From bar hopping to butter chicken: Louis Tomlinson makes most of his India trip

Former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson says he loved the “infectious energy” of people on his maiden visit to India where he got to sample butter chicken and visit local bars to watch football.

The 33-year-old British musician, who performed here at the third edition of Lollapalooza India on Sunday evening, enthralled the crowd with beloved hits from One Direction like ‘Drag Me Down’, ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’, ‘Night Changes’, alongside his solo tracks such as ‘Written All Over Your Face’, ‘Out of System’, ‘Saturdays’, ‘Back To You Now’, and ‘We Made It’.

“It’s hot but great.. It’s just quick flying in and out so it’s a fast trip, but I’ll be back, hopefully. I’m getting a beautiful vibe. Everyone feels happy. It’s a good and infectious energy. I’ve not visited enough; that’s why I must come back and spend more time outside of the gig,” Tomlinson told PTI in an interview.

The singer said despite the limited time, he managed to explore a few places around the St. Regis hotel in South Mumbai.

“I was very British, and I found a few bars to watch football. So, that was nice. The food is great and delicious. I’m a big fan. I’ve only had butter chicken so far… I’m going to have an Indian feast (later),” he said.

The singer said he though he has not seen any Bollywood movies and would like to catch some during his flight back home, he is aware of the “absolute colossal presence those movies have world over”.

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Tomlinson said the success that Ed Sheeran and the Coldplay band had during their tour in India has opened doors for him and others looking to perform here.

“From afar, with Coldplay and Ed Sheeran coming over here (in India), you feel like something’s happening, not that it hasn’t always been happening here. But with the size of the tour that Ed’s gone on, that’s great for me and everyone else because it makes all the conversations around this a little bit easier.

“There’s a proof of concept with Ed and with Coldplay, and it’s exciting. I think you’re going to be seeing more of that.”

Tomlinson said he has always felt a “strong presence” of his music in India.

“I’ve felt a strong presence, pretty much as long as I can remember from Indian fans online. People (keep) asking me to come. I answered someone online, maybe five or six years ago, saying, ‘I don’t know exactly when, but I’ll be here’. It took this long.”

For Tomlinson, being at Lollapalooza India was an emotional experience as his favourite band, Green Day, also made their much-anticipated debut at the same festival last evening.

“When I was 14, I was in a band at school. We didn’t write our songs; maybe we did like one, and essentially, we would do cover songs, but 70 per cent of the covers were of Green Day at the time, who happened to be playing at the festival.

“So, that’s kind of a nice full circle moment for me, to be playing at Lollapalooza, and then Green Day also here. It’s a real proud moment for me,” Tomlinson said, adding that he attended the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago about ten years ago.

Growing up in England, the singer said pursuing his passion for music wasn’t easy.

“I’m not a musical connoisseur. I’m just a fan like everyone else. My relationship with music is that I feel and think about it all the time. I was from a place in England where music wasn’t cool. As a guy to be a singer, anything that’s a little bit arty like that wasn’t what everyone did, so it was a bit different.

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“It wasn’t as if there were local people I could aspire to be. I feel lucky that I’ve found music because in a parallel world, I probably never would have. There are times where it’s vital, not just to me as a professional, to me as a person and as a music fan,” he recalled.