An Equal Music
A new OTT series—Equals on JioCinema— puts the spotlight on folk artists from across India
“If we want someone to gulp down something bitter—by bitter, I mean classical [music]—the platter should be presented well. Then they will eat it, bitter or sweet,” says Varanasibased thumri singer Sucharita Gupta about her song with Hindi pop-rock band The Yellow Diary, in the opening episode of Equals,a new seven-part music documentary series on JioCinema.
Conceptualised by New Delhibased non-profit Anahad Foundation, which works to catalogue and release the work of folk musicians and enhance their revenue-generating opportunities, Equals spotlights seven of the country’s most prominent folk artists by tracing their stories and getting them to create a song with their more mainstream counterparts. In other words, as Gupta says, it offers their music in a more appealing package.
The combinations include Punjabi vocalist Des Raj Lachkani from Patiala with poprock duo Faridkot; Rajasthani singer Jumma Jogi from Alwar with folk fusion rock band Swarathma; Baul musician Rina Das from Santiniketan with Hindi post-rock group As we keep searching; Assamese singer Dulal Manki from Tinsukia with Hindustani classical-fusion pop duo Shadow and Light; Kabir bhajan singer Prahlad Tipaniya from Ujjain with genre-crossing singer and flute player Rasika Shekar; and Qawwali duo Warsi Brothers from Hyderabad with composer Ricky Kej.
The documentary takes its cue from Equals Sessions, a self-funded YouTube music video series put together by Anahad in 2019, the key difference being that the earlier series paired younger, lesser-known folk musicians who were primarily performers with popular independent music bands to help them learn the art of composing. For example, Punjabi singer Amar Jalal and his group wrote ‘Nasha’ with Faridkot, which became such a hit that they went on to recreate it for the 2022 Hindi film An Action Hero.
In the 2019 Equals Sessions, the indie acts served as mentors.
Equals gets seven of India’s most prominent folk artists to create a song with their more mainstream counterparts
This time around, the collaborators meet on the same level. In fact, in some circles, the folk artists, most of whom write their own songs, may be better known. Manki and Tipaniya, for instance, are both Padma Shri recipients. But both the Equal Sessions and Equals share the common aim of promoting songwriting in the folk music ecosystem.
“Our main objective is that whenever a folk artist watches these series, they should be empowered to compose and write something new,” says Abhinav Agrawal, the founder-director of Anahad. “We believe that’s something through which they can be seen as equals, because currently they are only seen as performers.”
Directed by Suruchi Sharma and shot by cinematographer Ankur Sanjeev, each 30-minute episode of Equals follows a fairly straightforward three-act format, comprising an introduction to the folk musician in their hometown or village, an initial meeting and subsequent jam session between all the artists in Greater Noida, and a stylised music video of their new tune. The focus is firmly on the folk stars, and the strongest aspect of the show is that it succeeds in bringing out their multi-layered personalities.
In December 2023, it won a special mention in the Best Short-Form Series category at the 2023 International Documentary Association Awards. ■