Three women, three stories, three journeys. Pragathi (progress) , a trilingual music video series, raises a toast to three women from different walks of life who muster the strength against all odds and find new pastures.
The multi-genre project is the début original work from the music band, Pragathi, led by musician KS Harisankar. The highlight of the series is that the songs ‘Gathi’, ‘Bodhi’ and ‘Mukthi’ feature actors Nyla Usha, Lena and Wamiqa Gabbi respectively.
Touted as “first-of-its-kind in the country”, Harisankar says the series wasn’t planned as a trilingual. “But after discussing the subjects, we decided to go ahead with songs in three languages,” says the singer.
Nyla Usha in a still from the song ‘Gathi’ in the music video series, ‘Pragathi’
‘Gathi’, the Malayalam track, is about a single mother, an expatriate, played by Nyla Usha. She is devastated by the loss of her husband and yearns for her homeland. Her inner conflicts are set against the Thrissur Pooram, from which she draws the inspiration to move forward. The song, “a synth wave composition”, is written by Manu Manjith.
The Hindi song, ‘Bodhi’, “a cinematic indie rock” track, is about enlightenment. Lena’s character undergoes a transition and gives up her materialistic self to embrace a new life. The lyrics is penned by Aakancha.
Lena in a still from the song ‘Bodhi’ in the music video series, ‘Pragathi’
In the Tamil number ‘Mukthi’, Wamiqa plays a young woman who chooses to come out of her protected existence and deals with the hostile world outside on her own. “It is a composition based on Gopalakrishna Bharathi’s verses and has a blend of dream pop/electronic and dubstep with Carnatic rendition,” says Harisankar.
Wamiqa Gabbi in a still from the song ‘Mukthi’ in the music video series, ‘Pragathi’
Harisankar, who has sung all the three songs, says that making the series was a challenge. “It is not easy to bring out original compositions. Luckily, everything was on track for us,” he says.
The five-member band, comprising Harisankar, Abishek Amanath, Abhijith Sudhi, Precious Peter and Arun Thomas, was formed last year. “The master-brain of the project is Abishek. And Jithin Lal, the director of the series, has come out with stunning videos,” adds Harisankar, who has emerged as one of the prolific playback singers in Malayalam.
Jithin, who has worked in Kunjiramayanam, Godha, Ennu Ninte Moideen and Kalki , says that he did not follow a conventional pattern of shooting a music video.
Shooting style
“We have tried to bring an international feel. It was exciting to shoot in different terrains, that too with minimal crew,” he says.
While ‘Gathi’ is shot in Dubai, ‘Bodhi’ is set in the beautiful Spiti valley in the Himalayas and Mukthi in Thiruvananthapuram.
“I have shot the cover videos of Harisankar’s Telugu track ‘Inkem inkem’ and ‘Jeevamshamayi’. We were planning to do something original and the idea was born during a Thrissur Pooram. The band wanted to bring out an album and the discussions eventually led to the first song. Although we were thinking of one music video, gradually more songs were added,” says Jithin.
Produced by Thrivikraman Santhosh Kumar, the videos have been shot by Vinayak Gopal. The series will be officially launched at an event on November 17 at Mall of Travancore at 6.30 pm. Lena and Wamiqa will be present at the event.
