With a fairy-like twirl and a twinkle in her eyes, Raveena Aurora floats on stage at Lollapalooza India, in Mumbai this past weekend. In an iridescent, shimmery dress, with her hair tied in a wavy ponytail, the 29-year-old Indian-American singer, holds onto a mic covered with pink and purple flowers, and croons one of her most popular songs, “Honey…,” her dreamy voice washing over the crowd.
For Raveena, performing in India is a dream come true. Her music exists in between genres, pulling influences from R&B, pop, and old-school Bollywood. “In my own journey as an artist, and visually, I love combining Bollywood influences. It’s the dreamiest, most ethereal space. It’s what I was raised on, it just feels so natural,” she says, in an exclusive interview with The Hindu.
Her latest concept album, Asha’s Awakening, follows Asha, a Punjabi space princess, exploring love, loss, modern society and herself. The Indian touch is undeniable, with soft taps on the tabla introducing the song “Time Flies…,” and a chorus in Hindi on “Kismet…”
“We are going to sing in Hindi now,” she cries out to the audience. “ Ek, do, theen, char, chalo na, mere saath:” she sings the start to “Kismet,” adding the shimmy-esque moves and dramatic sighs that defined Hindi films in the 60s and 70s.
Powerful, soul-baring lyrics
Raveena’s artistic strength lies in her ability to pair soothing sounds with powerful, soul-baring lyrics. “There’s a certain sweetness, but also incredible strength and passion to Indian women. I love exploring that dichotomy in my music. So much of the sounds we hear from famous Indian women in music like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, have such an enchanting and innocent quality about them. But what we go through as brown women is tough. It’s really insane what we’re put through in these bodies, as women. So I try to speak to that experience.”
Her songs have tackled topics like sexual assault, heartbreak, sexuality and identity politics. The raw quality of her lyrics and her melodic style create something of a syrupy safe space, where loving, learning and losing come together, without feeling cloying. Raveena says having music as a way to process and reflect on these experiences “saved” her. “Everything I do is based on this healing quality, it’s like about soothing the self and inspiring other people to love themselves deeper and care for themselves and understand themselves better, as I do that myself.”
Raveena Aurora: “It’s really insane what we’re put through in these bodies, as women. So I try to speak to that experience.”
Being a changemaker
Raveena is unabashedly proud of her Indian roots. Raised by Sikh-practicing parents, she grew up between New York and Connecticut in a rich Indian immigrant community. “I grew up in a very brown space. I just felt like if I had something to offer to music, it was this experience in both cultures. It’s definitely a challenge because musically it’s so different, there’s literally different scales, and entirely different sounds and rhythms and, and patterns. But I think that’s the beautiful challenge of being a musician.”
Raveena’s exploration of sexuality and identity makes her something of a changemaker, especially with regards to queer South Asian representation.
In her 2018 single, Temptation, she revealed she is bisexual. Being able to perform in India, at a time when the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and societal acceptance is in full swing, she says makes her feel honoured “to be able to provide a bit of representation in that space and be a little agent of change. I know there’s a long way to go… but it’s hopefully a step in the right direction.”
At Lollapalooza India, which was produced and promoted by BookMyShow, Raveena paid tribute to Asha Bhosle. Slinging her guitar over her ponytail, she began strumming the riff to “Dum Maro Dum,” from the 1971 Bollywood film, Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Her energy, as she lowered her voice to match Bhosle’s, and then raising it as she vocalised, sent Lollapalooza’s crowd into a frenzy.
Raveena sang “Dum Maro Dum” at Coachella in California last year, where she was the first artist of Indian origin to perform. She says she later found out that her performance had triggered racist comments on South Asians. She says that while Asha’s Awakening “really hit” among brown people, the album revealed to her that, “there was a lot more education in America to do, around Indian music, around certain stereotypes that they still have around south Asian people.”
Raveena sang “Dum Maro Dum” at Coachella in California last year, where she was the first artist of Indian origin to perform
Performing at Lollapalooza India, however, really feels like a big moment for her, she says. “It’s really interesting coming here and feeling way more celebrated and way more understood… It’s so comforting. I feel so at home and loved.”
Although she visited India regularly while growing up, this is the first time Raveena was in Mumbai for work. Visiting as an artist, she says, allowed her to get “perspective” on India’s art scene, as a member of the diaspora. “I just want to be a student right now and just soak up everything and learn from people. There’s so much amazing art coming out of here constantly, I want to learn from all the creatives here.” She said she would love to collaborate with artists like Prateek Kuhad, who also performed at Lollapalooza, and from the diaspora, Bangladeshi-British singer Joy Crookes and Indian-British artist Jai Paul.
