ROCKUMENTARY ON A ROLL

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Every serious fledgling filmmaker wants to make documentaries. Social concerns, burning issues and ignored stories are told by talented youngsters wielding the megaphone. Concurrently, the Indian non-Bollywood live music scene is burgeoning across metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai as music lounges and night clubs give space to musicians across a whole host of genres; anything from jazz and dubstep to Carnatic rock is being played as audiences are gaining access to a variety of sounds.

The latest trend is a marriage of the two: The Rockumentary. The rockumentary, a hugely popular international concept, is a documentary made on a band, musician or a collaboration between the two.

Discerning audience
Today there aren’t just major international artistes performing in India; Indians are travelling to other countries to watch bands they like. So it wouldn’t be surprising then that the same Indians would love to lap up every shred of information about his/her favourite band, even if it’s a documentary.
“We showed a Foo Fighters documentary at our Live At The Console gig once and we were amazed with the response. People loved seeing the candid and non-concert side of an artiste they’ve admired. Iron Maiden made Flight 666 and a lot of Indians featured in it because a part of the documentary covered the band’s India tour. PVR even gave it a theatrical release. That should show you the interest levels. A documentary on the reincarnation of Snoop Dogg was available at the time of the India concert,” says Jayesh Veralkar, Label Head, Day 1, Sony Music.
Sure, a tiny but growing Indian audience is taking to documentaries of international artistes but how does that play out for Indian artistes? “Shows like The Dewarists and MTV’s Coke Studio have stripped the artiste of stage costumes or styling for videos and have shown them in their rawest avatar with the rawest form of their music. Today people want to watch music, not just listen to it. And rockumentaries serve that requirement very well,” says Owen Roncon, partner, Oranjuice Entertainment. Oranjuice has been organising the hugely popular Live At The Console concerts every month in Mumbai.

Brand promotion
The Cannes-acclaimed The Dewarists showed how mainstream musicians can jam with rustic Indian performers to create new sounds. It brought focus on how a slice of the artiste’s life can be chronicled to a discerning audience.
The Dewarists won the Cannes Lion in the new Branded Content and Entertainment Lions category, under the sub-category Best Non-Fiction Program Series or Film. “Never before had I done something that got the kind of response that The Dewarists received. The show was completely heart-driven. We did not expect it to spiral out the way it did,” says ad filmmaker-musician and director of The Dewarists Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy about winning at Cannes.
Who better than an ad guy to direct the series built around a brand? “The team at Dewars gave me a very long rope. They wanted something that would become so synonymous with the brand that people would not be able to tell the two apart. We were working with musicians, so there wasn’t too rigid a script. We let them be; we let them jam together, find their own pace. I think that’s what people really liked about the show apart from the fact that it was a good mix of famous and not-so-famous musicians in their element,” he adds.

Online platform
YouTube has made uploading a video the easiest thing to do online. It also has a very wide audience around the world that likes to check out videos uploaded by other people. Musicians particularly can benefit with the easy access that this platform provides.
Blue Frog particularly is contributing and making the most of the rockumentary wave. Their Blue Frog Diaries, a 25-minute show focussing on individual bands, will launch on VH1 in March.
“We’ve shot Nitin Sawhney, Karsh Kale, NoJazz and Indus Creed, as well as Bauchklang and Chicane featuring Anushka Manchanda. The idea is to take the experience that happens at Blue Frog and make it available for television and Internet,” says Simran Mulchandani, co-founder of Blue Frog. The company has partnered with Google to have their content on their YouTube channel blueTube as a way to spread music and create more interest in bands.
It isn’t just about catering to a discerning audience all the time. While even Psy hadn’t anticipated the success of his Gangnam Style, music videos are big revenue churners — even though it takes a while to gain such widespread popularity. Google ads and various “likes” and video visits all contribute to making money through the video.
“We want to showcase the influences of a gamut of musicians across a spectrum of genres. Rockumentaries take people closer to their favourite artistes. The revenue from videos on YouTube isn’t sizeable but it cannot be discounted either. Music videos certainly make more money than rockumentaries but that’s only because music documentaries are at an important, yet nascent stage. With our show launching in March, we know that VH1 is taking this up only because they believe it has a dedicated audience for this,” adds Simran.

Showcasing culture
While Blue Frog is working hard ahead of the March release of its rockumentaries, it has slowly but steadily looked for different platforms. One major beneficiary of Blue Frog’s commitment is Jet Airways. The airline has rockumentaries on Indian artistes as part of its in-flight entertainment. The shows involving Karsh Kale, Nitin Sawhney and NoJazz are available for flyers among other entertainment and music shows. “People travel on long flights. Some of them are visiting India for the first time. Such rockumentaries on Indian artistes are a great way to introduce a person to Indian culture. Music is an intrinsic part of our culture and these are the artistes people are listening to today. So by following their lives, you’re giving a visitor an idea of life in the country. The Dewarists explored the travelogue and rockumentary format very well,” says Mir Amer Hussain, manager marketing and in-flight entertainment, Jet Airways.
Hussain feels that these programmes are certainly not mainstream but that is precisely what attracts people to watch them. “Anybody can play chartbusters. You can’t compare with the number of people who will watch Ek Tha Tiger instead. But it’s a growing group. We have had people particularly mention these rockumentaries in their feedback forms. Some have even dropped us a line or made it a point to tell our staff.”