When one says that a rap is an off-shoot of poetry, you trust city musician Meghraj Ravindra a.k.a Megh-U-Watt to make us believe it. His latest Telugu music video ‘Manam’ (that released online) recited in a ‘spoken word’ poetry format awakens the social-activist in him. There’s chaste Telugu, weaved together in a certain rhythm like his earlier rap videos, all in a satirical yet a strong tone, the idea striking him right when the Nirbhaya incident happened. Though ‘Manam’ was born then, it took four years for the words to grow on Meghraj, giving him a decent window to revisit it from time to time.
The first lines of the same read, Manam janam padam padam, manakela mana thadanantharam, Dinamunandu diggajaalu dikkullani dochukonaga, Ramachandrulu raathranaga raakasaluayi rakki thinaga... The video, given the cultural and historical references in the theme, was shot in a hamlet Virupapurgadde, Hampi across the Tungabhadra river by Abhiraj Nair (cinematography), Prem Chand (director) and the Moksha team.
“I titled this ‘Manam’ for it is weaved around the issues that ‘we the people’ face on a daily basis. I chose the spoken-word format over rap to emphasise more on the words, the latter would’ve given more precedence to the musical style,” Meghraj states.
The journey to Hampi was a revelation for the ‘Manam’ team, none of them had visited the place earlier. What they all did was to pack their bags in a Tempo Traveller, approaching Hampi like tourists, chipping in for the video while setting up tents in an open space.
“I guess that helped our cause, the ideas were fresh and the place added another layer to what we wanted to say. We had such a committed team, people around had everything planned, the places, the people, the montage shots, all done by the time I got some sleep.” The video then went to composers Siddhart Nagarajan and Durga Bahadur who worked on the background score.Meghraj is taking a step further in making his work socially relevant, with his next video where he joins a team of musicians from Rajasthan.
From being a B.Com college dropout to being a full-time musician at 31, the man has indeed come a long way and he’s very particular about his choices, such as his decision to not work for films. “I wouldn’t want my musical energies to be stifled,” he opines.
