KOCHI: The opening shot of DJ Savyo’s new music video, ‘Destiny is an aerial view of the forests of Munnar. What begins as the slow, familiar rumbling sound of the rain and periodic chirping of birds soon shifts to electronic techno beats composed by the DJ blending into the enthralling mantra of Tasmai karaya, Namah Shivaya’ sung by Amrutha Suresh.
With almost 23 years of experience in the industry, DJ Savyo has brought many international music trends to Kochi. His latest track, which he says is his biggest music project so far, was launched, on August 23, on YouTube.
“We have seen a lot of international artists coming and fusing Hindu chants with western instrumental notes, but no Indian DJ has done this. Hence I thought of creating an experimental track with elements of vedic mantras set against the backdrop of something like EDM. Once I was ready with the concept, I asked Amrutha to lend her voice and she agreed almost immediately. I teamed up with cinematographer Neil D’ Cunha, who has worked for a few movies and the funding for the project was done by my friends Anil Mathews and Aby who have been backing my music for many years. This was the genesis of the track which took about three months,” says Savyo.
The vibrantly-shot video follows the journey of a young artist on the path to self-discovery. As he wanders through the forest, he is ignited by a resonance of the chant of ‘Namah Shivay’ which is reverberating throughout.
The video reaches a crescendo with a climactic reveal of a huge tableau of Lord Shiva which the artist paints on a rock.
“I wanted to use the Shiva mantra because he is also referred to as Nataraja, the lord of performative art and the eternal power of creation is bestowed to him. As you see, the guy in the video has come from nowhere. His journey begins when he hears the mantra which eventually takes him to his destiny which is the painting,” says Savyo.
The protagonist of the video is an artist called Minon John whose work Savyo had been following for a while.
“He was the first person I thought off when I came up with the concept. So we decided to cast him,” adds Savyo.
Savyo is planning to come out with two more music video tracks also based on Vedic chants.
“I want to make this theme into a series. The next track explores how humans are tethered to religious myths and how the notion of an all-pervasive ‘god’ dictates our lives,” notes the veteran DJ, who will be seen in a movie releasing in September.