Sing Out Loud

In the 1997 hit-romantic comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding,Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) gets Kimberly Wallace (Cameron Diaz) to sing at a karaoke bar,hoping to embarrass her. Wallace sings awfully,but the same needn’t be true for you. Karaoke joints are a rage in the city,with the newest entrant,Kyoto,the Japanese restaurant in Gurgaon,ready with exclusive karaoke boxes. Clearly,Delhi is gearing up to hit the high note as live singing takes on a whole new meaning.

If you’re not in sync with karaoke,have no fear. A form of entertainment in which amateur vocalists sing along with recorded music using a microphone and a public address system,karaoke originated in Japan and rapidly spread to south-east Asia. Though it has taken it’s time to hit Indian shores,budding singers in Delhi can let loose at Bennigan’s Tavern and Grill in GK II,Chilli Season in Defence Colony Market,Gung the Palace in Green Park Market,K2 and Kyoto in Gurgaon.

The man credited with bringing karaoke to the city is Aftab Sidhu,who started Aquifer,Delhi’s first karaoke lounge,in January 2007. “We targeted the young entrepreneurial crowd because it’s a form of entertainment that does not work for a high-profile client list,” says Sidhu,who enjoyed many a night watching people live it up after hours at Aquifer before tenancy issues forced it to shut last October.

But Delhi had clearly got hooked to a good thing and karaoke was here to stay. “My friends and I went to Bennigan’s one Wednesday night and had a terrific time. I don’t usually sing,but I felt really free at the time and the crowd was very encouraging,” says Pallavi Gaur,23,a media professional.