Thanks to the internet, folk songs have made a comeback in our lives… and not in the most conventional way. Here are a few whose new renditions took over the internet in the past few years…
Bajre da sitta: In March of 2021, there was a point when every second reel on Instagram played against the backdrop of bajre da sitta. The song went viral after Punjabi singers Rashmeet Kaur and Deep Kalsi released an album by the same name in January that year. The single’s rap was by Ikka. The chorus of the song though is an old Punjabi folk music verse that was popularised by sister duo Surinder and Prakash Kaur back in the 1940s.
Jutti meri: The 2020 Punjabi song jutti meri which went viral on Instagram two years after its release is also derived from a folk song. Neha Bhasin, who sang the new rendition, explained in a video that the folk song was sung by new brides in “fun and games” when they didn’t want to leave the comfort of their maiden home and go to their husband’s house.
Sonchadi: A new rendition of a Kumaoni folk song went viral on social media platforms in May this year, after Coke Studio Bharat, Neha Kakkar, and digV collaborated with Kumaoni folk singer Kamala Devi to produce Sonchadi. The song tells the love story of Rajula and Malushahi from the Kumaon region who had to tackle Malushahi’s mother’s opposition to their union and marriage. Complete with Kumaoni instruments like sarangi and damru being played in the background, the song spread across platforms like wildfire.
Khalasi: Coke Studio Bharat’s Gujarati song Khalasi, sung by folk singers Aditya Gadhvi and Achint Thakkar, had gone absolutely viral everywhere in 2023 – from Facebook, to Instagram, to YouTube, X, to even being shared on WhatsApp stories and groups. Earlier this year, the song even won bronze at the 71st Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Not entirely a folk song, Khalasi has certain elements of folk music to it. While releasing the song, Coke Studio Bharat had said the song tells the tale of a “limitless sailor who has set out to explore (the world) through the shores of Gujarat”.
Hind ke sitara: Manoj Tiwari’s Bhojpuri song in TVF’s Panchayat season 3 had held the internet by a chokehold in June this year. But what a lot of people might not have known is that the song derives from a decades old Bihari folk tale in the sohar genre — which is a folk music style usually sung at happy occasions like the birth of a baby. The original song was composed by Gayatri Thakur Vyas, a veteran in the Bhojpuri music industry.
Ma lo ma: This one is another Coke Studio presentation, but this time from Bangladesh. The song Ma lo ma went viral across borders in May this year. Interestingly, the song is sung by Shagor Dewan and Arif Dewan whose ancestors had written the original folk song which is a “long narrative verse” about life and the struggles that come with it.