For many musicians, music has been a crucial refuge to express their beliefs. The layered stories behind these songs create an impact on the listeners who find their spokespersons in them. Musicians write these songs to showcase their solidarity with a movement. The newly released Tamil song ‘Ooru’, written and directed by Richy Kaanjiraparambil, is the perfect example of it.
A Vishnu Das musical, Ooru is a representation of many lives who stood for their tradition, culture and land. The makers of this song call this a ‘crowd funded movement’. According to Vishnu, the music was composed six years ago. It was during this period that he studied how to record rough vocals and production for the first time with this track. One of the reasons why we believe that we all should support this song is the messaging and sentiment it brings to the table.
The lyricist Shafi Ali uses the word ‘Land’ constantly, stressing the importance of the word to many people today. The song addresses the politics of land and how the rightful owners of the land are evicted in the name of “development”. But, more than that, it is about the people who stood still and fought for their land. It uses a transparent metaphor of a funeral ritual to dig deep into the wounds of the people who have continuously, for generations, fought for the right to live in their land.
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Even though there is no mention of it, we think Ooru falls under the genre of ‘protest music’. It is in many ways, a protest against the systemic oppression of people who are denied their customary rights over their natural resources and traditional knowledge systems.
Watch the video below and listen to their cause. The video is now streaming on Wonderwall Media’s YouTube channel.
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Here are the people who worked together to make this video what it is:
Mix and Mastered by: @ashbin.paulson
Cast: @arun_sethumadhav
DOP: @vinod.m.ravi
Sound design: @acrophobicpilot
Editing: @kailash_s_bhavan
Second unit camera: @anandhu__kh
Associate director: @sudeep_cp
Coordinator: @ajal_sj98
Recorded: @sapthaarecordsindia
Violins: @_abhi_raman_
Poster: @renjith_c__ravi
DI: @muhsin__pm
