Sometimes, one art form can make you experience another. This is true of two dancers who can make you listen to music with the strength and grace of their bodies, and feel the exhilaration of the song’s emotions.
Bengaluru-based cinematographer Gomtesh Upadhye's trilingual video of a man and woman dancing to a lyrical love song, is a visual treat.
The 7.54-minute video stars Shreya Deshpande and Niranjan Harish training for a dance routine, which has been choreographed by Vishwakiran Nambi.
In the beginning, their movements are slow, and as the music’s tempo increases, Shreya and Niranjan are seen dancing with same energy, their movements sharper.
Towards the end, the dancers and the video team outdo themselves.
Shreya and Niranjan are at a dimly lit football field, their bare feet flying across the grass. Shreya bends backwards and they both rise up on a stage. The next moment they are playfully holding hands on the terrace of a high rise, surrounded by other buildings but alone. Towards the end, Niranajan lifts her up, and they spin on the spot, imitating the steady beat of the climax.
Titled Neeye in Tamil, Neene in Kannada and Neeve in Telugu, the video is a spectacular fusion of dance, music and cinematography, and has been garnering rave reviews from both the online and offline world.
Gomtesh, has worked as director of photography in the acclaimed Kannada film “Lucia” and was an Assistant Director for the critically acclaimed “U-Turn”.
It was Phani Kalyan who composed the original music in Tamil. "We have been friends for a few years now and Phani approached me after composing a rough track. He asked me if I could do something with it," Gomtesh says.
They came up with the idea of weaving a love story into the music video but deliberately kept it ambiguous to let the viewers interpret it as they chose. "We did not want to do anything cheesy. And we wanted dance to take the centre-stage".
What makes this video even more unique is that it was completely crowdfunded. Gomtesh launched the campaign and was offered more than his goal of Rs 1,50,000.
"And we raised it in just three days," he says.
According to Gomtesh, the response has been phenomenal, with people from the industry such as from directors Gautham Menon and Rajamouli SS, also appreciating the video.
Just saw this..
— rajamouli ss (@ssrajamouli) October 15, 2016
Very impressive...
Great job, all involved.https://t.co/L8COfcqQym
The male lead has been sung by Yazin Nizar in all three languages; the female leads have been sung by Sharanya Srinivas in Tamil), Sparsha RK in Kannada, and Sameera Bharadwaj in Telugu.
Watch the Kannada and Telugu versions here.