Photos: Radio City Freedom Awards 2016

Hip hop collective Mumbai’s Finest and rapper Big Deal were all swag and smiles as they bagged three awards in total at the third edition of Radio City Freedom Awards

Even though ex-VJ and host for the evening Gaurav Kapur constantly harped on the construct of “independent music” [“So what really is independent music?”] and repeatedly joked about how “indie is broke”, there’s no denying that independent artists received due recognition and respect at the third edition of Radio City Freedom Awards.

Held at Hard Rock Cafe Worli, Mumbai, the awards honored the best talent on the indie circuit, whether it was Hindi rock band Anand Bhaskar Collective claiming the Jury’s Choice Award for Best Rock Artist, or Vizag heavy heavy metallers Against Evil winning the Popular Choice Award for Best Metal Artist.

This year, RCFA also recognized independent art in a non-musical capacity, doling out awards for Best Video [Ananthaal], Best Album Art [Laxmi Bomb] and Indie-Genius-Person of the Year [Vijay Basrur].

The evening also witnessed an equally diverse range of performances, whether it was the visceral alt-rock-meets-Bollywood-kitsch tunes of the Ganesh Talkies, the stadium-sized rock ballads courtesy Dimapur rockers Alobo Naga, or the optimistic folk rock sing-alongs of Neeraj Arya’s Kabir Cafe. Even electro rock/hip hop outfit Laxmi Bomb brought the bass with their Prodigy-esque sound and big fat beats, while folk rockers Swarathma closed out the night with tracks off their 2012 release Topiwalleh.

Check out the complete winners for Radio City Freedom Awards here.

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