How Chaar Diwaari ‘Lived A Little More’ To Create His Worlds-Colliding EP ‘Parvana’

The idea for genre-defying artist Chaar Diwaari‘s latest EP Parvana came to him while he was revisiting Kishore Kumar’s iconic song “Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai” from the film Kati Patang (1970) about a year and a half ago.

He tells Rolling Stone India how the lyrics “Shama kahe parvane se pare chala ja/Meri tarah jal jayega yahan nahi aa”(The flame tells the moth, go away/You will burn like me, don’t come here) led him to explore the metaphor-heavy Sufi lore about love, surrender and self-destruction. He adds, “I also watched this documentary called Had-Anhad, which traces the story of [saint-poet] Kabir Das. I got reintroduced to the idea of the life of Parvanas (moths), and it moved me a lot.”

That unlocks just some of the visual metaphors of moths seen in Chaar Diwaari’s lead singles from the six-track EP, including “Banda Kaam Ka” with singer-songwriter Sanjith Hegde, and the massive “Iss Tarah” featuring playback singing veteran Sonu Nigam. The EP widens the Chaar Diwaari universe (sonically and thematically) like never before, bringing in rap act Seedhe Maut’s Encore ABJ on “Chaand (Jo Tu Dekh Le)” and “Aashiqana” with fusion stalwarts Indian Ocean and singer-songwriter Gini.

“We have gravitated more towards singer-songwriters as collaborators, rather than just rappers. It’s a whole different experience,” he says. Written following the release of “LoveSexDhoka!!!” and just before “Farebi” with rap star Raftaar came out, Chaar Diwaari says the EP draws from philosophical crevices but also from personal experiences.

He says, “At its core, the EP is about one-sided love. It comes from my personal experience. Whenever I get a crush on someone, I become fully useless. I amount to nothing. The EP opens with that feeling of falling in love. So you don’t become a useful person when you’re in love – it’s a bit playful and corny.”

Narrating from the perspective of a moth, Chaar Diwaari explores a divine kind of love that’s also dangerous, starting with “Banda Kaam Ka” and going in sequence. “It’s a linear story where the Parvana falls in love and goes crazy for this girl and jumps in the fire for her… something like that,” he explains.

The EP comes after scrapping his previous project Duniya Aur Diwaari. “I felt like I hadn’t lived enough to fully be able to make an autobiographical project at that time, so I decided to move on to a different concept. I lived a little and then came back to this idea with a better perspective. This concept hit me a lot harder than Duniya Aur Diwaari. Talking about love from this angle was very moving for me,” he says.

Considering himself “a little more optimized” compared to past projects, songs like “Banda Kaam Ka,” and the music video showcasing the life of an outcast moth, put Chaar Diwaari in an ambitious auteur mode. “I’m still learning, especially in the video department. I make a lot of mistakes, and that’s how I learned. We just messed up in terms of one shot. I underestimated the number of takes. It took us two days to take out one perfect shot. But if I show the video to other people, they won’t be able to point it out [that it took two days].” Another music video is being planned from Parvana EP  that will “tie the whole chapter together visually,” he says.

For the song, Chaar Diwaari and Hegde connected online before meeting up in person. “He was pulling ideas from the universe in real time… I was very intimidated at first, because he’s really good,” the New Delhi artist says of Hegde.

With “Iss Tarah,” Sonu Nigam’s impeccable vocal harmonies come to the front, and it certainly does remind one of a Bollywood track, with a few vocal and composing flourishes from Chaar Diwaari that push it past anything predictable. Turns out, it was in the works for nearly four years, with the artist bringing in “a lot of people” to be on it until Nigam joined. “Vishal Dadlani was the one who connected me to him. So, I’ll always be thankful for that,” Chaar Diwaari adds.

Once in the studio, they began working on the track (in addition to shooting some content, as is the need of the hour). Chaar Diwaari says Nigam learned the melodies quickly and adapted to the style of the track. “Watching him work was really cool… looking at him writing the lyrics down by hand and then drawing around the paper and emphasizing the words that he wanted to emphasize,” the artist adds.

For the artist, “Iss Tarah” signifies a kind of coming together of Bollywood and desi hip-hop, or indie music at large. He’s quick to add, “But I don’t want to be the face of anything, to be honest.  I don’t want to take this credit upon myself because this has happened before, and this will hopefully keep happening in a way where different communities and different types of artists come together and create something.”

He also hopes to cultivate as strong a work ethic as Nigam. “I really want to work more and make more songs,” the artist says. To that end, he’s trying to shift away from the “quick work” that is singles and change his game plan. “I want to start making an album, I want to see what a full-length project feels like… a debut album of sorts. I want to see how far I can take this whole thing while still having fun.”