It was 1998.
Falguni Pathak had put out the video for Chudi Jo Khanke Haathon Mein. It had a group of schoolgirls getting ready for a Falguni Pathak dandiya party, designing their outfits, their choreography, and their love lives along the way.
Bhushan Kumar's T-series, a cultural cannon for better or worse, remixed and reworked this to the 2019 musical sensibility- initially exciting, briefly entertaining, but largely forgettable.
'Yaad Piya Ke Aane Lagi' is a bizarre music video that is frustrating in its sheer lack of trying, but deeply entertaining for the same reasons. This version is sung by Neha Kakkar.
The video starts in post apocalyptic Mumbai; only Wall-e has survived. The robot chances upon a camera, charges it with an inbuilt chord, and is thus exposed to a video shot on the camera, a love letter of sorts to Sitara, played by actress-producer-director Divya Khosla Kumar.
In the two days since its release it has collected 20 million views; no mean feat. It has been promoted across billboards in Mumbai, and a promotional tour seems to be underway. Part 2 of the music video has been promised. The production design, though questionable, looks expensive. It feels like the idea of music videos is on the brink of radical change, almost garnering movie-release like publicity. But make no mistake, this is a vanity project.
Divya Khosla Kumar, Bhushan Kumar's wife, who began her career with music videos, seems to have come back to her roots. The Falguni Pathak music video for Aiyo Rama comes to mind, where she drives through Delhi with a girl-friend, flirting and racing with boys till she reaches a Falguni Pathak concert. That video among others made two decades ago, have aged horribly. This follows in that tradition.
While watching this video, we had a few questions that popped up in our heads, ranging from Divya Khosla Kumar's expressionless despair to what exactly is going on in the video. (The two male actors almost look interchangeable, requiring two viewings to figure out who is who) Here goes:
1. Sitara is heartbroken, dancing at the wedding of her lover. So she puts vodka into a Maggi Cuppa bowl, and slurps it hot. Doesn't the heat evaporate the alcohol? What's the point?
2. Why did he invite you to his wedding? Why did you go?
3. When he confesses his love, he says, "5 and a half girlfriends ke baad pata chala upar vaale ne sirf ek hi tum banaya".
Who writes these dialogues? More effort seems to have gone into Divya Khosla Kumar's four distinct hairstyles. (One for each kind of despair- college, marriage, fame, and futuristic)
4. Why are women in Future India (Love Story 2050, and now 3010) always donning red hair and tight metallic outfits? I thought we had, as an evolved generation, decided on athleisure, where comfort is chic.
5. What is the budget of this cataclysm?
Part 2 of the video promises to be set in the future; garish makeup, an outrageous costume design, and more unanswered questions. Can't wait.