Nikhil Chinapa

To say Nikhil Chinapa has donned many an avatar during his career, is like saying it snows in Alaska; a bit of an understatement. He morphs from DJ to VJ to MC to Music Promoter to Festival Director – some of his best known avatars – with amazing fluidity.

As a popular VJ at MTV, Nikhil got to spend a lot of time around his first love, music. In 2001, a conversation between friends resulted in the launch of Submerge – India’s first and now largest Electronic Dance Music (EDM) company in India.

By now, Nikhil had begun to DJ professionally and plays, well… whatever he feels like. His sets are moody, varied, often erratic but usually fun. Most of his sets feature frantic foot-stomping and the random flailing of arms – sometimes by him. They also feature music – the kind that has a repetitive monotonous beat and is best enjoyed at dangerous decibel levels.

In 2007, Nikhil co-founded Sunburn and in 2013, co-founded and launched Vh1 Supersonic. These are India’s biggest dance music festivals and have captured the collective imagination of India’s burgeoning electronic generation.

Nikhil is well known in India as an ambassador for electronic beats and club culture. What many don’t know about Nikhil is that he is constantly pushing India as a future dance music capital to some of the world’s most celebrated artists. In the last couple of years alone, Nikhil has persuaded Above & Beyond, Swedish house Mafia, Fatboy Slim, Tiesto, Richie Hawtin, Armin van Buuren, Dada Life, Yousef and Coyu to bring landmark events to Indian ears.