NOTE: This ranking is not latest, and is for the year 2009-2010.
DJ or a Disc Jockey is someone who plays recorded music for an audience, generally in a club or a party. They may play music in the bars, nightclubs discs or rave parties. They may select and play music or may even do some turntable scratching to create percussive sounds. In short, they are the life and soul of any club or party. They can make or break the mood out there; have the power to get every feet on the dance floor!
Each successful DJ has his own style of playing the music that eventually becomes his style statement and then a platform that slowly gets associated with him.
Indian DJs have truly made their mark in the nation as well as internationally. At the same time they never fail to connect with the masses; be it the likes of DJ Praveen who is always remembered for his ‘Summer of 69’ Bhangra remix, or DJ Suketu whose ‘Bin Tere Sanam’ gets people on dance floors in seconds. Brought forth is the list of the TOP 10 DJs of India (based on their fan votes on thedjlist.com)
1. DJ Praveen Nair
Location: Mumbai, India.
He is an Aquarian by birth, engineer by learning, a music connoisseur by profession; DJ Praveen is a down to earth friendly guy who is among the best Indian DJs to make it successful on the international DJ scene. He started spinning music as an amateur DJ in 2002 and since then he has risen to a meteoric success.
He has done the historical Bhangra remix for ‘Summer of 69’, established himself for a new generation of clubbers through Saturday night show on 93.5 Red FM, played at the top nighclubs and events, officially ranked among the top best DJs of India by the Times group and MTV, responsible for the success of the club Provogue Lounge (his first residency). At the same time he has also wowed crowds internationally in far flung places as Egypt, Australia, Malasiya, South Africa, Indonesia, Italy, Hong Kong and many more.
2. DJ Aqeel
Location: Mumbai, India.
He is the most sought after DJ and has played in more countries than any other DJ, and has been the only DJ to play twice at the World Economic Forum in Davos entertaining the likes of Bill Clinton. He has given the world some of the best remixes, his albums have made the record sales, has introduced the first ever DJ owned record label in the country under the brand PowerPlay Records, introduced the concept of Super Club in India
3. DJ Akbar Sami
Location: Mumbai, India.
He is best known as the Indian remix guru. He shot to fame with his first album ‘Jalwa’. He tried his hand at remixing the bollywood numbers as well and became a music director himself eventually, with Fast Forward.
4. DJ Suketu Radia
Location: Mumbai, India.
The’Bin Tere Sanam’ Remix; that’s how we know DJ Suketu. But this Mumbai- based DJ started his career as a DJ over 15 years back, with his debut remix album ‘440’ Volts, which had topped the charts with a number of hits like ‘Pyar Zindagi Hai’ and ‘ Bombay in my soul’.
And then he also made his mark in Bollywood by remixing many new songs like ‘Aadat’, ‘Baras Ja’, ‘Beedi’, ‘Ya Ali’, songs of Awarapan, Race and many more. The latest addition to this list were the remixes of the songs of ‘ Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’; again being a hit among his fans.
5. DJ Nyk
Location: New Delhi, India.
One of the most dedicated artists around, he brings immense energy and passion to every project of his, something that never goes unnoticed. DJ Nyk, aka Nikhil Sahni, ‘being classy’ personified, without being over the top. He has been in the industry for 4 years now and has been very well established now, winning the hearts of the gurus of music as well as the public who have branded him the ‘King of Remixes’. He has already experimented with multiple genres like ambient, chill out, house, euro trance and even drum & bass and Breakbeats. At 23, he is a great sensation among his fans.
What started as just jockeying at local parties at the age of 16, escalated into him doing a serious study in the art of e-music. He has also been accepted internationally with performances in 25 worldwide cities like Hong Kong, Malasiya, Dubai, Bahrain etc to his credit. He also debuted in the Bollywood with the remixes in the SRK Production ‘Billu Barber’. He still continues to bring quality music through his signature EDM (Electronic Dance Music) productions and DJ sets worldwide.
6. DJ Akhtar Faisal
Location: Mumbai, India.
7. DJ Ravish
Location: Jaipur, India.
DJ Ravish literally lives , eats and dies on music. He started really young, being exposed to music at a small age of 15 years. By 20, he turned into the most liked DJ in the Jaipur City. His adventure started from spinning in the friend’s party and his passion for the same led him to make a career out of it. he entered into professional DJing at the age of 17 and has come a long way since then.
He started making it big on the Electronic Music stage, even started making his own tunes urged by his curiosity for softwares. His remixes have a new funky, punchier bassline and kicking kicks to bang the speakers, which is already a hit! His Bollywood biggies include ‘Dhan Ta Nan’ (Kaminey), ‘Twist’ (Love Aaj Kal), ‘Om Mangalam’(Kambakkht Ishq) and he is getting appreciation from all over. His music never lets the feet go off the dance floor. He is the star of any event. This young talent, for whom ‘even sky is not a limit’, makes everyone keep coming back for more.
8. DJ Ryan Beck
Location: Mumbai, India.
He has been DJing for the past 18 years. This exceptional talent has been the Winner of the War of DJs 1998 All Mumbai and a winner of DMC 19999 All India. Over this magnificent career span, he has been a resident DJ in a variety of high end clubs like Enigma, Waves, Illusions and many more. He has performed in almost all of Indian cities and many countries like France, Dubai, Austria, and Bali.
9. DJ Khalid Kazeem
Location: Chennai, India.
Dj Khalid has been a professional Turntablest for the last 10 years. He has been scratching on records and vinyls since the young age of 14. He has performed in the best clubs and bars all over the world and has gathered his fair share of fans. His great spinning and remixing techniques have seen him playing Bollywood and Underground Bhangra chartbusters, Electro, Club and House music to the ecstatic crowds.
10. DJ Nasha
Location: Mumbai, India.
He made a splash with his ‘Nasha-Flute Fantasy’ and continued to create many more great Hollywood remixes. He also has many Bollywood remixes to his credit. He has also opened a professional DJ academy in India. Some of his top tracks include: Flute Fantasy, Yara Sili Sili, Jawani Janeman; making him one of the most loved and appreciated DJs of the country.