Indian Ocean is an Indian rock band from New Delhi established in 1990. The ensemble was founded by guitarist Susmit Sen and tabla player Asheem Chakravarty, who met in 1984. The early lineup consisted of Sen, Chakravarty, drummer Shaleen Sharma, and bassists Indrajit Dutta and Anirban Roy. In 1991, bassist Rahul Ram replaced Roy. Their recording career began with the eponymous debut studio recording Indian Ocean (1993), which sold over 40,000 copies within a year of its release and became the highest-selling record by any Indian band at the time. In 1994, drummer Amit Kilam joined as a replacement for Sharma, establishing the band's most recognizable lineup. The ensemble subsequently released the live recording Desert Rain (1997) followed by the studio recordings Kandisa (2000) and Jhini (2003). In 2005, they released the soundtrack recording Black Friday. Their tracks “Ma Rewa” and “Kandisa” reached professional recognition in 2014 when the publication Rolling Stone India named them among the greatest Indian rock songs. Chakravarty died of a cardiac arrest on December 25, 2009. The ensemble subsequently added vocalist Himanshu Joshi and percussionist Tuheen Chakravorty, and released the studio recording 16/330 Khajoor Road (2010) as a free download to bypass traditional record labels. Sen left the group in 2013 and was replaced by guitarist Nikhil Rao. The ensemble subsequently released the studio recordings Tandanu (2014)—which featured collaborations with musicians Shankar Mahadevan and Karsh Kale—and Tu Hai (2023).
