Actor Aadarsh Balakrishna is among those who is blessed with a good voice, in Telugu cinema. The little known aspect is his flair for singing. His dad and wife would compliment him when he sang at home, but he never put his voice out as a singer for people to listen — until last weekend. A one-minute music video ‘The Karona Rap’ has him singing in a mix of Telugu, English and Hindi and asking viewers ‘ kuch karona ’ (do something) during the lockdown, as we wait to flatten the COVID-19 curve.
The video features his family members — parents Uma and Balakrishna, wife Gulnar, sister Apoorva, three-year-old son Nirvaan and their pet dog Brandy. The project took eight to 10 days to put together.
It began as a challenge on Instagram where his friend and music composer Ravi Anthony shared a tune and asked for lyrics. Aadarsh’s father (who featured in a brief role in Prasanth Varma’s Awe ) egged him on to do a video.
Aadarsh remembers growing up as a shy kid who would hold himself back but felt this is a good time to sing. He was also eager to write and edit the video. “The first day I sat down to write, I couldn’t manage a single word,” he laughs. The next day he spent two to three hours and wrote the song, and recorded it the third day.
The song was then mastered by Rohit, since that was a technical area Aadarsh wasn’t familiar with.
Having decided to do the video, Aadarsh wanted a proper script in place. “I spent a day and a half scripting what to shoot and convey in the video,” he says. The impressive video editing is the result of him being able to visualise, plan the shot divisions and execute accordingly. “There was only one shot that I didn’t end up using in the final video,” says Aadarsh.
His family members were more than happy to feature in the video and Aadarsh remembers the three days of shooting, while “getting everyone in their elements”. Gulnar shot the portions featuring Aadarsh.
The song is a reminder to use this lockdown time to reconnect with oneself, with family, read a book, take up a fitness regime or pursue a hobby. And the messaging is subtly offset by showing the antithesis — the reality of getting distracted by our mobile phone while trying to read a book, for instance.
Every ‘karo na’ act shown in the video has a built-in fun element — like giving in to food indulgence after a workout or mimicking playing the guitar using a cricket bat.
“It stems from my experience. Procrastination is one of my greatest talents,” laughs Aadarsh, adding that his dad had also set a deadline, asking him to finish the video by last weekend. “And I finished it a day ahead!”
Incidentally, Aadarsh had finished reading the book ‘The Art of Creative Thinking’ by Rod Judkins and could relate to the happiness of creatively challenging himself with his video and upgrading his skills.
Help for the poster designing came from his sister Apoorva, who’s an architect and an artist.
The feedback to the video has been warm and encouraging and Aadarsh is eager to explore more creative pursuits in the days to come.
(The music video can be viewed on Aadarsh Balakrishna’s social media handles and YouTube)
