Premiere: Singer-Composer Manu Rajeev Intertwines Love and Trains on ‘Chotasa Safar’

Leaning on nostalgia as well as metaphors for journeying, Mumbai singer, producer and composer Manu Rajeev releases a quiet, romantic song “Chotasa Safar” with an animated music video.

Like several who are living through the pandemic, the artist says he’s turned to past memories and moments for comfort. “Subtle moments otherwise ignored and lost in the turbulence of life, gleam like small beacons of hope and comfort when all else seems lost,” Rajeev says in his statement.

Coupled with those memories are his affinity for trains and railway journeys across the country, specifically his home state of Kerala. In the video for “Chotasa Safar,” a protagonist is seen boarding a train from Kottayam to Kochi, finding himself seated across from a woman whom he’s enamored by. He says about using train travel as a motif, “I have always been a romantic for trains, they somehow feel as if from another dimension, in which I’d love to get lost in. Sometimes I reminisce about them and the journeys I’ve made. The song is also a metaphor, something akin to the journey of life; uncertain, lonely yet so wonderfully beautiful.”

With over a decade of work in the music industry in Mumbai, including film soundtracks and background scores, Rajeev has been part of rock/fusion band Vishwamitra, while also kickstarting his career with a film production company. “Chotasa Safar” follows singles such as “Puraani Yaadien,” “Valentine,” “Butterfly,” “Aankhen” and his EP Ye Dil, which released in 2018.

Coming up, Rajeev is working on the soundtrack and background score for a movie titled Surili (set for release in 2022) and the background music for Marathi film Fakt Ek Dach, coming up later this year.

Watch the video for “Chotasa Safar” below. Stream on Spotify, JioSaavn and Apple Music.