Cover Following the success of ‘Fire in Delhi’, BombayMami is ready to take over the world (Photo: Instagram / @bombaymami)
Following the success of ‘Fire in Delhi’, BombayMami is ready to take over the world (Photo: Instagram / @bombaymami)
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BombayMami’s ‘Fire in Delhi’ went viral overnight. Ahead of her next album, she talks to Tatler about the backlash she faced as a Swiss Indian artist, how she found epiphany in Bollywood music and why she wants to inspire women and queer folks
A bright splash of red cuts across the white snow of the Swiss Alps, as a woman navigates the slopes on a snowboard—wearing a traditional Indian lehenga, its vibrant red fabric billowing against the mountains. This isn’t a runaway Indian bride, it’s the visual that catapulted Swiss-Indian artist Shanta Azalea Venkatesh—famously known as BombayMami—into global fame with her latest hit, Fire in Delhi.
Tatler had exactly one hour—not a minute more, not a minute less—to get to know BombayMami, the woman behind this cultural fusion phenomenon. Sitting on a bench under the Bern sunshine, her hair in a ponytail and dressed in unassuming workwear as she eats her lunch, it’s difficult to reconcile this grounded professional with the flamboyant artist who’s captured the world’s attention.
“I’ve dealt with [going] viral a couple of times before, so when Fire in Delhi started trending, I was mentally prepared,” BombayMami says on the video call. “But I never expected this kind of reaction.”
The contrast is jarring. Fans know her for maximalist outfits, traditional Indian jewellery, nail bling and glamorous hairstyle. Yet even without these signature elements, she radiates an undeniable, fierce energy that transcends the screen.
In late February, when BombayMami released this striking visual for Fire in Delhi, it amassed hundreds of thousands of views overnight. The clip quickly caught the attention of global music figures including Malaysian singer Yuna, British Punjabi DJ Yung Singh and Colombian artist Lido Pimienta. The appeal is undeniable: her song boldly expands RnB boundaries by incorporating traditional Indian instruments, all illustrated by that unforgettable visual of her snowboarding down the Alps in her statement lehenga.
“The day I posted it, I was at work, and my phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Non-stop DMs, new followers, emails… It was mad,” she recalls. “Dealing with virality has been very intense, very cool and overstimulating at the same time. I love that people are loving the song, but will their love last? I had to ground myself, because I can be delusional,” she says. “After all, I’m an Aquarius,” she adds with a laugh.
The singer, whose father hails from Varanasi, India, and mother from Bern, Switzerland, sees the video as the perfect embodiment of her dual heritage. “Merging my two worlds couldn’t have been done in a more fun and tasteful way,” she says.
While the song’s overnight success might seem like a stroke of luck, the journey to Fire in Delhi has been neither delusional nor unfocused.
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Above BombayMami’s ‘Fire in Delhi’ music video
BombayMami: Rising through adversity
BombayMami’s musical journey began in 2012, with different aliases like Tashan and with hits in English, French and German, like This Time (2019) and Yoga (2022). She was about to go on a tour in Germany when it was cancelled by Covid-19—a blessing in disguise, she says, as it gave her time to reflect on her true path. Despite her success, she realised her career was heading in a direction that didn’t feel authentic to her.
“I grew up in Switzerland, which is notoriously known for its lack of diversity,” she says. “It took me a long time to find people who could embrace my identity and vision. In the process, I received more hate than love from the industry, especially from men I worked with, who didn’t understand who I was.”
She recalls countless moments of suppression and attempts to shame her: “I can’t count the number of times men imposed their vision on me, the number of times I was told I couldn’t sing, that I was too fat, that I was too Indian, that I was too much. Once, a guy wanted to use my voice for a song but said he would rather have a model pretending to sing than have me in the music video.”
Determined to reclaim her agency, she left her label and moved to London, where she found musical and cultural acceptance. “In London, I felt a huge sense of belonging, I felt at home right away,” she says. “Being surrounded by South Asian culture realigned me and helped me figure out how I wanted to approach my music: from a place of power, authenticity and heritage.”
Surrounded by a team that she could finally trust and motivated to celebrate her once-shamed Indian heritage, she reveals that it was the hit Bollywood song and her childhood favourite, Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai (an iconic song from the 1993 Bollywood movie Khal Nayak that was banned on Indian national TV for its raunchy lyrics), which gave her the epiphany she needed. “That song is an absolute banger,” she says. “It’s a bit cheeky, a bit sexy, and it just became an obvious common thread to follow”—a thread that she will continue to pursue in Peaceful Attitude, her upcoming album.
“Channelling the sassy energy [of this Bollywood song in Peaceful Attitude] has been my way of reclaiming my goddess power, because women’s power is just constantly overlooked by society,” she adds.
Above BombayMami got inspired by the Bollywood classic song ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai’ from the 1993 movie ‘Khal Nayak’
Empowerment through authenticity, feminism and body positivity
“From situationships to colleagues, I’ve been taken advantage of by a lot of men in the past years,” she says. “It actually reassured me that the song was so liked by women and queer people. Not that I don’t appreciate straight men, but I need a break from them,” she says, laughing. “Unfortunately, patriarchy is a system that we’re stuck in. So, the best I can do is to try to inspired women and queer folks to create their own reality and to follow their guts.”
To do so, the singer’s second-favourite medium is probably her own body. As she says it herself: “In BombayMami, music and aesthetics go hand in hand”.
Above Musical and visual identities are equally important for BombayMami (Photo: courtesy of BombayMami)
Above BombayMami will release her album, Peaceful Attitude, later this year (Photo: courtesy of BombayMami)
Musical and visual identities are equally important for BombayMami (Photo: courtesy of BombayMami)
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Through bold makeup, long nails, bling and colourful clothes, she says she reconnects with her inner power. “Believe me, I have tons of insecurities,” she reveals. “Some days I hate my cellulite and my arms so much, but paradoxically enough, I reappropriate my body through nakedness. The less I wear, the more comfortable I am in front of the camera.”
Despite the setbacks, she says she feels grateful to be able to live her life freely.
“I was fortunate enough to grow up in Switzerland, in a safe space where my parents were supportive and let me express myself, even when I’ve been showing a bit more skin,” she says. “I want to offer that to other people around me.”
Before running back to work, BombayMami ends our interview with some guidelines: “Everybody is welcome to my concerts, except if you’re homophobic, transphobic, sexist or mistreat animals. Music only calls for love and celebrations.”
As she packs up her lunch and heads back to her day job, it’s clear that this duality defines her—professional by day, cultural revolutionary by night. And as her music continues to inspire fans worldwide, she rides that momentum like she rides her snowboard: with fearless authenticity and unapologetic joy.
Salomé Grouard was Digital Editor and Front & Female Content Lead at Tatler Hong Kong. Primarily focused on managing Tatler Hong Kong’s digital platform and content, she also covers gender equality, the music scene and sports through interviews with industry leaders, experts and trendsetters.
Interview highlights include renowned conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, Korean actor Park Seo Jun, singer Jorja Smith, Chinese TV host Yue-Sai Kan, YouTuber Kimono Mom, Japanese rapper Awich, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Mikey Musumeci.
She has also produced stories on revolutionising sexual wellness in Asia, activism within the surfing community, Asian trans musicians reclaiming their narratives through music and looked at the toxicity of gym culture through the lens of the plus-size community. She also covers music festivals, such as Hong Kong’s Clockenflap and Bali’s Suara.
