Music video fro film songs..
does it boost album sales?

In the international music scene, music videos for OST of a film is the done thing. But this trend is just catching on in India. Music companies tell Screen whether it pays to have a specially shot music video for a film song...

First you had Shiamak Davar crooning to a crow on a rooftop, then came Shah Rukh singing paens to the quintessential Hindustani, and now you see Sukhwindara shaking a leg to the high-pitched Naach meri jaan. All these are not your usual pop videos, but videos made specially for film albums, which the Indian viewer will see more of in the near future. Naach meri jaan, the current hot film video doing the rounds of music channels, is from Prakash Mehra’s film Mujhe Meri Biwi Se Bachao. The video made by Venus (which has released the music of the film), has been shot on the film’s hero Arshad Warsi and model Nethra Raghuraman, with inter-cuts of singers Sukhwindara and Jaspinder Narula crooning into the mike. It is directed by Colossus, who happen to be among the leading music video makers on the pop music scene.

Champak Jain of Venus informs us that it was the music company’s idea to make a special video for the film song, instead of promoting music the usual way through clippings. “Since the song Naach meri jaan has been sung by Sukhwindara and Jaspinder Narula, who are also pop artists besides being playback singers, we felt that shooting a music video would boost the sales of the album. And it indeed has,” informs Jain happily.

It can be recalled that the video for the title song of Shah Rukh Khan’s home production Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani had become a craze, and subsequently the song became the anthem of the nation, which in turn had recorded whopping album sales. “Both Shah Rukh Khan and Sony Music felt that a specially shot video as a promo would work wonders for the sale of the music of Phir Bhi... than the usual collage of film clippings. The video was made by Dreamz Unlimited and it was extremely popular, though it wasn’t used in the film,” says Shivani Bali, who looks after video production at Sony Music.

But Shivani points out that a special video is usually made in the case of a pop singer performing a film song (though Phir bhi... was an exception sung by Udit Narayan). “Like it was in the case of the video for Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate, the title song of which was sung by Shiamak Davar. Such videos work as a visual tool and showcase the Indi-pop artist as well, besides popularising the film number. Music companies want to take the opportunity to promote their pop artists here. Like if Bally Sagoo, our artist, had composed for a film, we’d promote him through a special video of that film song. The association of an Indi-pop artist with Bollywood needs to be widely publicised to expose him to larger public. The Mast title song was specially shot with composer Sandeep Chowtha and the leading man Aftab, and it gave Chowtha good exposure,” explains Shivani and adds, “The Kaho Na Pyaar Hai... songs sung by Lucky Ali were big hits. So if we had the rights of the music of that film, we would have definitely gone in for a special video featuring Lucky Ali, which would have further boosted album sales, since Lucky is quite popular. This benefits the company and the artist both.”

Agrees Mukesh Desai, CEO, Super Cassettes. “Such videos are shot because pop stars have a special pull. The song Tote tote in Bichchoo was recorded with Hans Raj Hans and Shweta Shetty, both popular pop stars, as an afterthought since both, producer-director Guddu Dhanoa and Super Cassettes felt it would help in music sales. The song was then incorporated in the film. It was such a huge success that Hans Raj And Shweta are organising ‘Tote Tote’ concerts on the basis of that one song.”

But Shivani points out that not any and every film song can be made into a video. “The song should have that special something in it, something which can be expressed well through a video. Only then the endeavour works.” Agrees Jain, “The song should have the punch, it should be zabardast, a potential chartbuster. And the singers singing should have charisma, which Sukhwindara and Jaspinder have. People like to see them.”

According to Desai, film songs are shot as videos when something is found lacking in the normal track. “Music trends keep changing fast, so sometimes songs recorded earlier may sound outdated by the time the film is ready for release. That’s where the concept of special video comes in. Both director N. Chandra and Super Cassettes felt there was something amiss in the tracks of Shikari, and a peppy type of song needed to be incorporated. So Dil dhak dhak dhak, which is an upbeat number, came in. We got Anubhav Sinha to shoot a special video of the song featuring the film’s hero Govinda and Mayuri Kango. That video worked and the album sales got a shot in the arm. Earlier too, the title song of Chal Mere Bhai was specially shot by producer Nitin Manmohan, featuring the lead stars of the film and singer Shankar Mahadevan, which helped in increasing the sales of the album.”

Actually the trend of video for film songs started with PolyGram (now Universal) shooting a special video for the title song of their own production, Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate. It was a big hit and was later even incorporated in the film and used on the titles. “We went for a special video in keeping with the international promotional campaign, the way the soundtrack of a film is promoted abroad,” says Vinay Sapru of Universal Music.

The idea, says Sapru, was to give the audience “a feel of the film before it is released.” So you had Shiamak, on a rooftop, singing the title song Jhooth bole kauwa kaate to a crow. “That video set the mood for the film and boosted the sales of the albums immensely. We’ll be shooting a similar video for our next home production,” Sapru informs.

These specially shot songs usually end up being incorporated in the film. Says Jain, “In the film, Naach meri jaan has been shot on Rekha and Arshad Warsi. But Prakash Mehra has said that he will use the video of the song on the titles.”

All said and done, is it worth spending extra something to shoot a special video, instead of just promoting music through clippings? “The specially shot video definitely works to an advantage because it attracts the audience to the song,” explains Jain, “And these videos need to be made lavishly. We spend more than 10 lakh rupees on Naach meri jaan, but I feel its worth the money looking at the returns in terms of album sales.” Sony Music and Universal voice the same opinion. Desai informs that most times, the producer and the music company end up sharing the cost of these specially shot videos. So no one’s really cribbing because it does boost the album sales. And that’s what counts for a music company.

Salma Khatib

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