Drishyam Play: Bridging the Gap Between Indie Artists and Cinema

Much like its parent company, motion picture studio Drishyam Films, Drishyam Play is ready to blend creativity and culture with meaningful messages. Launched in September 2017, the music production platform curates and promotes music and local artists from different parts of India. There is a steady focus to showcase the country’s folk music and regional languages via songs by various artists from across several states.

“Drishyam believes in meaningful content and we catering powerful poetry, earthy voices and young musicians through Play,” explains Mukta Bhatt, head of Drishyam Play. “Play has a process of submitting original music, writing or voice samples. Manish [Mundra, founder of Drishyam Films] and I emphasize a lot on poetry because we both are writers and try to make the product tight.”

Play’s connection with Drishyam Films is especially significant in its mission; the company aims to break away from stereotypical Bollywood music and bridge the gap between new professional musicians, lyricists and vocalists and meaningful cinema. Tracks created by artists for Drishyam Play will be featured in its parent company’s upcoming films, much like “Main Banjaar” by vocalist Mohan Kannan for the 2017 film Kadvi Hawa.

Artists submit original music, lyrics or voice samples to Play after which Bhatt and Mundra search for the perfect combination of musicians for collaborations. The team makes the effort to get to know each artist personally as well as their motivations for creating the music they do, especially when they work with folk artists. “I am traveling to different states of India to get the stories and artists out,” Bhatt says. “We live with the artists to understand how they make music. In Rajasthan we met an artist [vocalist] Dapu Khan Merasi who told us the immortal story of Mumal Rano and Mahendra.”

Their interactions with Merasi led to a collaboration with him and Mumbai-based singer Vibha Saraf on the Drishyam Play track “Mumal” in February, a song about the folk tale he had told them. In turn, Bhatt says the Internet has been the most helpful tool in getting those tales heard and local artists appreciated on an international scale. “The digital age has connected everyone around the world and we get love from around the globe. Data shows our traffic is coming from Pakistan, U.K., U.S., Brazil, everywhere!”

Drishyam Play plans on releasing a whopping total of 15-18 video songs this year, with the latest being “Saawariya,” a breezy, intricate collaboration between singer-songwriter/playback artist Shilpa Rao, bassist/vocalist Naresh Kamath and mandolin player Tapas Roy.

Watch Shilpa Rao, Naresh Kamath and Tapas Roy perform “Saawariya” below: