Music video recreates bygone era

Falah Faisal | NT
Bengaluru

It is always nice when a music video takes you down memory lane and Har Zulm by Shrikanth S Yajurvedi does just that. Directed by Raghav Bhotika, a filmmaker who has been working for over a decade and has made ad films for brands like Mi and Jupiter, makes his second foray into making music videos.

“I’ve wanted to make something set in the 80s for a while. And when Shrikanth made me listen to a cover he had recorded of a Sajjad Ali song, things just clicked and I saw the perfect opportunity to do that.”

“I wanted to tell a story that reflected the depth of the song, so I wrote a story of three friends and the evolved relationship they share,” he says. But was recreating the time period a hard task? When asked about what went into creating the retro feel, he says “We knew that the actors we had were the golden ticket to execute this, so we worked on getting the costumes and the look of our characters right. That even if it was just close-ups of them it would still work. But thanks to our production head we found a vintage car and we got access to a farmhouse that’s not available to the public otherwise. Things just came together in an unbelievable way.”

The music video stars Siri Ravikumar, Maahir Mohiuddin and Goutham C as the central characters. One of whom also acted in Raghav’s previous music video Sahane Torede, which was about mental health. On what unique opportunities music videos offer him as a storyteller, he says: “Music videos are a beautiful way to showcase your talent. The shelf life of the music video is so high that it is the best vehicle to put your skills out there. So if you want visibility as a filmmaker, I’d say make a music video.” You can watch Har Zulm on 21 Grams Collective’s YouTube Channel.