MUMBAI: The Bollywood Music Project (BMP), one of India’s best-loved music festivals, celebrated a landmark on 24 October 2026 as its 10th edition took over Jio World Gardens in Mumbai. Organised by Eva Live, the festival drew a massive crowd for a day that spanned Bollywood, indie, folk and Sufi music, with more than 20 artists taking the stage. A decade after it launched in 2016, BMP has grown into a fixture of Mumbai’s festive-season calendar, and this edition was framed as a celebration of that journey.
The scale of the occasion was evident from the moment the gates opened. The previous edition had drawn more than 20,000 people, and this year’s turnout was described as a massive crowd, filling the venue with families, groups of friends and longtime fans who have followed the festival across its ten editions. BMP has carved out its own identity: a single-day gathering where generations of Hindi film music sit alongside independent and folk sounds.
The line-up reflected that breadth. It included Roop Kumar Rathod, performing with his wife Sonali Rathod, Anu Malik, Palash Sen of Euphoria, Hariharan, Shilpa Rao, Himesh Reshammiya, Neeraj Shridhar, Kutle Khan, Amit Kumar, Jaan Kumar Sanu and others. The range — from ghazal-influenced melody to 1990s pop, folk energy and contemporary playback — meant the audience moved through several eras of Indian music in a single evening, with each artist bringing a distinct following to the stage.
Roop Kumar Rathod and Sonali Rathod delivered one of the evening’s most warmly received sets, singing “Tere Liye” from Veer-Zaara (2004), “Maula Mere Maula” from Anwar (2007), “Yaara Seeli Seeli” from Lekin (1991), “Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai” from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) and “Sandese Aate Hain” from Border (1997). The selection traced a career built on melody and restraint, and the audience sang along to songs that have become part of the shared memory of Hindi cinema. For many in the crowd, it was the emotional centre of the festival.
Palash Sen brought a different energy, performing the Marathi original version of “Chikni Chameli” among his numbers, a reminder of the cross-language life of film songs and of Euphoria’s place in India’s independent music story. Anu Malik, meanwhile, entertained with shayaris, 1990s chartbusters and patriotic fervour, and reminded attendees with characteristic humour: “DON’T forget that I composed ‘Sandese Aate Hain’.” The line drew cheers, underlining how composers, as much as singers, are celebrated at a festival devoted to the songs themselves.
As the evening progressed, the programme built towards its finale. Shilpa Rao was the second-last performer, her set leading into the closing act, before Himesh Reshammiya closed the show. The sequencing — a much-loved contemporary voice followed by a hitmaker whose songs defined an era of Bollywood sound — gave the finale a sense of occasion fitting for a 10th edition, with the crowd staying to the end.
Magic Moments, from Radico Khaitan, was the “Powered By” partner for the edition, supporting a festival that has, since 2016, sought to present Bollywood music as a living tradition rather than a museum piece. Folk and Sufi artists alongside film singers reinforced that idea.
Ten editions on, the Bollywood Music Project’s appeal lies in that combination of familiarity and variety. Yet a day devoted entirely to live Hindi cinema music continues to draw a devoted audience. This year’s edition, with its massive crowd and a line-up spanning three decades of film music, suggested the festival’s second decade begins in confident form.
