Uday Benegal’s Whirling Kalapas offers a mellow good time

By Glynda Alves

Uday Benegal’s acoustic side project Whirling Kalapas (which includes Mahesh Tinaikar and Sankarshan Kini) is a more chilled out musical outing than the high-octane Indus Creed. This evening the group will be jamming at blue-Frog along with some cool guests like Ankit Dayal (Spud in the Box), Canadian accordion player Mynah Marie and dancer Swati Shah.

The Kalapas, who have been performing together since 2009, like to collaborate with other artists every opportunity they get. “It allows us to fill the musical gaps that need to be filled and join forces with other artists,” he says. Not to mention, it’s less expensive to take this act on the road than Indus Creed. “Being a trio, it’s much easier to coordinate all kinds of things: rehearsals, mealtimes, fashion,” says Benegal.

Today’s setlist includes both classics and newer material. “We will be doing covers of Jose Gonzalez, Pete Townshend and Sufjan Stevens. But our mandate is to turn the song we’re covering into the version it would have been had we written it.” For those looking forward to original music, Benegal promises the band will perform crowd favourite ‘Fireflies’ along with other tracks. “That song’s popularity has something to do with the fact that Indus Creed does its own version,” Benegal muses.