HYDERABAD: No matter how many voices are raised against abuse of women, we always fall short. And yet, there are some whispers that turn into roars that move many. Arupu, a rap number by Roll Rida, currently popular for his appearance in Bigg Boss is making the waves with its sensitive, yet hard-hitting content. Written by Rahul Velpula more popularly known as Roll Rida, the rap has him speaking in first person as women in various traumatic situations. Added to that vocals by Manisha Eerabathini on the chorus add a very effective depth to the experience. While the song itself is loaded with meaning, the video too is receiving praise for the creative visualisation.
The video has garnered a million views, three days since its release. With an elaborate team to put together a project that each of them treated as their baby, the entire ordeal took a good one month, shares Syed Kamran who composed music for the song. “It was around the time when the country was outraged about Asifa’s case. But as we worked on it, we realised that this is an ongoing issue. It isn’t something that can be said only when an atrocity happens. These are issues that need to be shoved in the face of the society no matter how disturbing it might be,” says Kamran. Roll Rida who had to leave unceremoniously to the Bigg Boss house, where he would be cut off from the world, recorded and shot his parts way before the rest before he left so that the team could work out the rest of it. “Roll raps in first person, as if he was the abused woman who is questioning the audience about her plight. The tone caught the attention and the video added effect to the same,” says Kamran.
Director Harikanth Gunamagari, however, begs to differ. “The lyrics are the hero of the song. I only brought to life what were my first thoughts when I heard the lyrics,” says Harikanth. The video of Arupu features women in various social and personal situations amongst men on one hand reflected through a mirror in another. The reality shows the rosy portrayal of things while the reflection shows the alternate reality of abuse. Harikanth shares that the post production of the video was what took the most time for them, as a lot had to be done in CG. “We put in more than just money into this project.
This was a necessary and hard-hitting conversation that needed to be brought to light and that’s what we did,” he says.Manisha, the female voice and pretty much the female representative in this video which talks about women and their hardships, had no second thoughts in being a part of this project. “I had been planning on a collaboration with Kamran and Roll Rida for over a year now. This was something that finally came up and I immediately jumped at the offer,” says the singer.
While she has already been a part of music videos earlier, Arupu was a little different. Independent music videos tend to be all hunky dory, and Arupu in comparison was a storm of intensity, even for Manisha. “I wasn’t supposed to be a part of the video earlier, I only planned on singing. But they waited until I was back from the US for me to be a part of it,” she says. The singer is seen with tears trickling down her face in the video which is possibly new for her. “We shot at Ramanaidu Studios. Harikanth garu told me exactly what I had to look like. I was given glycerin, and was told exactly how to emote and how to move. He knows exactly what he wants and so it was quite easy to work with him,” she says.
The dedication of the crew seemed to have bore fruit as the video had grabbed attention right from the day it released. From music industry professionals to regular public, everyone was urging to watch Arupu. Meanwhile at Bigg Boss, Roll Rida isn’t completely oblivious of the success, he too was given a taste of how successful the video was by the host Nani himself.
— Srividya Palaparthi
srividya.palaparthi@newindianexpress.com
@PSrividya53