Shas­tri Boodan

Free­lance Con­trib­u­tor

Rasi­ka “D Rani” Din­di­al is hope­ful that her lat­est re­lease, Pound D Damadole, could pro­pel her to the top of the Chut­ney So­ca Monarch (CSM) fi­nals in 2026, mark­ing a con­fi­dent re­turn to the com­pe­ti­tion af­ter sev­er­al years away.

Launched in De­cem­ber, the song has quick­ly emerged as a favourite among chut­ney so­ca en­thu­si­asts, earn­ing wide­spread at­ten­tion for its in­fec­tious rhythm and dance-dri­ven en­er­gy.

Its strong re­cep­tion has placed Din­di­al firm­ly among the artistes to watch as an­tic­i­pa­tion builds to­wards the 2026 fi­nals.

A res­i­dent of Kel­ly Vil­lage, Ca­roni, Din­di­al was im­mersed in mu­sic from an ear­ly age, grow­ing up on In­di­an clas­si­cal songs un­der the guid­ance of her fa­ther, the late Bas­deo “Lapoo” Din­di­al.

In his prime, Lapoo Din­di­al was a high­ly re­spect­ed fig­ure in the In­di­an clas­si­cal mu­sic scene, and his in­flu­ence played a defin­ing role in shap­ing his daugh­ter’s mu­si­cal foun­da­tion.

De­spite those clas­si­cal roots, Din­di­al said she made a de­lib­er­ate de­ci­sion to pur­sue chut­ney mu­sic be­cause of its broad ap­peal and strong con­nec­tion with au­di­ences.

“It’s what the peo­ple want,” she ex­plained. “They want mu­sic they can en­joy and dance to.”

That em­pha­sis on au­di­ence en­gage­ment has re­mained cen­tral to her ca­reer and con­tin­ues to guide her artis­tic choic­es.

The 2026 com­pe­ti­tion will mark her first ap­pear­ance at the Chut­ney So­ca Monarch in many years, and she is ap­proach­ing it with re­newed fo­cus and de­ter­mi­na­tion. “I’m putting my best foot for­ward,” she said, while ac­knowl­edg­ing the strength of the field. “I know every­body will be com­ing with good songs.”

Din­di­al’s track record in the genre spans decades.

She first made her mark in 1997 with Gola­nee Ki Pool and went on to re­lease a string of pop­u­lar songs, in­clud­ing Lazy Man, Naina Wale, Du Du Kat, Goomai and Naina Walay, es­tab­lish­ing her­self as a con­sis­tent and recog­nis­able voice in chut­ney mu­sic.

As she heads in­to the 2026 fi­nals, Din­di­al ex­pressed grat­i­tude for the mo­men­tum be­hind her lat­est hit and op­ti­mism about the road ahead.

“I am hap­py to go in­to the com­pe­ti­tion with a big song,” she said.

“I know there are oth­er big songs com­ing, and I wish every­one the best.”