90s Indipop Songs: 16 Hits That Defined Indian Pop

90s Indipop songs that defined Indian pop: 16 hits from Paree Hoon Main and Made in India to Tunak Tunak Tun and Yaaron, with the facts behind each.

Key facts

Indipop, or Indian pop, is pop music made in India that is independent of film soundtracks, and the term was first used by the band Monsoon on a 1981 EP.
Daler Mehndi's 1995 debut Bolo Ta Ra Ra sold 20 million units and remains the top-selling non-film Indian pop album, according to Wikipedia.
Alisha Chinai's Made in India (1995), produced by Biddu, sold over five million copies in India and established Indipop as a distinct genre.
Baba Sehgal's Thanda Thanda Pani (1992) sold 5 million cassettes and is described as the first successful Indian rap album.
Tunak Tunak Tun (1998) was the first Indian music video made with chroma key technology.

The best 90s Indipop songs include Made in India by Alisha Chinai, Bolo Ta Ra Ra and Tunak Tunak Tun by Daler Mehndi, O Sanam by Lucky Ali, Paree Hoon Main by Suneeta Rao, Sa Ni Dha Pa by Colonial Cousins, Dooba Dooba by Silk Route and Yaaron by KK. In that decade, pop music made in India outside film soundtracks grew into a full parallel industry, powered by music videos on television. Some of these albums sold in the millions, and most of the videos are still watched on YouTube today. Below are 16 originals from 1991 to 1999, in release order, with the facts behind each one.

What Indipop meant in the 1990s

Wikipedia defines Indian pop, also called Indi-pop or I-pop, as pop music produced in India that is independent from film soundtracks. The word itself is older than the boom. The British-Indian fusion band Monsoon first used the term Indipop on a 1981 EP released through Steve Coe's Indipop Records.

The 1990s were when it became a business of its own. Scroll's 2019 songlist describes Indipop as "a full-fledged parallel industry in the '90s," giving serious competition to Hindi film music and building its own stars and composers. It was also the decade of the music video, and Scroll notes that most of those videos survive on YouTube today, where new listeners keep finding them.

A few names keep turning up behind the scenes. Composer Lesle Lewis worked on Paree Hoon Main and Yaaron and was half of Colonial Cousins. Producer Biddu wrote Made in India. Labels such as Magnasound released several of the decade's biggest records, including Bolo Ta Ra Ra and the Colonial Cousins debut. If you want to follow that independent thread into the present, our guide to Indian indie music picks up the story.

1. Paree Hoon Main, Suneeta Rao (1991)

Paree Hoon Main came out before the Indipop wave fully arrived. It was the big song from Suneeta Rao's Hindi pop album Dhuan, released in 1991 with Gramophone Company India. Wikipedia says the album sold over 75,000 copies, with music by Lesle Lewis, and that the song and its video made Rao a household name, so much so that the press nicknamed her the "Paree of the Masses."

Scroll points out that the song has aged well because its music and arrangements don't sound dated. It is a good place to start any 90s Indipop playlist.

2. Dil Dhadke, Baba Sehgal (1992)

Baba Sehgal is widely described as the first successful Indian rapper. His biggest album, Thanda Thanda Pani (1992), sold 5 million cassettes and is described by Wikipedia as the first successful Indian rap album. Dil Dhadke is one of the hits from that record. Scroll calls Sehgal the most popular of the artists who tried Hindi rap in that decade, nearly 20 years before hip-hop found a firm footing in India.

3. Johnny Joker, Shweta Shetty (1993)

Shweta Shetty scored an early hit with Johnny Joker in 1993, and Wikipedia notes that the album was a success. She kept her run going later in the decade. At the 1998 Screen Awards she won Best Female Pop Artist for her album Deewane To Deewane Hain, whose dance-floor single Deewane Scroll names as her most popular song.

4. Bolo Ta Ra Ra, Daler Mehndi (1995)

Bolo Ta Ra Ra is the debut album of Daler Mehndi and, by Wikipedia's count, still the top-selling non-film Indian pop album, with 20 million units sold. That includes more than a million copies in Kerala alone. It first came out on cassette on 23 January 1995 and on CD on 1 September 1995. Jawahar Wattal produced and composed it, and Ken Ghosh directed the music video.

Magnasound had signed Mehndi to a three-album deal. The album established him as a pop star and won him Channel V's Best Indian Male Pop Artist award. Scroll credits his high-energy dance videos with bringing bhangra into homes across the country.

5. Made in India, Alisha Chinai (1995)

If one song stands for 90s Indipop, it is probably Made in India. The 1995 album, produced by Biddu, was the first by an Indipop artist to sell on a scale comparable to Hindi film albums, with over five million copies sold in India. Wikipedia says it established Indipop as a distinct genre and made Chinai its main face. She was already known as the Queen of Indipop by the 1990s, and she received the International Billboard Award in 1995, around the time the album came out.

The video introduced model Milind Soman to Indian television screens, according to Scroll. Lover Girl, from the same album, is the other track worth adding.

6. Dole Dole, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi (1995)

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi had a pop career running alongside her acting work in the 1990s. Dole Dole was a television and radio hit in 1995, and its video casts her as a college student with a crush on a classmate. Scroll notes that she was not the only artist of the time making songs and videos about teenage love.

