Kavya Trehan Maalavika Manoj

They are young and free. They’re playing festivals, releasing records and breaking stereotypes.

- Hansika Lohani Mehtani

Fun and Free

Taking centrestage this year for our Music Special, Kavya Trehan and Maalavika Manoj are India’s most exciting new voices in indie music. Kavya sings, has dabbled in TV commercials, films and theatre, paints when she can, creates her own jewellery, is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and signs off in French for acoustic sets. There’s nothing this spirited go-getter can’t do. One half of the garage and hip-hop band MOSKO, she is recording new music for them as an EP is in the pipeline.

Mumbai-based, Chennai bred Maalavika Manoj may appear like a few other songwriters we know—slightly awkward and nervous on stage—but the 22-year-old is honest about everything from being a dreamer to her past love. Her life turned around when she decided to drop everything and move to Mumbai from Chennai to find her voice. She started strumming her own melodies from the inspiration she got from long-lost friendships, memories of home and the new city, Mumbai. She recently dropped her five-piece debut EP, Rush, marked with brisk beats and breezy swells with hints of acoustic pop, folk and country. Something that is breathing new life into the jazz scene in India.