Pitch Perfect 2 a cappella group visits ‘Cuse
Yes they did meet Anna Kendrick
Penn Masala has gotten loads of attention from across the globe for being the world’s leading Hindi a cappella group.
They have over one million views on their youtube video Evolution of Bollywood Music and casually premiered in Pitch Perfect 2 this past year.
The group consists of 15 Ivy driven, well-dressed, girl swooning men all of whom have the voice of an angel. I had the chance to sit down with two of them, Prashant Ramesh, the Director of the group, and Chetan Khanna, the President to hear what it’s like to be a part of such a successful a cappella group.
Are you excited to be at ‘Cuse?
Chetan: Yeah, we’re definitely excited. I think this is our first college show of the year and colleges are really fun and it ends up being a good time.
What did you guys do to get pumped before a performance tonight?
Chetan: Before a show we definitely have some pre show rituals just to get excited, just to get hyped before we go on stage.
Prashant: We usually do a little group huddle.
Chetan: Yeah, I think that’s the main pre show tradition and, I mean, we have some traditions in the group but those are supposed to be within the group.
What’s your favorite song to perform to a crowd?
Prashant: Tonight I’m Lovin’ You / Dilliwaali Girlfriend. It’s just a super exciting song, we usually do it towards the end of the show when everyone’s getting excited and we want to build up a hype. It’s a lot of fun to perform, [they’re] two really exciting dance songs. It’s great!
Chetan: She Will Be Loved / O Re Piya. I grew up listening to that song so I loved it.
What made you want to incorporate English music into your traditional Hindi performances?
Chetan: When the group initially started it was because there was a cappella, but for Indian guys that really wanted to sing they felt like traditional a cappella wasn’t doing that for them.
They kinda said “hey let’s fuse American music and Hindi music.” We love both of them, they’re both part of our identity so why not bring them together. It truly embodies the American and Indian identity and brings it together and allows us to enjoy both aspects.
How did it feel to be a part of Pitch Perfect 2?
Prashant: It was ridiculous, I couldn’t even believe that I was even there with all the actors.
We got really lucky that the director Elizabeth Banks is a Penn alumni. That’s how she knew about us, she was looking for some college a cappella groups to feature and she was like ‘Oh! I remember Masala was there when I was on campus.’
Her team reached out to us and we were like yeah we’d be more than excited to be a part of it.
Chetan: It was an absolutely humbling experience. First being there, you’re just surrounded by unbelievable talent and you’re like wow, how did we end up here?
Above that there was so many connections of the movie to Penn. We were able to meet a lot of the stars in Penn when the movie was releasing. We’re lucky enough to go to the premiere which was a cool experience in and of itself.
When I talk about it I still don’t understand how I was able to do all of this. But I’m just super thankful that I was.
Did you guys get to meet any celebrities from the movie, like Anna Kendrick?
Prashant: We ran into Anna Kendrick briefly. She’s way too busy so she’s running around, but we managed to snap a pic with her. Elizabeth Banks came to visit Penn to promote the movie because she went to Penn.
Chetan: [Elizabeth Banks] is really funny, she has a lot of sassy humor to her.
I have to ask, are you guys single?
Chetan: The two of us are not single.
Prashant: We have 60% of single men in the group.
Any bromances in the group?
Prashant: The strongest bromance is probably the two of us.
Chetan: We joined the group together and lived together for three years now. You don’t want to live with him.
Prashant: Now he’s President and I’m Director of the group so we kinda went from being wide-eyed freshmen to being the seniors in the group.
Chetan: It’s a crazy experience!
Any plans after graduation? Are you going to continue singing in the group?
Prashant: Every year, the seniors graduate and go on to whatever they do in their lives and new freshmen join every year. Personally, I’m studying engineering so I’m trying to go to grad school for it after.
Chetan: I’m Pre-Med, I want to go to med school eventually but I’m trying to work for a year or two before I do that.