Exclusive Release: Watch Curtain Blue’s Gripping Feminist Video ‘Let Go’

”˜Think of marriage, not a promotion’. ”˜Stop being a girl, man up’. ”˜Learn to make rotis’ ”“ these are just some of the many things Delhi-based music producer Abhishek Bhatia aka Curtain Blue’s women friends recollected having been told at one point or the other in their lives. The friends in question are all college educated women with bright careers ahead of them, and not surprisingly, many of these sexist remarks also came from women like them.  These conversations with friends and the need to address the hypocrisy and misogyny prompted Bhatia to work on a video for his latest single, “Let Go”.

The song, featuring his sister on Abhinaina on vocals [who also stars in the thought-provoking video], explores the confusion and dilemma of a young person living in India. Says Bhatia, “We’ve [he and his sister] often discussed personal issues regarding instances in an unsafe and regressive environment towards women. This video is not any sort of a social agenda or for a social cause. It’s more like an expression and about my insecurities and fears.” Almost mirroring unwritten societal norms prescribed for women and even the emotional turmoil of women suffering harassment on a daily basis, the gripping black-and-white video shows Abhinaina going through a series of stark, staccato mood swings. The song itself is a punchy, groove-heavy offering interspersed with introspective melodic breakdowns.

”˜Let Go’ is a part of a new series titled Unbroken that Bhatia is currently working on. “I’ve already made some new music which I’ll be putting out soon. I’m finding it easy to write stuff about me not being able to sleep alone/my sister not feeling safe in a safe environment/a friend’s cry for help/my gay friend finding it hard to live with his family,” says Bhatia, who is also the vocalist of Delhi rock band The Circus.

Although Bhatia’s brand of electronica is quite the constantly shape-shifting and mood-bending kind [you only have to check out his 2015 debut EP Drones to get a sense of that], he claims there’s never a conscious effort to offer diversity. “I don’t think too much before working on a song,” he says.