Himanshu Guru
Young filmmakers, composers and lyricists, like the creative team of the upcoming album ‘Dheere Dheere’, are churning out music videos that reflect the depth of their passion and commitment to the art…
Technical developments have not only led to the flowering of different media platforms but also contributed directly to promoting and popularising different art forms. As regards the Oriya entertainment industry, digital platforms have propelled youngsters to come up with innovative storylines.
One music video, which has recently earned pre-release popularity, is ‘Dheere Dheere’. The teaser of the solo video has raked in acclaim on social media. The Ajay Padhi-directed video cast Aswin of ‘Godfather’ fame opposite debutant Ankita in the lead. Sunday POST speaks to the ‘Dheere Dheere’ team, mainly comprising youngsters, about the different experiments woven into the production of the video.
“The video features a romantic track but there are more startling things than romance in it. The teaser of the video is out and one can guess what I mean, but at this point of time, I shouldn’t reveal more,” informed Ajay.
Asked about the target audience of the solo, the director replied: “Obviously youngsters are the target audience. Besides, I always try to experiment in my works and this is no different. It is true that it is highly risky to experiment in a film, keeping the budget in mind. And the task is tougher for a greenhorn like me. So, music video is the perfect platform to come up with innovations. Since, in this digital age, you can instantly reach millions of young viewers on social media, experimenting in a music video is justified. In fact, I have been assigned with a film that would start from November and the video is a litmus test for me,” the director added.
Asked about the experiments in the video, Ajay said: “Intoxication is of different types and people get intoxicated for different purposes. However, in this video the lead actor is intoxicated to achieve a certain goal. He is passionate about the thing and goes on getting intoxicated. It is a trend among urban youngsters in big cities.”
But does the video promote intoxication? The directly instant reply was “No.” “The video focuses on the actor’s passion for love and not intoxication. ‘A passionate journey through love’ is the tagline of the video.”
Asked about the performance of the actors, the young director said: “Aswin, who has earlier acted in the Siddhant Mohapatra starrer ‘Godfather’ is a director’s actor. He is technically sound and quick to grasp the director’s concept and visualisation for a sequence. During shooting I observed that he executed things exactly as I had asked him to.”
Aswin, the lead actor of ‘Dheere Dheere’, is an alumnus of Anupam Kher’s acting school in Mumbai. He said, “The song is a solo by Humane Sagar and I am shown matching my lips to the lyrics in the video. The story has been executed through my character. The theme was challenging for me since it was not mainstream romance. So, I worked beforehand to get into the skin of the character. Besides, since the plot is woven around intoxication I needed to act with balance so that a wrong message doesn’t get conveyed. The director is a genius. He wanted me to act in a specific way and I played the role accordingly. Hope our team’s hard effort will earn appreciation after the launch of the video.”
Prabhu, the music composer of the video, is a gifted singer and has been featured in a few albums. “I am a guitarist,” he said. “The composition has unique guitar pieces and the storyline was fantastic. I am happy I got a really worthy song which deserved special attention. I have put in a lot of effort to synchronise the composition at par with the plot. It is up to the audience to decide whether we have succeeded in our endeavour.”
Asked about Humane’s rendering of the number, Prabhu said: “He is talented and picks exactly what the composer wants. He sang superbly as anybody who has listened to the track will know.”
Arun Sahu, the lyricist of the romantic track, said, “Once my friends Mitu Sahu (the producer of the video) and Ajay arrived at my residence late at night to describe the plot. They wanted me to write down the lyrics as early as possible. I sat with a piece of paper and pen throughout the night but in vain. In the morning I started writing and within a few minutes the lyrics were ready. The duo met me in the afternoon and okayed the lyrics.”
Maa Cinema Production’s ‘Dheere Dheere’ is set for release this month.
