Drishyam Play: The Place Where The SONG Finds Its STORY

Being an avid music lover, I had literally lived through listening to almost every genre. However, when it came to Bollywood music, I found it to be quite repetitive, not to mention the shoddiness that is creeping up stealthily. The depth is fast disappearing!

The music scene in our part of the world is replete with gimmicks and blatant imitation of the west; perhaps because of the trend and the humongous profit influx.

But, what about harmony? What about melody? What about the SOUL?

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that nowadays the norm is just to rip off an old song and spruce it up into upbeat remixes which are played in the pubs to a groggy, foot thumping crowd! -

Anyway, so it was quite a routine day at the office and I was surfing through the internet to find something that would soothe my senses, just then did I stumble on the Drishyam Play channel on YouTube!

No sooner did I start viewing the original music videos on the channel than I almost instantly knew my current opinion about the Bollywood music scene was surely not the be all and end all for things!

There is hope for music today and forever will be. And I knew I had to do a lot of catching up with the minds behind the initiative!

For the uninitiated, Driysham Play is an idea, an enterprise that intends to salvage music, make original renditions and serve it in front of all and sundry for a taste of sheer NIRVANA! Yes, it aims to keep the hope for music to thrive! Thrive in a space that is not gimmicky, a space that is all SOUL and ARDOUR!

The brain-child of Drishyam Films founder Manish Mundra, Drishyam Play aims to help promote non-mainstream genres as well as upcoming singers, lyricists, composers and instrumentalists. Manish who has been the man behind some path-breaking content on the celluloid, is ecstatic to be part of the gambit which is still in its nascent stage. He firmly believes this will metamorphose into the next big thing in the music industry!

The unconventional Mundra is seen as an inspiration to many who want to make it big in the film industry, especially because of all the struggles he underwent to be where he is - and with a reputation like that, it was almost a given that, whenever creative bankruptcy engulfed Bollywood, his films revived the notion of creativity and original content! And he vouches to do the same with music as well and thankfully so!

I got into a conversation with Mukta Bhatt, head of the project in the very office of Drishyam Films earlier this week and she spoke at length about Drishyam play and where it is headed too. Mukta who also penned down the soulful lyrics of the song ‘Rab Jogi’ blatantly says Drishyam Play is making very meaningful content especially in an era that doesn’t shy away from taking old songs and remixing them.

The dynamic lady asserts, quite contrary to the rife belief about the dearth of talent, there are so many people out there who are ready to write, compose and sing but they do not have a platform. Bhatt who also penned down the lyrics of the soul-stirring “Mera Rab Jogi Ban Ayaa,” a music video that has garnered over two million views on YouTube, thinks people in the nooks and crannies of the country are looking for a vent to bring their talent out in the open. But they don’t know how to do it. Quipped she, “There are no job portals for talents sitting in the remote corners of our country, they don’t know how to get in touch with production houses; they are not aware of the packaging process in order to bring the final product in front of the audience.

“We at Drishyam Play are trying to bridge that gap. We are busy making original music and even when we are dabbling into the folk music genre, we are adding the extra element of story-telling to it!”

Here, the lovely song called ‘Mumal’ is worth a mention. The song has been beautifully rendered by a 70 year old Rajasthani folklore singer Dapu Khan who plays an ancient instrument called the Khamachya. On YouTube the video has garnered more than a million views!

Mumal happens to be a very renowned Rajasthani folklore which talks about the love-saga of Rana Mahendra and Mumal. It is a fervent Jaisalmeri love story that is laced with the heat of passion and deceit. The original folk-song is just about the feelings and emotions of Rana Mahendra, however in a bid to make the song different and yet (in the words of Bhatt) “retain the authenticity of it”; Drishyam Play recreated it by kind of construing Mumal’s emotions as well. Vibha Saraf, who happens to be a Kashmiri singer has wondrously weaved love and longing through her rendition in the song! Vibha’s Hindi lines also kind of helped the song to have a pan-India appeal. Having said that, I firmly believe music knows no boundaries. It lets the soul do the talking.

Prior to venturing in the creative space, Ms Bhatt was a business analyst with Star. When she met Mr Mundra, she came to know, how Mundra so wanted to retain the Intellectual Property to the music he made, this led to their association. She feels doing the songs and then videos for the songs are a different high altogether, “Making the song (‘Rab Jogi’) was a very organic process. The song was beautifully composed by Santosh Jagdale and when Manish heard it, he fell in love with it instantly. Mame Khan who was then performing in Anti-Social (a resto-pub in the suburbs of Mumbai) heard it and agreed to sing it almost instantly being completely oblivious to the fate of the song. Once he sang the song, the track was uplifted even more!”

In any scenario for that matter, let alone the music-space, comparisons are inevitable and in this case, the semblance between Coke Studio and Drishyam Play are pretty obvious. However, there are MARKED DIFFERENCES as well. Instead of shying away from a response in the same direction, Mukta had a very valid point to make, “In Coke Studio most of the songs are recreated and we have a very fresh approach towards ours.”

Mukta who is very determined to view Drishyam Play as a standalone entity also asserted, instead of keeping music surrounded amidst the four walls of the auditorium or the recording studio, it has been brought out in the open. She thundered, “We came out of the closed environment, we are not calling the artistes to us, we are taking our set up and reaching out to them, not just to record their voices but also to delve in their milieu, understand their background, we travel with them and understand their space. In addition to that we are also working with established bands! We are doing both!”

Needless to say, her approach towards music and her trying to understand the pulse of the country by seeping their cultures into her being is truly laudable! The enthusiastic dame also was open about how she ended up making banks of not just artists, singers and lyricists but of cinematographers and directors as well.

Drishyam Play’s next “Saawariya” is due for release on YouTube on the 25^th of June. This song has been sung by Shilpa Rao.

I got in touch with Naresh Kamath who is the composer of the song. Kamath who is one of lead bass guitarists of India is very excited with his association with Drishyam Play, says he, “I saw some of their videos on YouTube, I took Drishyam to be a movie company but when I heard ‘Rab Jogi’, my manager got in touch with me and informed me about Drishyam Play. I thought we should take this forward. That’s when I met Mukta and there was no looking back. Mukta had her eyes on Saawariya and that was finally the chosen song!

The erstwhile bass guitarist of the Malyali folk-rock band Avial had nothing but praises for Drishyam and its initiative. He declared, “There’s no particular genre they want to delve into, they are open to anything, but it folk music or a Qawwali or a Thumri so on and so forth.”

We all know about how money hungry the industry is; however, Naresh feels Drishyam Play is a CHANGE of sorts, quips he, “Here are some people who want to make a difference in the money-minded industry. There is so much that the country has to offer but they don’t find any chance. Something of this sort is so encouraging to them! I am extremely happy that Drishyam displayed the guts and I hope this becomes an example of sorts and many others follow suit!”

Drishyam surely is such a brave and lovely gambit. Shouldering the responsibility to bring in a change is surely a first of sorts in the industry. We at Desimartini.com firmly believe that such gumption should be encouraged and welcomed with open arms. We wish Drishyam Play humongous success and love.

And again, the latest from their stable ‘Saawariya’ that has vocals by Shilpa Rao, composed by Naresh Kamath will release on YouTube on the 25^th June. We hope people love it and it gets all the adulation it truly deserves!