KOCHI: As the achingly sweet sound of veena and violin and the spirited rhythm of tabla and mridangam filled the concert hall in Sydney, Australia, the hundreds of Indians in the audience were transported home.
Among them were Sajan Raj and Swathy Mohan, a Malayali couple who shared a deep love for music. For the duo, who’ve relied on music to remain closer to their home country, the event organised by Sydney Art Lovers was nothing short of a magical experience.
Returning that night, the couple, still buoyed by the event, hurried to their sanctuary — a bedroom converted into a home studio; where they had recovered covers of famous Indian songs — to tinker on a new project. “Something bigger and grander than anything we had done before,” Sajan tells TNIE during a phone conversation.
While ideas come cheap, their execution is what matters. When he began, Sajan had so many questions rushing through his mind. So naturally, as one does, he turned to A R Rahman.
“Like many Indians, I’m also a die-hard fan of Rahman. The music maestro has composed several beautiful melodies. I’m always amazed by his orchestral arrangements, with its Hans Zimmer-like touches,” Sajan says.
The following days saw Sajan revisiting Rahman’s compositions over the decades. One song in particular stayed with him — ‘Veera Raja Veera’ from the movie Ponniyan Selvan II.
It contained the beautifully complex orchestral arrangements and harmonies that Rahman was famous for, and also portrayed the richness of Indian culture and history. “I wanted to re-imagine this work of art in the modern context,” Sajan says.
As word spread, several of his friends too joined the project — Anjali Vinod, Bharatanatyam exponent; creative contributor Sreekanth Balan; story-writer Sujith Nadh Nair; production controller Arun Menon; former Idea Star Singer contestants Nikhil Sivakumar and Ambika Gopalakrishnan, among others.
The final cast and crew numbered about 40 people from all corners of Australia.
While staying true to the rich musical tradition established by Rahman, Sajan and his team also sought to imprint their signature on this re-creation by attempting to convey a message through the song.
“All of us are first-generation immigrants in Australia. Most of us spent our childhoods, our teens and even our early twenties in India. We were able to experience our homeland in all its beauty. However, the second-generation Indians here don’t necessarily have that connection. It’s this cultural gap that we wanted to address through our song,” Sajan points out.
To that end, the song was a perfect choice, says Anjali and Sreekanth, the other members of the project. “It brings together the beauty of Indian classical music and dance while highlighting the richness of India’s ancient history,” they say.
“The song is about passing on to our children the India that we experienced,” Sajan adds.
The music video was shot in two days during the peak of Australian winter. The locations were strategically chosen to showcase the many fragments that are emblematic of India in Australia, such as the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Helensburgh, and the Stanwell Park Beach.
The video portrays a clutch of children (read: the new generation) trying and failing to build a sandcastle on the beach. Later, with the support and encouragement offered by dancers and musicians from the previous generation, the children managed to finish the beautiful work of art.
This unique re-creation of ‘Veera Raja Veera’ seems to gently suggest that in a world where generations seem to co-exist in two different cultures, perhaps the only way to bridge the divide is by encouraging them to recognise the transformative power of art.