Music
is a part of every Goan festival. During Ganesh Chaturthi, the place reverberates with the
sound of aarti and melodious devotional songs dedicated to Lord Ganesha. This
year, adding visual to music is a Konkani music video made by Goans. ‘He
Ganaraya’, a Konkani video songproduced by Crazy Minds, will be released on
YouTube on September 10, 2018. This video has been picturised on Goan artist
Anay Kamat with the vocal talents of Rajesh Madgaonkar and lyrics by writer
Sanjay Borkar. The music has been composed by duo Dilip Vaze and Sindhuraj
Kamat.
The Konkani song on Ganpati, ‘He Ganaraya’, is not an aarti or a
devotional song. The song has a devotional flavour but in a filmy way. This is
the first-of-its-kind video song produced in Goa.
Anay Kamat explains how he was inspired to create ‘He Ganaraya’:
“I was always interested in producing a video song. However, I wanted to
produce something different that would appeal to Goans. As Ganesh Chaturthi is
fast approaching, I thought why not have a video song on Ganpati? If I do
something for the occasion, then there is a good chance that the song will
click with the audience. This is the first video song on Ganesh Chaturthi in
Konkani in Goa and we are proud of it.”
Speaking about the preparation that went on before the song was
produced, Anay says that he first had to get everyone on the team onboard.
“When this concept came to my mind, we had just 45 days in hand. I called all
my friends and resources, had a meeting and put my idea in front of them,
asking them if this was possible and if they would be interested in being a
part of this ambitious project. I knew if we kept deadlines and worked on it
then we could do it.
“Thereafter, my first requirement was a song. I contacted Sanjay
Borkar and asked him to write a song. I told him very clearly that I needed a
filmy song and not an aarti or devotional song, stressing that I needed the
song in four days; he did not let me down and in fact, did an exceptional job.
In the meantime, I asked music composers Dilip Vaze and Sindhuraj Kamat to make
the music ready. As I got the lyrics, I forwarded it to them and got my music
done in another week’s time. Then came the recording and Rajesh Madgaokar did
it quite beautifully. He was always my first choice for this song. Upto here we
were on target and in 15 days, our song was recorded.”
He further adds, “Still a big task was ahead. We wanted a
choreographer and dancers and we were not getting it for some reason. Finally,
we got a Class 10 student from Margao, Chinmay Borkar, who accepted this
challenge and choreographed the song in four days. Then, as per the days
finalised for shoots, we made arrangements and completed our shoot quite before
time. We had kept 10 days for post production work and I must say that we are
on target and our song is almost ready.” Although, Anay and the team, including
Rajesh, Sanjay, Dilip and Sinduraj, are friends and have known of each as they
belong to the same entertainment circuit, this is their first association.The
entire team works out to 60 people.
The picturisation of the video song ‘He Ganaraya’ was completed
at Sateri Temple, Camurlim, Bardez. The song will be released on September 10,
2018 on YouTube and the team is also open to playing the song on local
channels.
Unfortunately, the process of producing a video song was not a
cakewalk for Anay. He had to go through several institutions, asking for
financial support, which was declined. He says, “Although this is a unique
project, we did not get support from the government. When I approached
Entertainment Society of Goa, they said their grants are only for films. Even
though such videos require all the resources that a film requires, music videos
are still not a part of the grants. I went to the Department of Art and
Culture, where they told me that they can give grants only for cultural
programs and not for producing a video song of cultural importance. Thereafter,
I went to Konkani Academy, where they told me that although this is in Konkani,
they can give grants to write book but not for a song. The Department
ofInformation and Publicity also had similar responses. It is only due to some
of my well wishers who came forward and helped me financially that I was able
to make this dream a reality.”
To
conclude, Anay says, “Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated by all and this song will
entertain everyone regardless of their gender or age. Even a non Konkani
speaker will love the music as some of our team members are non Goans and they
are already going crazy over this song.”