MUMBAI: The disquieting state of women and the related issues have provoked several artists in the society to utilise their respective forms of art to express the angst and disappointment, and more often than not, the selfless bold deed manages to make a difference in the cause’s favour. With similar genuine intentions and hope, Delhi-based producer Abhishek Bhatia limbers up for a year-long exercise revolving around what he believes to be an effort to put an end to the so-called mode of ‘perfect denial’.
With ‘Let Go, Bhatia through his electronic avatar ‘Curtain Blue’ has hit the perfect initial notes to a storytelling journey he has currently embarked upon. Throughout the interview, Bhatia maintains a philosophical and honest tone to his answers and that rightly reflects the state of emotions the young producer finds himself in. Might sound a bit hopeful, but Bhatia would now write a new chapter that most artists reserve for their concluding years of professional venture. “ I'm finding it easy to write stuff about me not being able to sleep alone and my sister not feeling safe in a safe environment and a friend's cry for help and my gay friend finding it hard to live among family,” Bhatia wastes no time in reaching to the reason why our virtual lives crossed paths. “Unbroken is what you would want to be, a perfect denial. Just as you would want to shelter someone or yourself, or stay put in such times. But you end up feeling insecure about your surrounding as you can’t really do much about it (I can’t, thus I feel this way).”
‘Let Go’ is the first video track released as part of a series that Bhatia calls ‘Unbroken’. He can’t really explain why. Society’s hypocritical attitude towards women, the bipolar behaviour and the stone-age approach towards the “weaker” gender’s struggle for equal rights have resulted into the resulting songwriter’s audio and visual representation of personal diary. “A friend of mine was told to not care about her promotion as much since she is of marriageable age now. Apparently she should think of marriage more than her promotion now. This was her own boss, by the way.” Bhatia recalled the incident when asked about the instances where he sensed hypocrisy and society at its biased worst.
Among Bhatia’s closest who find the societal misogynistic stories too disturbing to be true, his sister Abhinaina, joins the effort through vocal contribution. Abhinaina also appears in the video providing a striking dramatic display of her personal struggles in the society. While the sister manages to provide justice to the visuals – co-directed by Concept Counter’s Riddhiman Gosh and Neiza Silveira – the insecure brother collaborates with the debutant for the video that possesses a simplistic vibe to it.
Throughout the video, Gosh and Silveira systematically runs series of anonymous quotes, thus sharing their respective experiences related to similar issues. Bhatia reminds on how the ambitious project merely acts as a reflection of his thoughts, and not as a war on the unjust and unfair practices. However, with a compelling storytelling like this, Curtain Blue certainly creates a shift from its earlier works. “It’s always nice to put out something new, with or without a cause,” adds Bhatia.
Bhatia’s experimentation with ‘Unbroken’ would transcend beyond feminism and how the movement has restricted itself to a mere trend. “The fact that is still is considered as a trend limits it to the youth and the learned. If you think about it, there should not be anything to talk about, as being a feminist is literally being a human being,”
The ‘Unbroken’ series also lets Bhatia communicate with his fans through relatable experiences and instances. With the next video, Curtain Blue would articulate about his inability to sleep alone, another abstract attempt to let the fans explore into his personal diary further. “These are purely my thoughts and i find it easy to express such sentiments. I hope it relates to more people and creates a conversation, that’s all.”
Well, it has got us talking.