Our Guide to Music at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2023, Mumbai

Bombay Bandook

February 5th, 7:30 pm at Cross Maidan

The Mumbai fusion band are known to be reliable party-starters (like their sublime opening set at Mahindra Independence Rock as competition winners in November last year) and they’ll likely bring just that kind of energy to Kala Ghoda. Expect top-notch fusion with a side of prog, rock and funk.

Yatra with Aanchal

February 6th, 7:30 pm at Cross Maidan

Best known for recreating Indian traditional and modern Bollywood songs, Aanchal Shrivastava puts her soul into renditions such as “Nit Khair Manga” as well as “Tose Naina.” In October last year, Shrivastava led the song “Doobi Tujh Mein,” for season three of the series Four More Shots Please! As the title of her performance suggests, Shrivastava will take us through her journey and perhaps sum up the journey of Indian music with her songs at Kala Ghoda.

Songs of Himalayas by Shantanu Moitra

February 6th, 8:30 pm at Cross Maidan

Returning to the songs he composed as part of his 100-day journey across the Himalayan range in 2016,  composer Shantanu Moitra is joined by Buddhist nun Ani Choying, classical artist Kaushiki Chakraborty and violinist-composer Ambi Subramaniam and his band for a curated set at Kala Ghoda.

Folk Masti

February 7th, 7:50 pm at Cross Maidan

Mumbai folk-rock band Folk Masti have been taking their music all across India over the years, more so since the release of their album Jadoo Ki Chhadi in 2020. Expect playful, multilingual folk from the band, with plenty of stories to back up their cheery, hopeful tunes that draw from mystic poets like Kabir but also adapt them to a modern setting.

Carlton Braganza ft Natalie Di Luccio

February 8th, 6:15 pm at Cross Maidan

Bengaluru-bred musician Carlton Braganza made the most of online gigs during the pandemic, but he’s certainly more than happy to step on stage ever since those opportunities came flooding back for the founder of the erstwhile venue Opus. At Kala Ghoda, he teams up with Canadian-Italian soprano Natalie Di Luccio to perform just duets, except they’re covering every style from opera to Broadway and more.

Riatsu x Dario Klein

February 8th, 8 pm at Cross Maidan

Having just performed together at the St.Art festival’s REProduce Listening Room show at Sassoon Dock, Mumbai ambient producer Riatsu aka Shadaab Kadri and his Cologne, Germany counterpart Dario Klein will return for a new live electronic collaboration for Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. The collaboration is an outcome of their residency called actiRHYHM, created by Goethe-Institut

Band of Boys

February 12th, 6 pm at Cross Maidan

With the theme of Kala Ghoda Arts Festival this year being “Past <> Forward,” it was no surprise to hear that another nostalgic music group would be hitting the stage. Celebrating 21 years since their inception, pop act Band of Boys – Chin2 Bhosle, Karan Oberoi, Sherrin Varghese, Siddharth Haldipur and Danny Fernandes – bring back their early 2000s Indi-Pop sound.

Colonial Cousins

February 12th, 8 pm at Cross Maidan

Among the headliners of the festival – in the sense that they’re the final musical act of Kala Ghoda – Colonial Cousins’ Hariharan and Leslee Lewis will close things off with their first public performance since 2013. The fusion and pop duo have an appeal across several age groups and that’s likely to bring everyone together in one beautiful chorus.

Check out the full schedule of music at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai here.