Exclusive Premiere: Ezra Helios’ Cinematic Hindi Rock Song ‘Ishq Ke Gunah Mein’

Sometime in mid-2017, when the then-Mumbai-based singer-composer Ezra Helios had hired a film crew to shoot the music video for “Ishq Ke Gunah Mein” in Ladakh, director Anudeep Mishra and his team were stuck at the airport with overweight baggage fees.

Helios says, “I had to rush to the airport and they had about 400 kgs of film equipment. There was a big mountain of flight cases and everything. It’s like they were shooting at some Bollywood movie or something.”

Unsurprisingly, the straight-up dramatic Hindi rock ballad “Ishq Ke Gunah Mein” does have a video that is entirely cinematic, featuring Ladakh’s landscapes. The music video also delves on a love story between a musician (played by Helios) and a henna artist (Utrecht-based Josje Schuilling, who runs a studio called Toko Mehndi).

While the song was written in 2012 – when Helios was part of a rock band called The Thieves in New Delhi – the video took about two years to be fully ready. Helios says he had to sit down with his editor and make sure the final cut was just as he wanted. “Ishq Ke Gunah Mein” also features some of Helios’s former bandmates such as guitarist Shrikant Biswakarma, bassist Hemzi and drummer Arko Ganguly and is mixed by ace engineer Shantanu Hudlikar at Yash Raj Film studios.

The catalyst, Helios says, was perhaps joining New Delhi metallers Undying Inc last year. He adds, “Not working with a band or not working with the people just staying at home, you become lazy. Undying is the most difficult music I ever played. So that discipline has to be there. That pushed me into my zone.”

Helios is now ready with seven tracks for an album, which will be recorded at Melbourne’s SAE Institute studios. “I’m going to stay there for around 40 to 45 days and finish the whole album there. I’m planning to drop it as singles, after every 15 to 20 days.”

Watch the video for “Ishq Ke Gunah Mein” below.