Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 19, 2016)

After their visit to India in August to record a single with Suchitra Krishnamoorthi’s daughter, Kaveri, British boy band The Vamps have returned to the Maximum City to be a part of the Global Citizen festival. While here, the boys are also lined up to collaborate with composer duo Vishal-Shekhar for a Bollywood-style music video which has been choreographed by Farah Khan and styled by fashion designer Nikhil Thampi. Titled “Nakhra”, the music video was shot on Thursday and Friday all over Mumbai.

“Whenever a foreign band comes over we focus on the poorer aspects of the country. I didn’t want to do the usual shooting in the slums. Our video will show the fun side of India. The chorus is in Hindi with the video serving like a Mumbai darshan. Last night we filmed in buses, rickshaws almost like a rock concert happening in the midst of the traffic. We also shot in a tube mill, so it’s grungy-meets-kitsch. I’m trying not to make it too Bollywood because it should look like an international video, not an item song,” Farah revealed to Mirror, adding that the song also features a girl who is a non-Bollywood face.

Band member Brad Simpson said, “We love the infectious Bollywood energy. We have been working at getting our music out in this market and even collaborated on a song called 'Beliya' with Vishal Shekhar on our last visit. We have been working with Tanaaz Bhatia and her team along with our record label,” adding that he thinks Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone are great performers.