Indian roads are often cluttered, chaotic and swarming with people. The horn of one car can barely make itself heard over another, and yet, one musician decided to brave the streets of Mumbai, to see if his voice holds water amidst the cacophony of every day sounds.
Culture Machine’s video, The Roadside Ustad , featuring Sonu Nigam clad as a ragged old man, with nothing but an old harmonium for company, went viral last week. The three-minute video, released on the channel Being Indian, has got over a whopping 3.7 million views so far. “What you see on the internet is a very concise version. I sat in three different locations for almost an hour: these were random roads, not even street corners where people stand and chat, and that too in a city like Mumbai, where people are always in a rush. It was intimidating; I didn’t know what was going to happen because there was no point of reference to the social experiment we were attempting,” says Sonu Nigam.
However, this is not the first time Nigam’s creating a buzz online. A few months ago, a video of him singing on a flight made news. He’s also been releasing independent music videos online. “There’s no formula to it. The thing is, you don’t know what people like; you just do what you believe in.” For this video, the biggest challenge, he says, was to have the kind of patience the experiment required. “Nobody was looking at me! I just kept singing. When I was performing outside Chandan cinemas, Juhu, there were college students who weren’t paying any attention, but roadside workers who were recording me on their mobiles. I realised that music does attract attention, if not money.”
For a man who is used to people cheering, holding up lights and spending lakhs to watch him perform, this was truly novel. “Nobody recognised me and so few really enjoyed what I was delivering to them. It’s just a perspective I wanted people to be introduced to.”
So did he expect the reaction the video received? “This video was meant to go viral. We’re just glad it did.” The Roadside Ustaad , which took the internet by storm, was one planned “as a small campaign” to announce Nigam’s electronic dance single, ‘Crazy Dil’, which was released on the channel Being Indian Music earlier this week. “We shot this video in February. There was a lot of planning that went into it and I sat in for the edit myself, to cut the dance moves right. Farah Khan, Kailash Kher, Sunil Singh Grover and Rajkumar Hirani made cameo appearances, and even my son, Nevaan, is a part of it.”
So, all that trouble just to promote one music video? “Independent music is slightly difficult to promote in India. Music is always connected to films; it’s time to look at the music individual musicians want to make.”
A roadside story
While the roadside Ustad was belting out a number, one young man asked if he could record him. The disguised Sonu Nigam nodded and this man sat next to him, holding out his phone. Once the song ceased, he asked the Ustad, “Have you eaten?” and gave him Rs. 12 for breakfast.
Once the Ustad’s make-up came off and the social experiment went viral on the internet, the young man was sought out and brought to Sonu Nigam’s house. “I’ve become famous because of you,” he said and hugged the Ustad with joy. With a slight smile, he added, “You know, I wanted to tell you then, that you were singing better than Sonu Nigam himself.”
