Dil Se is a coed South Asian a cappella group based in the University of California, Berkeley. It ranks as one of the top South Asian a cappella group in the nation after placing first at Anahat 2008[1] and Gathe Raho 2009.[2] It was founded in the Spring of 2004 by students at the university who wished to combine the melody-based raagas of Indian music with the depth and harmony that drive western music. The group is sponsored by the ASUC.[3][4]
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Dil Se was founded by UC Berkeley graduate Arjun Ohri in the spring of 2004. He and his co-founders wished to fill the void on UC Berkeley's campus that had already been filled by then at schools like the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford; the lack of an a cappella team that incorporated the popular tunes of South Asia. The group thus played on the interests of second generation South Asians at Berkeley who wished to find a common ground between their western and eastern cultures through music.
Dil Se took first place at Gathe Raho, the annual South Asian a cappella competition hosted by the University of Iowa, in February 2009. Performing a medley of 7 songs in their 15 minute set, Dil Se beat out groups from the University of Pennsylvania, Case Western Reserve University, UIUC, Northwestern University and University of Michigan. Michigan's "Maize Mirchi" took second.
Other notable 2009 performances have included an exhibition at Bollywood Berkeley, the largest Hindi film dance competition in the nation, and a performance at the Indian Embassy of San Francisco's annual Republic Day banquet at the Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco[5]
The highlight of Dil Se's fall calendar is the annual Anahat, incidentally hosted by UC Berkeley's Indus. The event is usually held late in the fall. In November 2009, Dil Se took third place at the sixth annual Anahat, behind USC's Asli Baat and UIUC's Chai Town. Before winning Anahat 2008 in November, Dil Se had placed second at three consecutive Anahats - 2005, 2006 and 2007. At the first Anahat in 2004, Dil Se performed as an exhibition act.
In 2008, competing against UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UIUC Chai-town, and UIUC Chandani,[6] Dil Se placed first with renditions of Nazrein Milana from the movie Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, O Re Piya from Aaja Nachle, With You by Chris Brown, Saawariya from the movie Saawariya, Jiya Dhadak from Kalyug, and Jaane Kyun from Dostana.
In the fall of 2008, Dil Se's other performances around the San Francisco Bay Area included the India Community Center, Milpitas; Haas Business School, UC Berkeley; The International House, UC Berkeley; Mills College, Oakland; and Ohlone College, Fremont.
In the spring of 2008, Dil Se performed as an exhibition act at the Hindi Film Dance competition Bollywood Berkeley, held at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Given the popularity of their set from Anahat 2007, they performed most of the same songs again for the crowd of over 1000. Dil Se followed up this performance with another exhibition at a dance competition. This time, at the Bay Area's only Raas competition, Rangeelo Raas, on March 1, 2008, Dil Se introduced two new arrangements: Ajab Si from the award-winning movie Om Shanti Om, and Mitwa from the 2006 movie Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Dil Se then added a new version of their 2004 arrangement of its namesake, Dil Se, at Bombay in the Bay, the largest High School Indian cultural show in the Bay Area, on April 5 at Saratoga High School, Saratoga, California. They closed out the year with performances at the world-famous Zellerbach Hall for the From All Perspectives annual multicultural showcase hosted by UC Berkeley's ASUC and at the Alumni House of UC Berkeley.
In the 2007 episode of Anahat -- the largest it had yet been in history -- included UIUC Chai-Town, Stanford Raagapella, UCI Haath, UCLA Naya Zamaana, Rutgers R.A.A.G., and UIUC Chandni. Dil Se placed second performing original arrangements of the songs 2 Step Bhangra by The Bilz ft. So-D/Kashif, Ek Mohabbat by A.R. Rahman, Bumbro from the award winning Hindi movie Mission Kashmir, The Way I Are from Timbaland's 2007 album Shock Value, and Vellai Pookal a Tamil song from the movie Kannathil Muthamittal.