When we last covered singer-songwriter Utsavi Jha, she was two singles into her career. The one we wrote about was a bluesy little tune called ‘Picnic’, and it was very obviously a song that would stick in most of our heads. Well, as it turns out, most of you seemed to agree; she’s since been on Spotify playlists, done film work, and had a slot at last year’s Weekender. Now, she has a new single out called ‘Tum Jaise Ho’, which is quite emblematic of an Indian pop music trend in 2023. It’s a solid tune that will, again, probably stick in your head… but it represents something familiar to you that you might not have thought consciously about.

The song itself has a structure and tone you’ve heard before, maybe a lot in the last couple years. Acoustic, pop composition, ballad, relatable topic, very sing-able and replayable. Utsavi Jha does have some influences from pop-rock, so you’ll see some shuffle-laden drums and the like. But most importantly, it sounds like it would fit right into some sort of sweet, sunny sequence in a movie. And this is a quality a lot of indie music has started incorporating of late. As more and more ‘independent’ musicians start to search for sustainable income, they are being hired by OTT platforms, shows, movies, and so on. Now of course, this brings with it the influences of film music in general; this is the interesting bit.

Sure, maybe there will come a day where niche indie genres will make their way into the mainstream… but now, the traffic seems to be going in the other direction. You can get into debates about artistic choices on your own time, but it’s indisputable that it’s catchy, popular, and eminently listenable. Like what Utsavi’s doing, and what you’ll be doing is saving it to your playlists.