Giju debuts with Hindi pop album

June 21 2007, Radioandmusic.com, Original Article

MUMBAI: Salsa dancer Giju is ready to hit the Indian music scene with his first album, Rang Rangeeli, released by Raga to Rock Records. The music video of the album debuted at the San Francisco World Salsa Congress recently. Rang Rangeeli has eight original songs in Hindi, including a duet with the playback singer Sadhana Sargam. Collaborating on the album are composer Benny Johnson and lyricist Swati Sinha. The title song titled Rang Rangeeli, is set to a salsa-pop style rhythm, with a weave of Hindi and Spanish lyrics. The other tracks include Rang Rangeeli – a House version; a Capella version of Doondun Tujhe, Sun Panchiyon Ka Raag- a duet; an Indian-Rock mix – Jeena Woh Jeena Hai; Ashtoofah – Techno with an Arabic mix and Dil Ko Kiya, described as a peppy melody.

The associated music video, produced in collaboration with Beyond Pix Studios, features world-renowned Salsa dancers. Giju, an Indian by birth and resident of California, has been trained in Indian classical music (Carnatic) and Bharatanatyam, and has been a part of professional music bands both in India and in the US. Giju is also an accomplished Salsa dancer and choreographer. He is an original member of the “Salsamania Dance company”, a world-ranked no.3 Salsa dance troupe known for its hypnotic performances marked by high levels of speed and technical difficulty. As a lead member of Salsamania, Giju performs and competes throughout the US, Europe and Mexico.