Zygnema’s ‘Grind’ Video Taps Into the Pulse of Mumbai

Mumbai metallers Zygnema hold up a mirror to the unending hustle of Mumbai in their new music video “Grind,” which offers glimpses into the lives that hold up the city in all its seemingly unending, sweat-drenched pace.

In the video directed and edited by Sourav Khaskel, Zygnema perform the breakdown-heavy song in a locality, while elsewhere vocalist Jimmy Bhore gets up on a water tanker, traffic booth, a cargo truck and a scooter among other places to shout out “Learn the grind within the heart of the beast.” In true Mumbaikar fashion, he tells the world that “this is the only way we know” when it comes to the nonstop grind of the city.

The song’s Marathi hook that refers to “aai (mother)” and devotional lyrics had already made it a hit off their new EP Iconic, but the video takes things further. Guitarist Sidharth Kadadi tells Rolling Stone India that it was in no way easy to execute the idea they had for the “Grind” music video.

He says, “We first wanted to have a story in the video. But somewhere down the line we realized that a video that will relate and bind everyone will mean a lot more to us and to the viewers. It took us months to complete this video and when we finally reached our last step, it felt surreal. We have never really done something like this before. Making this video felt like working on a new freaking album.”

Kadadi credits Mumbai’s oft-lauded resilience as something that spurred the band as well in terms of pushing past the finish line when it came to making the video the way they wanted. “We had made up our minds that we will go all out with this one and did not shy away from capturing moments that we felt will make the viewers feel nostalgic about this city,” he adds. Working with minimal budgets and a crew size of three to bring in guerilla shots, shots of random residents going about their day were captured by simply approaching them to be in the music video. Kadadi adds, “99 percent of these Mumbaikars smiled and said why not. So the process of interacting with people so closely and their honest emotional involvement and cooperation with us is what slowly shaped and dictated the outcome of this video.”

With on-the-spot casting and bystanders edging their way into the frame (with “certain expressions” as Kadadi recalls) was all part of the thrill. While filming in Crawford Market, Zygnema and Khaskel tapped into the chaotic atmosphere. “We managed to get hold of a guy who was zipping his scooter throw that crowd. Jimmy hopped onto the scooter and that guy kept riding and Sourav [Khaskel] kept chasing him with the camera on. The output was amazing. It wasn’t planned at all and it comes in the most important segment of the song. The transition of emotions to an aggressive part is our favorite,” he says.

Zygnema will next be on stage at metal gig series Scarfest in Mumbai on Dec. 15, 2024 alongside city favorites like Bhayanak Maut, Demonic Resurrection and Providence. Kadadi says the band have already started working on new music, but they also have plans to put out another music video off Iconic before releasing singles.