7. O Sanam, Lucky Ali (Sunoh)

O Sanam launched Lucky Ali's career. It comes from his debut album Sunoh, which won Best Pop Male Vocalist at the 1996 Screen Awards and the Channel V Viewers Choice Award in 1997. Wikipedia says the album stayed in the top three of the MTV Asia charts for 60 weeks. Scroll credits Ali's songwriting and Mikey McCleary's production for giving his guitar pop a sound of its own. More on Lucky Ali as a songwriter is in our Indian singer-songwriters guide.

8. Sa Ni Dha Pa, Colonial Cousins (1996)

Colonial Cousins paired the singer Hariharan with singer-composer Leslee Lewis. Their self-titled debut came out on 1 October 1996 on Magnasound, went platinum in India and topped the Indian charts in 1996. Three songs stood out, according to Wikipedia: Krishna, Indian Rain and Sa Ni Dha Pa. The duo won the MTV Asia Viewers' Choice Award and the US Billboard Viewers' Award in 1996. Krishna won the Star Videocon award for best music video.

The album has a legacy beyond India too. Wikipedia records that in 2026 Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a vinyl copy of it.

9. Duniya, Raageshwari (1997)

Raageshwari, known from the film Main Khiladi Tu Anari, was one of several female pop stars who emerged after Made in India, according to Scroll. Her debut album Duniya was released on 17 March 1997 through Bertelsmann Music Group, and Scroll picks its song Duniya as her track to remember.

10. Tum To Thehre Pardesi, Altaf Raja (1997)

Qawwali singer Altaf Raja became famous almost overnight with Tum To Thehre Pardesi, released in 1997. Scroll describes his distinctive voice and expressive face as the keys to its appeal.

11. Tunak Tunak Tun, Daler Mehndi (1998)

Daler Mehndi's second entry on this list is the one the internet still knows. Tunak Tunak Tun came out in 1998 and was the first Indian music video made using chroma key technology. Its video had a then unprecedented budget of 25 million rupees. The album won Best Indian Pop Album at the 1998 Screen Awards, and Wikipedia calls it the biggest Indipop hit of its time.

By 1999 the song had an international cult following among the South Asian diaspora in the UK and the US, and in markets such as Japan and China. In 2014 Mehndi and Deadmau5 released a remix of it together.

12. O Meri Munni, Remo Fernandes (1998)

Remo Fernandes usually sang in English or Konkani, but in 1998 he recorded the Hindi album O Meri Munni. Scroll describes the title track, with its full-voiced singing and flute solo, as an immediate hit. The song found new listeners in 2019 after a question on Kaun Banega Crorepati sent people back to its video on YouTube.

13. Dooba Dooba, Silk Route (1998)

Silk Route was a band of Mohit Chauhan on vocals and guitar, Atul Mittal on guitar, Kem Trivedi on keyboards and Kenny Puri on drums. They formed in 1996 and released their debut album Boondein two years later. Dooba Dooba, from that album, is their best-known song, and Scroll recalls its video of the band performing while partly submerged in a lake. Chauhan later became a regular voice in Bollywood, as Scroll notes.

14. Dhoom Pichuk Dhoom, Euphoria (1998)

Euphoria was formed in Delhi in 1998 by Palash Sen, then a medical student, and his friends. Their debut album Dhoom came out the same year. The first single, Dhoom Pichuk Dhoom, had a popular music video directed by filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar. The band went on to more hits in the 2000s, including Maeri, which Scroll calls their biggest.

15. Ho Gayi Hai Mohabbat, Aslam (1998)

Ho Gayi Hai Mohabbat was the title track of a 1998 album that launched two pop careers at once, Aslam and Shibani Kashyap, according to Scroll. The song became a chart hit, and its breezy video was shot in the backwaters of Kerala.

16. Yaaron, KK (1999)

KK's debut album Pal came out in 1999, and Scroll says it made him famous. The track Yaaron was composed by Lesle Lewis, and Scroll gives him half the credit for it. It closes the decade neatly, linking Lewis's work on Paree Hoon Main in 1991 to the end of the 90s.

More 90s Indipop songs worth adding

A few more artists belong on a longer playlist. Falguni Pathak, whose music draws on Gujarati folk forms, released her debut album in 1998, and her popular songs include Chudi Jo Khanki Haathon Mein and Maine Payal Hai Chhankai. Sonu Nigam's 1999 album Deewana was also popular. Daler Mehndi's 1997 album Balle Balle won Channel V awards in six categories and went multi-platinum.

For newer Hindi songs made outside films, see our list of Hindi indie songs.

FAQ

What is Indipop music?

Indipop, or Indian pop, is pop music made in India that is independent of film soundtracks. The term was first used by the band Monsoon on a 1981 EP, and the genre boomed in the 1990s.

Who is known as the Queen of Indipop?

Alisha Chinai. She began her career with the album Jadoo in 1985 and was known as the Queen of Indipop by the 1990s, thanks largely to her 1995 hit Made in India.

Which is the best-selling Indipop album?

Daler Mehndi's 1995 debut Bolo Ta Ra Ra. Wikipedia says it sold 20 million units and remains the top-selling non-film Indian pop album.

Who was the first successful Indian rapper?

Baba Sehgal is widely described as the first successful Indian rapper. His 1992 album Thanda Thanda Pani sold 5 million cassettes.

Where can I listen to 90s Indipop songs?

Many of these albums are on Spotify, including Made in India and the Colonial Cousins debut. Several official videos, including Made in India, O Sanam and Dooba Dooba, are on Sony Music India's YouTube channel.