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SCMP Reporter

Trying to find an empty barstool on a cramped Friday night at Halo in Central's  Stanley Street is not easy, but finding a heady  A.R. Rahman beat in the air is.

Over in the music venue at Lane Crawford in IFC Mall, the remixed work of Punjabi musician Bally Sagoo can often be heard,  while sub-club sections at HMV play Indian-infused music.

Bhangra-beats, Bollywood hits and Indo-fusion are moving away from Indian restaurants and are more frequently played in clubs, shops and even furniture stores dotted around Hong Kong and the rest of the world.

DJ Slick (Rajesh Gidwani)  said this flavour of music was not new.

'I first noted Indian music on the local club scene about 20 years ago,' he said.

Gidwani's vast collection and knowledge of popular music, Indian and international, makes him a notable presence on the club scene.

'[The spread of Indian music] stemmed from Britain and spread to the huge Indian population in Europe where Desi  [Southeast Asian-style] beats infiltrate the underground scene. Now it's everywhere,' he said.

DJ Anil Ahuja,  who plays at Red,  Sugar  and other hot venues, said: 'These days, playing Indian music for a western or Chinese audience is incredibly popular in Hong Kong,' Anil said.

'Many Southeast Asian DJs, especially in America, have mixed bhangra music with house, reggae and hip-hop to add a different flavour to bhangra.

'These remixes and producers continue to gain popularity. Missy Elliott's Get Ur Freak On, features producer Timbaland's  innovative use of the tabla and other South Asian instrumental and vocal snippets.

'Other examples include Bollywood samples in Lil' Kim's Get in Touch, Tweet's [Charlene Keys] Call Me,  which features the sitar, and Beyonce's Baby Boy.

'Britney Spears used a Desi Kulcha  remix of Me Against the Music on her latest album.

'The great popularity of these tracks led to an even greater use of bhangra  in western music.'

Indian music can be heard coming from the many Indian shops in Tsim Sha Tsui and even in the Kee Club, where DJ Thierry Halbroth  pumps up the volume.

'The first time I got introduced to Indian sounds was Claude Challe's  first album and the early Ibiza series such as [record label] Cafe del Mar,' Halbroth said.

'Indian beats had a lot of influence on the chill-out Ibiza scene, as people going to (the hedonistic Spanish island resort of) Ibiza at that time were the same as those travelling to Goa,' Halbroth said.

'Because of the infectious melodies that bhangra carries, it wasn't long until Punjabi Bandits [musicians and DJs specialising in punjabi music] became popular across the world.'

Hollywood too has succumbed to the mystic charms of Bollywood music. Examples include the opening shot of The Inside Man and the climatic scene in Moulin Rouge.

However, it is not always a happy  union. Music director Anu Malik, whose track Chamma Chamma was mouthed by the chorus girls in Moulin Rouge, was displeased at not being given appropriate credit.

Halbroth said, 'DJs have been quite clever at sampling Indian music and turning famous Indian hits into dance-floor tracks on a regular basis. Also bhangra, with its infectious beat, is popular in this part of the world and elsewhere.'

Top celebrities worldwide have been lured to the mystic musings of the east. The Beatles, Madonna and Britney Spears have released music with a decidedly Indian flavour.

Even Latino singer Ricky Martin used the strands of the sitar in a love ballad.

DJ Slick said: 'It really doesn't matter if the crowd doesn't understand a word [of Hindi or any other dialect]. I don't think most people understand American rap when it's spoken so fast and you can't hear what they're saying. The same rules apply to Indian music. When I play at the Viceroy [Indian restaurant] to a western or Chinese crowd, as long as it sounds good and they can dance to it, they're happy.'

World renowned DJ Aqeel (Aqeel Ali)  plays at events around the world and the Mumbai-based spinner sees no waning in demand for fusion music.

'I play in London five to six times a year. Though I play a lot of Hindi numbers, most of my audiences are not Indians,' he said. 'Indian remixes are here to stay. The Black-eyed Peas did it. American rap artists do it. It is not a fading trend. It's here to stay.'



HK dancing to a bhangra beat