Dynamic duo embarks on new art project

Last year, Sofia Ashraf’s music video Kodaikanal Won’t drove home a strong message and was an instant hit. It even caught the attention of international artistes like of Niki Minaj, Ashton Kutcher, Guy Kawasaki and Mark Ruffalo among others. The work of Rathindran R Prasad, the director of the video was much appreciated. 

And last year his short feature Swayer corporations was selected and screened in Cannes Film Festival following 26 other international film festivals. This year, the director has been caught up working on his Kollywood film debut starring Ashwin Kakamanu and Guru Somasundaram. But the director leaped at the chance of collaborating with Carnatic music maestro TM Krishna and they will soon come up with a music video that will give out a message. Talking about the project, Rathindran shares, “I can’t discuss the contents of the video but I can definitely tell you it is an exciting project. 

After Kodaikanal Won’t, I was flooded with offers of making socially relevant videos. But I wasn’t sure about them and also I intended to work on my debut feature film. But when environmental activist and close friend Nityanand Jayaraman told me that TM Krishna was interested in collaborating with me for a socially relevant music video, I jumped at the opportunity.” He says while the basic concept and idea is by Nityanand and TM Krishna, he will be directing the powerful video. 

“I had to spend quite some time planning how I wanted to execute their idea. It is a very serious track and required a certain treatment,” he added. Ramon Magsaysay awardee TM Krishna is known for pushing the boundaries of his art, experimenting with language and form. “He has definitely experimented in the video and come up with something fascinating. We have worked hard on retaining aesthetics while breaking certain conventions,” he finishes.