Remember Viva? India’s first all-female indie pop music band that came to the fore in 2002. We have found another brand-new, all-girl GenZ girl band, W.i.S.H – which stands for – ‘world inka stage hai’ (which means the world is their stage), this year.
Pop music was relevant in India from the late 90s to the early 2000s before Bollywood remixes started to take over the independent music landscape. Viva formed because of Coke V Popstars, a talent hunt reality show, on Channel V in 2002. Pratichee Mohapatra, Neha Bhasin, Mahua Kamat, Anushka Manchanda, Seema Ramchandani – were the five Viva girls.
In a bid to create disruption and bring a new wave in the current music scenario where independent artists are getting due credit because of sheer talent, freshness and social media popularity, music producer-songwriter-composer Michael McCleary, handpicked four musicians from Mumbai to form W.i.S.H to bring about a fresh pop vibe outside Bollywood music.
Under the record label Sony Music India, W.i. S.H. has already released two songs – Lazeez (on March 1) and Galti (on April 5). Besides music, W.i.S.H makes an extra effort in choreography, costume selection and makeup. Both the songs have an energetic vibe.
Shot in Calcutta, W.i.S.H. makes their debut with the Lazeez song emanating a cool vibe. Resplendent in resort wear, the girls introduce them to having a rollicking time in the palace-like set, pool and even in a party outfit.
‘Not all mistakes are bad. Galti is a song about making mistakes and owning it’ - this is how W.i. S.H. has described the song Galti under the video link on their YouTube channel. Maintaining the energy of the first track, Galti is another peppy, foot-tapping number, capturing fun moments inside a game parlour.
The W.i.S.H girls coin the name for their fandom - ‘wish stars’ - via an Instagram poll. Hailing from Mumbai, the four-girl band has Ri (Riya Duggal, Sim (Simram Duggal), Zo (Zoe Siddharth), and Suchi (Suchita Shirke). Ri and Sim are sisters, and others knew each other as they had been putting up their music and collaborating for a while on Instagram.
On W.i.S.H’s YouTube channel, the young musicians introduce themselves to the audience along with a choreography of their first single Lazeez and a behind-the-scenes video filming the song. Suchi describes her as an ‘outgoing, fun-loving, and naughty’ person. She loves to watch football and root for Arsenal. Besides that, she loves to eat healthy and exercise. She loves things simple and basic. ‘I am the gunda of the group,’ she grins. Sim claims to be sassy, stubborn and loves to break rules. She loves to sing, dance, and play the keyboard. She is fond of junk food and loves to do grocery shopping and buy snack items. ‘I am the life of the party. I can be dramatic as well as bossy,’ she says. Zo’s positive, happy, and joyful. She loves to paint and draw. She gets drawn to genuine people and is confident of what she is good at, yet she claims to be a bit shy and emotional. Ri’s hardworking, ambitious, and passionate about music so she’s always spotted doing something or the other related to music. She’s like the leader of the band and plays the role of ‘a big sister’ to the other members. She’s fond of sports, adventure, fashion, makeup, and styling.
Currently, the YouTube page of W.i.S.H. has earned 127K subscribers and has 62.4K followers on Instagram since its launch in March.
