Credit: Special arrangement
At one of the city’s numerous pubs or microbreweries, it would not be unusual to hear the strains of ‘Mastu mastu hudugi’ while sipping on freshly brewed pale ale.
As the language debate rages on on social media and manifests itself on our streets, many of Bengaluru’s pubs have been quietly rethinking their playlists to include Kannada songs.
It’s a change that has been seen over the last two years, says Ganesh Ranganath, a popular name in Bengaluru’s DJ circles.
Ranganath set up Gulp Cocktails and Kitchen in Banashankari in 2023. He wanted to create an experience where customers could enjoy the food typically served in military hotels in a modern space. The music, therefore, had to match the menu. “I have been in the circuit for a long time, and when it came to setting up my own space, I wanted to be true to myself and my culture,” he says.
Their menu includes usli, Malnad chicken fry, nuggekai chilli, and other popular Karnataka dishes. “Customers can tuck into these quintessential delicacies while enjoying popular Upendra and V Ravichandran songs,” he adds. While there have been requests to play Hindi or English songs, they politely remind customers that the pub has a specific theme to stick to.
He notes that after they opened Gulp in June 2023, a host of other pubs in the area followed suit. “They took a leaf out of our book and changed their menus and playlists to focus more on the local culture,” he explains.
Gap in the market
However, it was Enne, Malleswaram, that first decided to tap into the “huge gap in the market”. They opened in March 2023 as “an experiment”, says Shruthi Sukumar, founder. Overwhelmed by the profusion of pizza and burger joints, Shruthi noticed that there were hardly any spaces that celebrated Karnataka culture. The experiment paid off, and it continues to be one of the places that focuses on Kannada music. They continue to host three live music events a week — on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, and a karaoke night on Friday.
Regular playlists
Kannada music is not restricted to just pubs with Karnataka as their central theme. Breweries like Bier Loft, Electronics City, and Mykos Craft Kitchen and Bar, Bannerghatta Road, include popular songs like ‘Tagaru’, ‘Mastu mastu hudugi’ and ‘Bombe heluthaithe’ in their regular playlists.
Anu Arjun, owner of Topic Craft Bar and Kitchen, Banashankari, shares that they did not initially plan to have Kannada songs on their playlist. But repeated requests from customers saw them tweaking the curation.
Flo on Church Street, too, did the same. “We opened in 2021 and experimented a lot. In the last few years, we began getting requests for Kannada music. So, we decided to take that into account,” says Ajit G S, managing director of Crimson and Clover, which owns Flo. They host artistes who perform Kannada songs exclusively and ensure that on weekends at least a few of the songs being played are in Kannada. “We also encourage our DJ to play Kannada mashups,” he adds.
Others, like 404 by TOF, Koramangala, and Social (all outlets), play Kannada songs on request.