Almost every day for the last three months after clocking in long hours at work, 20 constables and head constables from the Byappanahalli police station toiled together to make a music video on drug abuse. The team is especially proud of the effort as members not only conceptualised the video but also wrote the lyrics, sang the song, and even acted in it.
The video was released by Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar on Saturday.
The lyrics were composed by constable Subramani Shanubhoganahalli, 35, who is a writer at the police station.
“The idea came in August when senior officials asked me to compose a song on drug abuse and its ill-effects. The brief was about drug peddlers and how the police deal with such cases,” said Mr. Subramani.
The constable had earlier written a song on chain-snatching and had also lent his voice for a song in a Kannada film. While Mr. Subramani worked on the lyrics, the team brainstormed on the visuals they wanted to depict. Twenty personnel from the station were selected to act in the video.
“After the team was selected, we discussed the song and sought the help of B.R. Hemanth Kumar, music director from Kolar, who agreed to give music to the four-minute song.”
The video started taking shape slowly. Once the lyrics were set, they wrote a screenplay. The final product was played before senior police officials for final approval before it was released on Saturday. Some of the personnel who were part of the effort were constables and head constables Akbar, Venkatesh, Mubarak, Malleshaiah, Jaggesh Naik, Murali, Ramesh from the dog squad, Vikaram, and Anjinappa.
“The idea was to make people realise that the city police is not just an enforcing agency. We are also concerned about gullible drug users,” said Mr. Suneel Kumar.
“Our aim is to provide a holistic approach to drug abuse,” he said.
“My senior officials encouraged me to write songs for social causes, which is a great honour for me,” Mr. Subramani said.
