Noted TV show creators and husband-wife duo, Abhigyan and Mrinal Jha, have come up with the musical web series, The Socho Project. The series chronicles the journey of seven musicians, who follow their own passion for a particular musical genre, be it pop, lo-fi, rap, rock, ghazal, etc. The series is fearless in exposing the bad influence of a ‘monopolistic music company’ that has led to bad tastes and bad choices of other dominating music companies, causing most of the problems in the industry. “This is the first ever musical web series that has 25 original music tracks. We began shooting in March and were left with just 13 days of shoot when the lockdown happened. We have now resumed our shoot,” says Mrinal Jha.
What is the motive of this web series?
Abhigyan Jha (AJ): Through this project, we want to expose everyone to the perils of the music industry as also ignite acceptance and resurgence towards original music and young talent pool in the country. We want to shift the focus back on original, meaningful and refreshing music content in the Indian music industry.
How did it all begin?
AJ: While casually chatting with one of my collaborators, Piyush Kanojia, in July 2019, we realised that we must talk about the hardships faced by Indian musicians. No one speaks about their sordid backstory. Mrinal Jha (MJ): We aim to shed light on a musician’s life, which we have projected through our tagline itself that reads, ‘We are our songs’. The story unfolds through the music as the musical progresses.
Do you think the series will bring a change?
MJ: We hope it acts as a catalyst in auguring a change favourable to the future of budding talent. The prevailing situation in the Indian music industry is ‘bleak’ as the original music is not widely accepted by music labels. The industry just has repetitive Bollywood music.
But, 2020 has been a year of rethinking and re-visitation. The audience has become intelligent, and we believe that it will percolate down to music tastes and preferences as well, especially when veterans in the industry have escalated the plight of young talent.
Are you saying that this ‘big and evil music company’ destroyed talent?
AJ: The seven independent musicians in our series follow their passion for a particular genre of music. Coming from smaller states, they are in search of a platform to showcase their talent when they are met with resistance by a ‘big and evil music company’ V Series, which is responsible for destroying the market and good music with songs having baseless Punjabi lyrics and remixed tracks.
On the flipside, don’t you think the same ‘big and evil music company’ gave a break to hundreds of musicians and artists?
AJ: I don’t think so. Before the advent of this ‘talent crushing’ music company, Bollywood had phenomenal lyricists and composers, which is why the music of 1950s to 1980s is so diverse and memorable. In the last 30 years, hardly has anyone risen to the levels of Kishore Kumar or RD Burman.
Also, the established music labels have only provided a platform to a bunch of musicians. There are hundreds of talented singers, lyricists and composers, who have not been able to set their foot in the door. Our focus is to show ‘how talent is secondary, and how primary focus is fulfilling the untold norms set by big companies for musicians if they want to make it”.
Why the name The Socho Project?
MJ: Socho means to ‘imagine’ just as much it means to ‘think’. Every revolution starts with an idea, a thought, which is only imagined at that moment. Our story is about the difficulty of translating it into reality. We want our viewers to think about the hardships of an original artiste and be more receptive towards new genres of music. At the same time, we want artistes to be mindful of their journey and think through every decision on their route to success, and refrain from having to compromise on their individuality and originality.