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Taru Bhatia
Sub-Editor in Entertainment and Lifestyle desk ... Read More
Actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death triggered many debates like ‘nepotism’, ‘music mafia’ wherein many ace musicians such as Sonu Nigam, Adnan Sami among others opened about the dark side of the music industry. Sonu Nigam alleged that the ‘music industry is a bigger mafia than films’. Owning to the scenario, television show creator Mrinal Jha and veteran director Abhigyan Jha are all set to come up with a web series, The Socho Project, a musical web series that throws light on the challenges faced by music artistes at the hands of the established music labels today. The show has an ensemble cast of Lopamudra Raut, Gaurav Khanna, Gunjan Utreja, Gurpreet Bedi, Donal Bisht, Sahil Vaid, Alekh Sangal & Arif Zakaria among others.
India.com exclusively spoke to the director Abhigyan Jha about the music mafia debate that outburst post Sushant’s death and about the narrative of the web series. Talking about music mafia and how artists have been gaslighted, he said, “Sushant Singh Rajput’s death coupled with social media outbursts by Sonu Nigam and Adnan Sami has shifted focus on the underlying perils of the music and entertainment industry. While it existed previously too, it is only now that people realize the intensity of it. Artistes are being deprived of their royalty and creative freedom, fees are being off-set, gaslighting of musicians and a lot more…these instances have let the cat out of the bag and are putting power back in the hands of the artistes while empowering the community to stand strong and in support of one another.”
Though, he has personally never encountered anything like that in his career span, he shares that he has heard a lot of personal accounts from his closest friends. “Their trials and tribulations at the hands of one big music label prolong the course of their struggle. They have often found their back to the wall and have felt helpless in an individual capacity. The choice that then remains with them is simple, either give up or cave in. Lose your original style and bid adieu to your creative liberty as an artiste or crush the dream! Some of my band members from my Movers and Shakers and Jai Hind days, who have been with me for years now, have such tales to share. In fact, their drudgery has inspired me to theme my web series against this backdrop…for the youth, the youngsters and the newcomers, to tell them to be thick-skinned and less vulnerable. Although tough, it’s not impossible to rise”, he added.
When asked if the web series will offend any of the ‘music mafias’ as it shows the dark side of the music world, Jha quipped, “It shows the darkness of the musician to be unable to do justice to his talent and be exploited at the hands of the mafia. And in all fairness, with veterans like Sonu Nigam and Adnan Sami voicing their strong opinions, it is about time that we cease to shy away from talking about real matters. We wish to resonate with the musicians across urban and rural India and strike a chord with each of their passion to encourage them to still pursue their music dreams. The mafia can prevail only as long as we are coy about it…it is time we speak up and call out the wrongs to make room for the right and that’s precisely what The Socho Project conveys.”
Actor Donal Bisht, who plays an important role in the web series, said that the web series “aims to show the ‘reality’ of the music industry through various situations and experiences artists have on a daily basis. There’s a good and bad side to every industry, not just the music world.”
“Sushant Singh Rajput’s sudden demise not just gave rise to discussions around music mafia, but a lot of other things in the glamour industry. But ultimately, I think every talented artist should get a fair chance in the industry, to be able to showcase their talent. That’s the bottom line”, she further shared.
She also added that only an “ignorant or delusional person can get offended by seeing ‘reality’.”
Actor LopaMudra Raut also opened up on the series and said, “We are not just trying to show the power of the music mafia to suppress talent in the industry but the death of originality and creativity for the sake of commercialization. We are also portraying the struggles of the artiste who don’t have a label to support them and the challenges they meet, the rejections they face and their breakthroughs.”
Gaurav Khanna highlighted, “While the web-series showcases the lesser-known insides of the industry, it empowers youngsters trying to set their foot in door. It pivots around the music mafia but it aims to connect with the zeal of the lakhs and thousands across India living to make it big in the music industry someday. It shows that talent surpasses all, just that one has to be determined and true to their skills. While it shows the apathy of artistes in India today and emphasizes on the deteriorating music scene, it also endeavours to instill a sense of confidence among artistes to be real and honest to their style. It inspires the audience to be more sensitive towards artistes while persuades artistes to belt out the unknown and the unexplored. It boldly goes on to say that music minus the frills is the future of the music in India.”
Director Abhigyan Jha concluded, “The web-series is about the struggles of musicians and creators to keep up with fresh and original content without falling prey to the hegemony of the ‘music mafia’. Describing how musicians can be bulldozed if they dare to defy the set norms by the mafia who plays the central role, the show positively shows how the battle can be won against the monopoly and how talent can triumph over all. So yes while it portrays the ground reality, it aims to foster a spirit of hope and resilience among aspiring musicians and create a sense of acceptance towards the beginners and the talented explorers among industry peers and audiences.”
The show chronicles the journey of 7 musicians, each of whom follows their own passion for a particular genre of music – like Pop, Lo-fi, Rap, Rock, and even Ghazal. They are met with resistance by a big evil music company V Series which is responsible for destroying the market for good music with songs having baseless Punjabi lyrics and remixed tracks.
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