Live music in a Jamshedpur café is making the coffee house adda a delight for the ears.
Café Regal in Bistupur, opened last year, is busy hosting live performances in most evenings since the past month. Upcoming singers - four artistes have performed at Café Regal already - have found a new platform to make their voices heard.
And, from Bollywood to Indipop to jazz to opera and even self-composed pieces, the playlist cuts across genres.
The delightfully surprised audience is asking for more.
"Last Sunday, all of a sudden, a young chap started to sing here. You don't really expect this in Jamshedpur. So, it was awesome. I can come to Café Regal and listen to live music for hours," said Joydeep Dubey, a Tata Steel employee.
The singer who impressed Dubey was Pratik Mehta from Ranchi, whose husky voice reminds one of Mohit Chouhan. Pratik specialises in Bollywood and Indipop, and sometimes sings western numbers on a whim.
On Sunday, it was Jamshedpur boy Surjo's turn. Surjo writes and strums his own compositions. "I think in English, so I write in English," he said. "I'll perform here on Sundays and Wednesdays."
Other singers are Ashwani Sahay from Delhi and Amartya Ghosh who shuttles between Jamshedpur and New Delhi. Ashwani specialises in the operatic style of singing. Amartya is an experimental singer who performs jazz and his self-composed songs.
"Music has no barrier. But, sounds must stir the senses. These guys present light Hindi melodies, pop, rock, opera, jazz and their own compositions. Visitors love it. In a Jamshedpur café, this is a pleasant cultural shock," said Varun Gazder, owner of Café Regal.
The café is a young addition to the famous Bharucha Mansion, better known as Regal building, built by Khurshed Maneckji Bharucha in 1935. Bharucha was the first Indian to become chief cashier at Tata Steel. It's a heritage building with beams left over from the Howrah bridge. And, it once housed Regal Talkies.
Gazder added he was on a creative spin. "We have a microphone and arrangements so that the singer can just plug his guitar and start jamming. I'm also eager to host poetry and story reading sessions."
