Watch: Parvaaz’s Feature-length Live DVD ‘Transitions’

Bengaluru psychedelic rockers Parvaaz have been building up a following across the country for their ethereal sound, delivered with an infectious high at their live shows. However, in their first-ever live performance DVD Transitions, there is an air of nervousness amongst the usually-coolheaded quartet.

Shot in July last year at the 200-capacity auditorium Jagriti Theater in Bengaluru, filmmaker Gokul Chakravarthy says he didn’t notice any nervousness through his own eyes or on the editing desk, although the band’s guitarist Kashif Iqbal did admit they were tense when the show kicked off. If you watch their 90-minute Transitions performance, you’d see frontman Khalid Ahamed soon breaking the ice, countering Kashif’s first introductions to songs with, “Why are you so serious?” as the audience breaks into laughter. Chakravarthy wanted to portray Parvaaz as they were on that night, though. He says, “I think getting out of one’s comfort zone from time to time is absolutely essential for every human to do and that is all the truer for artists. Nervousness comes with that territory. However it came out, I wanted that to be captured and portrayed as such in the final cut.”

Transitions intends to showcase the changing sound of Parvaaz, from their bluesy 2012 debut Behosh to 2014’s poetic prog-leaning Baran and newer, mellower songs such as “Shaad” and “Colour White.” The band also invited album collaborators such as violinist Sanjeev Nayak and friends from the Bengaluru circuit, including keyboardist Rauf Abdul [from blues band Ministry of Blues] and singer Alexis D’Souza on select tracks.

Although streaming in full on YouTube, Chakravarthy ”“ who co-produced Transitions with Parvaaz ”“ says 100 limited-edition DVDs will go on sale, along with USB pen drives, by the end of May. The filmmaker is also working on a feature-length documentary on Parvaaz, slated for completion in June. He says of the documentary, “While most documentaries in this space look back at long careers of musicians and bands, I wanted to capture a time in the life of a band that is essentially a sort of a limbo, where a promise of a fulfilling future coexists with a restless and uneasy present. The film will be unable to end with a closure because no one knows how things will go for the band from here and in that sense, it will be demanding on the viewer.”