HIMANSHU GURU, OP
The Sufiana charm of the music video ‘Khuda’ has enthralled one and all…
The compact disc era has almost come to an end in the Oriya entertainment industry. Audio-video songs of both films and albums are now released online. Again, YouTube has become instrumental in supporting both old and new artistes, composers, singers and directors to present their works right in front of the audience. In this race the latest video that has earned popularity is ‘Khuda’. It is a Hindi music solo performed by an Oriya team. Moreover, the Sufiana composition and sad plot of the video have allured many. Sunday POST chats with the cast and crew of the video.
The solo dwells upon a sad plot. A boy and a girl develop love for each other at the first meet. However, after a while the couple breaks up due to some reason. Now, though the boy is avoiding the girl, the later is anxiously awaiting that someday the love affair would be revived. Later, the boy meets an accident and loses his eyes. But after surgery he regains his visual power. While he is astonished about getting cured, finally he finds that his former girlfriend, whom he was avoiding, had donated her eyes for him.
Aarohi Ajita is the singer, composer and lyricist of the solo. Normally, people prefer either a romantic or a dance number for video solos. But here is an emotional song which conveys a message about secularism: A risky affair for a video album. ‘Tu hi Ram tu hi Rahim sub tera naam he, tu Nanak tu hi Yishu tu hi Goutam he khudaya ve’ conveys a secular spirit. Aarohi said: “I always prefer to come up with some new things. I also love to take risks. However, although I was sceptical, the director efficiently executed my visualisation through his story.”
Asked why she preferred the Sufiana pattern in the composition, she said: “In my childhood once I was very sick and my mother prayed to the Gods of all religions to save me. When I grew up and knew the episodes I developed great love for devotional songs of different religions. I came to know about Sufiana and since long wanted to compose a song using this pattern. ‘Khuda’ was the perfect opportunity.”
Aarohi, who also is a guitarist, is the singer of the song. Earlier, she has sung for the Hindi album, ‘Sapne’, a rap song ‘Tu mora gapa tie’ released on the occasion of Valentine’s Day and the Oriya solo ‘Swapna’.
The singer said: “Since it was my own composition, I did not face much difficulty to record the track. I know well about my abilities and limitations as a singer and so I had composed accordingly. But yes, it does not mean that I did not do justice to the composition.”
Asked why she had not so far composed music for films, Aarohi said: “My turn has not come yet. I am a trained singer and also successfully composed many songs. But I am yet to get a chance to compose for films. I will really be grateful if some director gives me the chance to compose. I am confident I can do proper justice to a song on the big screen.”
The director of the video Saroj Kanta deserves kudos. Asked about the plot, he said: “The lyrics of the song had an emotional essence. The Sufiana presentation demanded a sad story. Besides, I have also kept the singer in the frame, which is a rare event.”
About the selection of the hero and heroine, he said: “Chintu was known to me earlier and I had conceptualised keeping him in mind. Ankita entered the project a little later but she performed well.”
Saroj is the director of the Oriya film ‘Premara Nisha Niara Niara’ and ‘To Premare Padiala Pare’ is his upcoming film.
Ankita Mohanty is the heroine of the album. After ‘Dheere Dheere’ this is her second album. While girls normally prefer glamorous roles she executed a character who finally donates her eyes to her boyfriend.
Asked about the role, Ankita, who is an anchor and model, said: “This was a new experience for me. People have admired my performance but as an artiste I feel I could have done a little better. However, the experience of the album will help me execute such roles with perfection in the future.”
Ankita intimated she has worked in a film titled ‘Rahasya’ that is yet to be released.
Padarabindu Nayak, better known as Chintu is the hero of the album. He said he had played the protagonist’s role in TV serials like ‘Tapasya’ and ‘Ahuti’. However, this is his debut music video. He said: “Since I have faced the camera earlier I didn’t find much difficulty. My co-actor Ankita was cooperative and I believe we developed a good chemistry which helped us better execute the shots. Director Saroj is talented enough and he knew how to bring out the desired performances from us.”
