A fisher boy's eyes widen as his angling rod hooks a succession of surprises — a red leather cricket ball, a seasoned bat and a posse of young players. A music video that reflects the high-grade cricket fever gripping the nation, on the eve of World Cup 2011,begins with these visuals.
Titled “Cricket Fire”, this standalone Tamil video released in Chennai in tandem with the World Cup inaugural ceremony at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. The brainchild of W5H2 (a team of documentary filmmakers), the music video fuses the sights of gully cricket with the lingering images of the national team's past glory. The group succeeded in this inventive project, after battling the whimsical North-East monsoon, and struggling on a shoestring budget.
“We started the project when the monsoon was at its height, and paid heavily for the decision. The first shoot was washed out due to an unrelenting downpour. We went to Tenkasi, but the rain god followed us,” says R. Kathiravan, who directed Cricket Fire, and also penned its lyrics.
The team's travel bags have worn out. They are happy with the results of all the travels — a montage of images from Ilanghi, a lovely spot in Tenkasi that is awash with greenery, and the quiet and pristine seaside of Marakkanam. The chaotic images of weekend cricket matches at the Corporation grounds of Gopalapuram and Trustpuram lend a local flavour to the mix. The filmmakers drew actors from cricket teams they met at these places.
The visuals have invigorating lyrics (Our nation, our dreams/ our longing, our thirst/ this is the quest/ this is the goal/this is the only word in the heart/ come on, India) and peppy music scored by Lewis. They have manipulated multiple elements, including melody and rap into the song.
After four months of labour, Kathiravan and his team — Basheer Ahmed (producer), Sivam (editor), Lewis (music director), Shyam and Kamal(cameramen) and Mithun and Supriya (singers) — are hoping their brainchild will be loved by cricket lovers in Tamil Nadu.
The team is now in talks with television channels. They're also considering promoting the music video on the Internet.
