Kathmandu:

When it comes to having fun and enjoying life to the fullest, Nepalis know how to and to throw the best parties. And celebrities from our neighbouring country come here to enjoy our parties, and also to entertain our music loving crowd. The well known and very popular Indian pop band Aasma’s members Vasudha Sharma and Jimmy Felix were in town for a day.

The band took over the Indian music industry by storm after winning the Channel V Popstars II in 2003 and since then there have been no looking back for the band.

After facing tough competition from over 40,000 participants in the reality show, the four talented and confident youngsters not only won the contest but were also

able to make a niche in the industry. With super hit dance numbers that still boom in various clubs, the Chandu ke chacha makers are still raring to go further in terms of a pop band and establish themselves as playback singers in Bollywood.

“People have not seen us much on television, so they assume that Aasma has already broken up. But that’s not true. We are not coming in the media because we are busy with our shows all over India and abroad. We are coming up with new song and a video, and at the same time we have our solo career and we are also composing for Bollywood flicks,” said Vasudha.

“In these few years, we already have three albums and eight videos and we are still trying our best to give something new and different to our listeners,” said Jimmy.

They were the opening band when international music icon Bryan Adams performed in Bangalore in 2004. “Performing live is always filled with energy, to see the crowd respond to your music and opening for Bryan Adams was truly memorable. When he complimented us for our harmonising in the song Tum se hi pyar, I was totally floored,” gushed Vasudha. To which Jimmy added, “We have almost specialised

in live performances as we have done more than 300 live shows. It’s always challenging to rock the crowd consisting people of all ages.”

Vashuda agreed that in recording you get a second chance and can postpone it when you are not feeling well, but with live shows it must go on no matter what.

Many bands that came through reality shows break up after a period of time and they eventually get lost in the vast industry. Even the first V Popstars band Viva collapsed after some time, so what’s the secret behind their togetherness?

“Passion for music is the common ground that kept us together and by God’s grace we have seen ups and downs in our careers and we grew with it. Instead of bringing down, we push each other to greater heights. We have our individual careers but the band always comes first,” Jimmy said.

“We might not be the best of friends but we are very professional and respect each other a lot,” added Vasudha.

They don’t believe in falling into one genre and that has been proved by the variety of songs like Chandu ke chacha, Tum se hi and Mere saaiyan mere balma. “We are versatile when it comes to making music and that is because of four different individuals with different ideas and we try to be a complete entertainment band,” said Vasudha.

As more and more talented singers are coming up via various reality talent hunts, how difficult is it to survive? “Yes, there is lots of competition but there is so much work and it’s such a huge market that there is work for everyone. But the bottom line is your survival depends on how you rock because what is good stays,” insisted Vasudha.

“We have worked hard, we got a good platform and good marketing and we never let success affect us and that what keeps you grounded and gives you the space to grow and do much better,” added Jimmy.

They have been visiting Nepal for various private shows and have loved the place and people. “We love Nepali music and would take any chance to be associated with Nepali music. If they ever want us to host, judge or just perform in their talent hunt shows, we would absolutely love it,” said Jimmy.