In an age of digital overload, Backstage Siblings are bringing young audiences together through collective singing and shared emotion. Their Gen Z-led gatherings of bhajans, Sufi music and nostalgic Bollywood sing-alongs have turned ‘bhajan clubbing’ into a growing cultural phenomenon.Now, sibling duo Raghav and Prachi Agarwal are bringing their bhajan jamming experience to Lucknow for the first time on May 10 at Dayal Gateway. Ahead of their debut show, Backstage Siblings spoke with us bhajan jamming, Gen Z’s growing connection with devotional spaces, & bringing Lucknow’s poetic energy into their set.‘Our Lucknow set will carry the city’s poetic spirit’All set to perform in Lucknow for the first time, Backstage Siblings, the brother-sister duo Raghav and Prachi who popularized the bhajan clubbing trend, say they are excited to experience the city’s deeply rooted cultural and emotional energy. “We are excited to feel how Lucknow responds to this format because the city carries such a strong cultural and emotional identity. In a city where music, poetry, spirituality and emotion have always had a strong place, we feel the energy will be very special. We are not coming here just to perform for Lucknow, we are coming to sing with the people of Lucknow. We are hoping Lucknow gives us a memory we will carry for a long time,” says Prachi.Known for creating their setlists according to the emotional mood of the audience rather than following a rigid structure, the duo shared that they hope to bring elements that resonate with Lucknow’s cultural ethos. “We always try to keep the city’s emotion in mind. Our sets are never completely rigid. We go in with a broad emotional arc, but a lot depends on the room, the people and the feeling of that evening. We would love to bring in a flavor that connects with Lucknow and its people, whether through a familiar emotion, a phrase, a song, or even a moment that feels like it belongs to the city. For Lucknow, we definitely want to keep the city’s poetic energy alive in the set. There may be moments of bhajans, sufi, Bollywood, poetry and songs to honor the vibe of Lucknow,” says Raghav.
Raghav, Prachi and Saahil, the Backstage Siblings, make their Lucknow debut on May 10
‘The new generation is finding comfort in collective singing’According to Prachi, one of the siblings, young audiences are not moving away from spirituality, but are instead seeking a form of it that feels more emotionally accessible. “Young people are not rejecting spirituality. They are looking for a version of it that feels honest, open and emotionally accessible. They want depth, but they do not want judgment. They want community, but they do not want pressure. That is where our sessions become so special,” she says. “This generation is constantly connected online, but emotionally, many people feel disconnected. There is so much noise, pressure, comparison and speed. In the middle of that, a space where you can sit on the floor, sing with strangers, forget your phone for a while and feel part of something bigger becomes very powerful,” he says.‘From living room jam sessions to a nationwide movement’The two siblings who turned traditional bhajans into energetic jam clubbing and whose bhajan jamming sessions were even mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mann Ki Baat, say the movement was born not out of some concept, but out of a shared human connection. “For us, Bhajan Clubbing started as a feeling. We began with small jamming sessions where people would sit together, sing together and feel something together. Over time, we realized that something very powerful was happening in the room.” shares Prachi.Devotional chants blend with retro BollywoodTalking about the songs that become the loudest sing-alongs during their sessions, Raghav and Prachi believe every gathering carries a different energy. Their sessions often see Gen Z audiences sitting together on the floor, chanting bhajans, singing along to Sufi and Bollywood tracks and turning the space into a collective, emotionally charged experience. “Honestly, the set we play changes every time. Some cities go all out during our Ram Ram set, and sometimes the loudest moment comes from our retro Bollywood mashups. There are also days when the audience suggests something, we start singing it, and suddenly the whole room joins in,” reveals Prachi about how a backstage sibling set looks like.For Backstage Siblings, their roster for the jamming session is not limited to a genre. “We may sing a bhajan, a sufi song, a Bollywood song, a poem or a folk-inspired piece, but everything has to belong to the same emotional world. It should make people feel connected and uplifted,” says Prachi, adding, “People from different cities, communities, ages and backgrounds come together and sing the same line at the same time. That is the beauty of our jamming concerts.”We would love to bring in a flavor that connects with Lucknow and its people, whether through a familiar emotion, a phrase, a song, or even a moment that feels like it belongs to the city. Raghav
Jam with brother-sister duo Prachi and Raghav Agarwal
“People were not just listening. They were participating. They were closing their eyes, singing loudly, crying, smiling, remembering faith in their own way. That is where the idea of bhajan jamming, or what people call bhajan clubbing, really took shape. It was never about making devotion trendy. It was about creating a space where devotion could feel alive, accessible and collective,” reflects Raghav. The siblings realized many young people viewed devotional music as something formal or meant only for older audiences. “We wanted to create a space where people could experience bhajans the way we had always felt them, full of emotion, warmth and energy. It is an extension of something we have grown up with, but presented in a way that feels honest, joyful and relatable for our generation,” recalls Prachi.-Amina Ashraf
