Reble on Bollywood, Identity and Rapping Her Way Out of Meghalaya

After a decade in India's underground hip-hop scene, the Shillong-born rapper's verses on the blockbuster "Dhurandhar" soundtrack made her one of the most talked-about new voices in Indian music.

Introduction

For most of her career, Daiaphi Lamare made music far from India's mainstream entertainment industry, both geographically and stylistically. Performing as Reble from her home region of Meghalaya in India's North-East, she built a following within the country's underground Desi hip-hop scene, known for sharp, unfiltered lyricism rather than radio-friendly hooks. Late in 2025, that changed abruptly, when her rap verses on the soundtrack of "Dhurandhar," one of the highest-grossing Hindi films in history, introduced her to an audience many times larger than anything she had previously reached.

Her rise since then illustrates a broader shift taking shape in Indian music: a growing willingness among mainstream Bollywood productions to draw on independent and regional artists rather than relying solely on established playback singers, and a corresponding opportunity for voices from historically underrepresented regions like India's North-East to reach national audiences.

From Shillong's Underground to a Stage Name

Reble was born in Nangbah, in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills, and grew up primarily in Shillong, immersed in the region's Khasi and Pnar cultural traditions. She began rapping at 11, drawn to the form as an outlet during what she has described as a difficult childhood. Her professional career began in 2018, performing under the name Daya alongside the band Symphonic Movement, before she adopted the name Reble and released her debut single, "Bad," in 2019.

Over the following years, Reble built a reputation within India's Desi hip-hop scene through tracks including "Reasons," "Manifest" and collaborative releases like "Terror" and "Set It Off," developing a sound that blends hip-hop with trap, hardcore and R&B influences. In 2021, Vogue India named her among eight emerging Indian women in hip-hop, and her 2022 single "Talk of the Town" was included on Rolling Stone India's list of the year's best independent releases, well before her mainstream breakthrough.

An Engineering Degree Alongside a Music Career

While building her music career, Reble also pursued a civil engineering degree at Visvesvaraya Technological University in Bengaluru, completing it in 2025. She has described initially planning to work as an engineer while treating music as a secondary pursuit, a plan that shifted only once opportunities in music began accelerating around the time of her graduation.

That parallel path, balancing formal technical education with an underground music career, reflects a broader reality for many independent Indian artists working outside major label systems, where sustained income from music alone often remains uncertain even for well-regarded performers.

A Breakthrough Through Malayalam Cinema

Before her Bollywood breakthrough, Reble's first major mainstream film placement came through "Lokah: Chapter 1 — Chandra," a 2025 Malayalam-language film that went on to become the highest-grossing Malayalam movie of all time. She has said she specifically wanted her first film placement to be one she considered creatively worthwhile rather than simply high-profile, and has described the project as revealing a calmer, more meditative side of her artistry compared to her underground releases.

That soundtrack placement, though smaller in scale than what followed, established a template that would repeat later that year: a mainstream film production seeking out an independent artist for a specific creative texture rather than commercial name recognition alone.

Dhurandhar and a National Breakthrough

Reble's profile shifted dramatically with the release of "Dhurandhar," a Ranveer Singh-led spy action film that became one of the highest-grossing Hindi films in history, reportedly earning more than ₹1,300 crore worldwide. Composed by Sashshwat Sachdev, the film's soundtrack blended contemporary production with classic Bollywood references, and Reble was credited on three tracks: "Naal Nachna," "Run Down the City – Monica," a modern remix built around Asha Bhosle's "Piya Tu Ab To Aja," and "Move – Yeh Ishq Ishq," featuring a rap verse layered over a qawwali performance by veteran playback singer Sonu Nigam.

Her verses drew significant press attention, with multiple outlets highlighting her as one of the breakout voices of the soundtrack alongside rapper Hanumankind, and noting the relative rarity of an artist from India's North-East featuring so prominently on a major Hindi film production. She has since appeared on four additional tracks for the film's follow-up, "Dhurandhar: The Revenge."

Staying Grounded Amid Sudden Visibility

Despite the scale of her newfound audience, Reble has been notably measured in how she describes her position within the industry. In interviews following her Dhurandhar breakthrough, she has resisted framing herself as an established star of the Desi hip-hop scene, describing herself instead as still working toward that status. That framing has extended to her creative process as well: she has described her songwriting as driven primarily by personal feeling and lived experience rather than deliberate messaging, even as her music has often carried an implicitly political edge.

Her rise has also been explicitly framed within Indian media coverage as a milestone for artists from the North-East, a region whose musicians have historically had limited access to national platforms despite a rich and distinct musical tradition. Coverage of her breakthrough has repeatedly emphasized the symbolic significance of that regional representation alongside her individual success.

What Comes Next

Following her Dhurandhar-driven visibility, Reble was set to perform at Rolling Loud India, the country's first edition of the global hip-hop festival franchise, a booking that places her alongside international acts on one of the genre's most significant platforms in India. She has described her ambition in relatively modest terms: to create a South Asian hip-hop album with lasting resonance, rather than one built primarily around a single viral moment.

Key Takeaways

Reble, born Daiaphi Lamare in Meghalaya, spent roughly seven years building a following in India's underground Desi hip-hop scene before her mainstream breakthrough. Her rap verses on the soundtrack of "Dhurandhar," one of the highest-grossing Hindi films in history, introduced her to a dramatically larger national audience in late 2025. She completed a civil engineering degree in 2025 while continuing to build her music career, reflecting the uncertain economics many independent Indian artists navigate. Her rise has been widely framed as a milestone for artists from India's North-East, a region historically underrepresented in national entertainment platforms.

Conclusion

Reble's journey, from a self-taught rapper in Shillong to one of the most discussed new voices on a blockbuster Bollywood soundtrack, reflects a broader opening within Indian entertainment for regional and independent artists to reach national audiences on their own creative terms. As she prepares for a growing festival circuit and a hoped-for full-length project, her rise suggests that the path from India's independent music scene to its mainstream stages is becoming less exceptional, and more repeatable, than it once was.