“Nimbu Mirchi”…
Kailash Kher, lead vocalist of the band Kailasa, a very talented
singer of today’s generation who is known for his earthy voice and unique
approach towards his music, came up with this idea almost a year back. Kailasa
provided three tracks from their album “Rangeele” and gave a challenge to
produce a meaningful video of any of those tracks.
Kathagaan, Babaji and Ujale Baant Lo..
When I listened to these tracks, all of them seemed very beautiful
and unique in their own manner, significant and a stunning in their lyrics as
well as musical structure. Kailasa is known for fusing the medieval music, folk
music, Sufi music, contemporary Indian music with Western music. Their values
are rooted in the earthy mysticism of Indian traditional music, but their approach
is very modern. It reflects in their lyrics, their music and overall creation.
And this makes them very special to me and most others of my generation.
One fine morning, Kailash’s better half, Sheetal asked one
question to Kailash, “what is it that you would give your son, before you leave
this world ? ” Kailash thought of something substantial, not physically, but
spiritually; something that is immortal. He sat alone in the night and came up
with three songs. These were those three songs.
Kathagaan narrates a playful story of the mysterious vision or a
thought that leads to a riddle within your mind-space. It talks about the
distance between reality and dream, the anonymity of an impression that comes
from unknown source and the actual image. For some reason, I could relate to
this song very quickly. Not those other songs did not amaze me, but maybe
because of my artistic background, I could connect to this song instinctively.
I guess it was also determined by my intellectual, emotional temperament and attitude
at that specific time.
As a kid I was always interested in visual arts. Besides that, I
started learning Hindustani classical vocal music at the age of 10. I continued
it till early twenties, completed my graduation from Centre for Performing arts,
Pune University. And then due to some circumstances I came across the medium
called ‘Film’. This gave me a completely new outlook to look at things. Further
I specialized in editing. My focus shifted from music to films but fortunately
music never left me. Maybe because of all these factors ‘my’ interpretation of
Kathagaan came with vibrant colours and a rhythmic quest that featured
something mysterious. But Kailasa, that comprises all the musicians, lyricists;
might have thought of something completely different while writing, composing
and executing the song. And this is why they gave this challenge of making
videos on those songs.
Because they were also curious to see how others ‘perceive’ their
music.
I wanted to narrate a simple story with interesting treatment. I
wanted it to be unpretentious yet entertaining. So I came up with a very shy
and unassuming character of a Rickshaw driver. Why a rickshaw driver? Because
he was supposed to be wandering on the unknown paths of his mind. So I thought that
it would be apt to use him symbolically. In the middle of nowhere he finds
himself in front of this mysterious lady, who he is not sure whether it’s a
product of his imagination or reality.
Mesmerized by her mysterious face and beauty, he dreams of her.
But then these dreams also bring little chaos and unexpected surprises that
scare him. The chase starts, thought comes before or reality? What we dream,
what we wish to create, what we wish to see, experience … are we aware of its
existence? May be it exists somewhere around us already. Like they say in
Indian Philosophy, “What exists in सुक्ष्म reflects in स्थुल ” and “ whatever exists in स्थुल subsists in सुक्ष्म ”.
In India, Nimbu Mirchi (Lemon and Chillies) are hanged in a
vehicle to protect it from an evil eye. The rickshaw owners use it for the same
purpose on specific days. But Nimbu and Mirchi are also used for few other
purposes in a different context that could be unpleasant for some people and
can lead to the darker areas of magic. In this music video I have used the same
element symbolically. Something that is used to protect yourself can also be
very scary if it’s found around you illogically, irrationally.
The lead character is played by Yogesh Shirke, a very talented
actor who could pull off the shy rickshaw driver with his pleasant screen
presence and a naturally infectious smile. And the lady in his dream is played
by Karishma Chavan who is a very talented choreographer by profession. From my
first encounter with her, I have always found her to be very mysterious,
glamorous and at the same time very positively funny. I was looking for someone
exactly like her. I am very proud to say that both these actors played
unconventional characters with ease and because they enjoyed every bit of the
shooting process, that energy reflects in the video as well.
The two day shoot of this music video consisted of lot of
disasters that led to hilarious moments. But that did not discourage us. Adri
Thakur, the cinematographer of this video is very experienced with the
guerrilla film making technique, and since we did not have any permission for
shooting on roads of Mumbai, his experience and tenacity really helped us to
cover whatever we had planned. Most importantly, he was able to capture the real
spirit of the video with limited resources.
Thanks to Abhimanyu Dange for giving his canon 5D digital camera
for the shoot. I am very thankful to Mrs Hemangi and Anant Bapat for their
enthusiasm and making their courtyard available for the shoot. I want to thank
Ankita, Surabhi, their friends and Talashilkar family for the warmth and
support they gave us while letting us shoot in their (Chawl ) building in
Parel. Soon this building will be demolished for development. And I am glad
that this video will always help them to revisit and refresh their memories of
growing up in this building.
Many people have directly or indirectly contributed in the process
of making this video and I am very thankful to all of them. Last but not the
least; I want to thank Sheetal Kher for organizing Kathagaan Music Video
Challenge on behalf of “Kailasa” (Kailash Kher, Paresh Kamath, Naresh Kamath,
Kurt Peters, Sanket Athale, Sameer Chiplunkar, Sankarshan Kini, Tejasvi Rao)
And where does this story end ?
“Nimbu Mirchi”…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZbiwaC86FY
