe Dekha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7-xNqakX08
     I was thrilled when Rachael from Events by Firelight called me to play for an 400 person wedding at One Atlantic. Then she asked if i could play an hour of Bollywood music and wear traditional Indian clothing. Now THAT'S my kind of party!
      Full disclosure: I'm an avid student of South Indian (Carnatic) violin, taking lessons since 1998. Before I found a teacher, I always felt that Indian music expressed my soul's music perfectly and looked for any type of Indian music I could find. This included film music, traditional music (both North and South), Bhangara (the BEST workout music), devotional music, you name it!
      A request for an hour of Bollywood, though, brought me back to 1997, so I had to do about 20 hours of research to put a list together. I tried to make a mix of older and newer songs out of respect to different age groups. Wading through CDs and youtube was a joyous way to spend a week.           
    The wedding was a candlelit dream high above water in Atlantic City, NJ. It was beautiful, like a fairy tale. I was so happy to be a part of it. Everyone tolerated my cheat sheet and loved my Salwar Kameez! Really lovely crowd.                         
     So here's the list. A client recently asked if I could bring a string quartet to do some of these, which is fine if my time arranging the music is considered. Also, if you have a favorite (or two or three) which is not on the list, I am happy to learn them for you:
1) Hum Kisise Kum Naheen
2) Chaiyya Chaiyya (Dil Se)
3) Tujhe Dekha To Yeh Jaana
4) Ye Dil Na Hota (Jewel Thief)
5) Dil to Pagal Hai
6) Dholna (Dil to Pagal Hai)
7) Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain (Pardes)
8) Kabhi Yun Bhi (sung by Jagjit Singh)
9) Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (plus 9a, Albela Sajan)
10) Chand Chupa (Hum Dil De...)
11) Jhoka Hawa Ka Aaj Bhi (Hum Dil De...)
12) Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To (1942)
13) Pyar Hua Chupke Se (1942)
14) Do Lafzon Ki (The Great Gambler)
15) Vada Karle Sajna (Haath Ki Satai)
16) Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Top requests for the evening were numbers 2, 5, and 15. I hope to do an event of this nature again soon!