Rutgers’ Punjabi singer up for Super Bowl ad

Last night, at the Fiso Lounge on South Street, a rap group featuring two Jersey guys got a taste of the celebrity even a shot at a Super Bowl spot can bring.

"It was funny, because everyone started asking us for pictures and autographs," said Parag Oberoi, 26, who grew up near Princeton and graduated from Rutgers.

Busloads of "very enthusiastic" college students packed the place to see his group, Nivla & P. Oberoi, and, for the first time, the artists got lots of requests to pose with fans before the show.

It all started with Doritos.

The chip-maker has a song contest whose winner will be in a Super Bowl ad.

Nivla & P. Oberoi's "Be Easy" has made the final three.

And if it wins the online voting, a music video they shot in Los Angeles, will run between the first and second quarters of the nation's biggest TV event, Feb. 3.

Nivla (really New Yorker Alvin Augustine) raps the lead vocals in English, while India-born Oberoi sings in Punjabi.

Also in the group are producer/sound engineer Raj Makhija, from Edison, N.J., and DJ Sharad Bhavnani, another New Yorker.

Makhija, whose brother heard Oberoi at Rutgers, got the four to form the South Asian-flavored group.

"East Coast rap fused with Indian culture" is how Oberoi describes their music.

"Be Easy" is a "laidback party track" that tells people to "chill out and have a good time," he said.

"Nah, don't worry, be easy" is its response to questions like "Did I ever lie to you?" and "Did I ever cheat someone?" he said.

One might suspect that votes from India have helped propel the song, but Oberoi points out that voters must have MySpace accounts registered in the United States or Canada.

Still, the song has been making its way around the globe, he said. Nike put it on a workout tape marketed overseas, and a family friend said she recently heard it at a gym in Japan.

DJs in India have also put Nivla & P. Oberoi tracks on compilation CDs, he said.

And, since the song made the finals, "it's been like a whirlwind of media," Oberoi said.

So far, though, Oberoi hasn't been able to quit his day job - financial/accounting duties at Goldman Sachs in Manhattan.

But that might change if his group edges out the other finalists, both from Texas - "Message From Your Heart" by Austin's Kina Grannis and "Waitin" by Dallas' Landon Austin.

To rally support, the group set up a Web site, www.hiphopsuperbowl.com, complete with behind-the-scenes video of the L.A. trip.

Voting ends Jan. 27, but the results won't be announced before the game.

"We don't find out, no one finds out until they run the commercial," he said.

To vote, or just check out the songs submitted, go to the Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" site: http://216.178.38.116/doritoscrashthesuperbowl.