Can you imagine Michael Jackson’s Thriller, without the bloodthirsty zombies in the video? Or can you recall Coldplay’s Scientist without thinking about Chris Martin driving his car in reverse? It seems impossible, right? Since the 1980s, our association with pop and rock music has been all about the music video. However, while the international music community supports and encourages music videography — with awards and airtime, in India non-Bollywood music videos are yet to find steady
patronage. But, it seems that this is no deterring our Indian music bands, who are vowing to reach fans through professionally shot, neatly edited and out-of-the-box music videos.
The 90s was a bustling time for Indian rock gurus and pop icons — music video-wise. From Alisha Chinoy’s Made in India to Indus Creed’s award-winning Pretty Child, MTV played a lot of non-filmy music on its channel. However, gradually with remixes and reality television ruling the roost, music channels ceased to be about the music.
Bassist Pravin Bell of rudrAGNI says, “Fifteen years back you were considered to be in the big league if your band’s video aired on MTV or AXN’s Planet X. However, in the mid-90s, with a surge of interest in Hindi film music, independent music videos — especially English — didn’t receive airtime.” rudrAGNI that has four music videos to its credit, including an unreleased one, have always made an effort to be ‘professional’. “All our videos have been professionally shot with make-up artistes, choreographers and an elaborate cast and crew. If a band is serious about their craft and hopes to increase its exposure, hand-held cameras with buddies shooting the film is not the way to go,” says Pravin. But the founder of one of India’s best rock acts concedes that things are fast changing.
Young bands are getting spunky and more experimental. Meet ‘pop brand’ Bonfire Collective. With their latest music video Mr President, a video game-esque animated video, doing the rounds, lead singer Arjun Janakiram says, “We are experiencing a new wave in music, with people connecting on different platforms like Internet TV, Facebook and mobile phones — bands now have an impetus.” Bonfire Collective that started Creative Collective TV on YouTube, a channel that airs their music videos, plans to only release singles along with videos. “A music video helps put a song in context and gives bands mileage and recognition. You can land gigs because of your video. But if you want them to air on television they’ve got to be of a certain international standard,” says Arjun.
Jagan George of Kochi-based rock act, Evergreen agrees with Arjun. Evergreen, whose single From Here to Clarity has aired on VH1, has experimented with the formulaic and the zero-budget video vision. Jagan says, “While we are one of the few groups from the country to have had our video play on VH1, we’ve also shot a zero-budget video with the help of friends. If VH1 is a goal for bands, then the music video has to be of a certain criterion and format.” Evergreen, which is in post-production with its next video release, believes, “This is a good time to get ‘professional’ as everybody from Sony to BMG is looking at India.”