This little man could be anyone: a rickshaw puller, a small businessman, a singer.

G**** Circus rap about the little man who has been ignored by the system. In bhodro Calcutta, says Neel, the audience is intimidated by the lyrics.

In Calcutta, their hometown, they've done just two live shows. Q, who directed the film, is also the front man of the band, which has played gigs in London, Cologne, Berlin and Brussels, as well as cities in Poland and Romania. He told me that the songs emerged from the cult film 'G****', about a loser. Later, I asked Neel (guitars) about what they sang about. There was palpable anger in the air, though suffused with laughter and cheerfulness. The energy was unmistakeable even though the lyrics were in Bangla, a sense of urgency got through. Some days back I saw G**** Circus live at Out of the Box in Hauz Khas Village. Unlike Eminem who learnt to rap on the porches of Detroit houses and trailer parks, and honed his skills in freestyle competitions, these guys evolved in a vacuum, but have emerged surprisingly fully formed. They have grown up in India (except Honey who has a Canadian connection), and learnt the craft by listening to their heroes. The most striking feature of these rappers is that they are self-taught.

And like all rappers, they are not afraid to use cuss words to make their point. Rap is perhaps the most direct musical genre, and these rappers are masters at saying it like it is. Honey Singh is strongly influenced by present-day gangsta rap. Calcutta's G**** Circus has a wider lyrical arc, but the words are essentially about resisting the mainstream. DJ Faadu draws from a personal- confessional tradition, much like Eminem.

Cigarette faadu song lyrics