Much about Kavi Singh is difficult to believe. It is difficult to believe that she sang for the first time in her life only in 2019 – and has since then recorded over 80 songs with tens more in the pipeline, recorded and waiting to be released.

Following the careers of a singer who goes viral on YouTube, a rabble-rousing poet, and a mega influencer-writer-publisher, Purohit tells a fascinating and deeply disturbing story of how popular culture is being co-opted by the religious majority and weaponised to create divisions within society

In H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars, award-winning independent journalist, documentary film-maker and podcast creator Kunal Purohit, 34, examines how this popular culture phenomenon has created societal acceptability for Hindutva's core beliefs, how inserting Hindutva into popular culture has normalised Islamophobia, demonised Islam and vilified those who criticise right-wing extremism.

The book’s narrative and affective core are built around three Hindutva ‘influencers’ whose world stretches along numerous small towns in the Hindi-belt India.

Kunal Purohit has investigated the use – and abuse – of popular culture by the Hindu Right.H-Pop is the first book to closely investigate this

During his travels, Purohit found the genre thriving, with songs targeting everyone from Muslims to Pakistanis, from rival politicians to critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party. 

What makes the book exceptional is the fact that though it is meticulously researched and presented, the author leaves his personal opinions out of the narrative, writes Natasha Ramarathnam.

Pop culture can be a powerful tool for social and political activism – but what happens when it's used to incite discrimination, or even violence? That's the question at the heart of journalist Kunal Purohit's book, H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars.