Abhijit Maske and Aditya Sharma
Nagpur News.
Keeping in sync with International fervor and youthful exuberance, Nagpur too is coming up with the “Happy Nagpur” version of the song. The filming is one for the past many days.
When American singer and producer Pharrell Williams sung and performed the song “Happy” for the “Despicable Me 2” soundtrack album, he never would have thought that the song is going to go viral on You Tube and other social media network.
Nagpur Today spoke to the creators of this video Abhijit Maske and Aditya Sharma from the Core group. They said this is one project, where there is no director, head, chief etc. There is only one Creative Team, where everybody gets to pipe-in their inputs and suggestions. They said that happiness is contagious! No class bias here. They have tried to depict Nagpurians in a happy mood in spite of all their worries and tension.
The Perfect Pose…
City youths pose for the shoot of ‘Happy Nagpur’ video.
The original track ‘Happy’ that instantly drew youth and all that the youth stands for, has Williams’ singing in a falsetto voice that instantly became rage among the youth worldwide. Some months ago “Gangnam Style” was one such song. The song was an instant hit in many European nations, like United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and 19 other countries. In India “Kollawari Di” was one such song that became viral and many versions of the song too came up like the Marathi version, Guajarati version, Malayalam version etc.
This song also has been a source of inspiration for tourism. The song ‘Happy’ caught the fancy of millions of people all over the world. People danced away to the foot tapping music.
The dance and the video showing local or native people enjoying the music became viral all over the world. India too did not lag behind in catching up with the latest in the world. After “Happy Mumbai”, “Happy Hyderabad”, “Happy Kolkata”, now it is the turn of “Happy Nagpur”.
The filming of various locations and citizens is in the process. Many clippings have been shot and many more are expected to be done in the days to come.
One can get to see a real housemaid dancing for a video shoot at a public place. They said that shoot actually gave her and other such ordinary people an opportunity to bask in the limelight briefly, because the shoot is for a happy video that has gone viral globally.
The happy fever has gripped the Orange City after infecting several cities across the globe!
A city-based photographer Prasad Narkhede and Ajinkya Soitkar who had envisaged the project in Nagpur said that ‘Nagpur is catching up!’
Aai Shhappath…what a move !!!
Couple dances to the tune of ‘Happy Nagpur’
He opined that Nagpur is often called a sleepy city, biggest village and criticized for the incomplete projects like Ramjhula, Nag Nallah, and MIHAN etc. We wanted to change people’s view and help Nagpur find its place on the global “Happy” platform with a localized version, called the ‘Happy Nagpur video”.
The filming process has begun in various parts of the city.
The idea is to capture the city’s happy flavour.
Prasad one of the members of the core group said that the ‘Happy’ trend was initially a phenomenon of the cosmopolitan cities, but we want the country to see that Nagpur keeps abreast of global trends and can pull them off with equal ease.
Happy Nagpur storyboard
Fun by the Lake Side… A young girl enacts gestures of fun by the side of Ambazari lake in Nagpur, as a part of shooting for ‘Happy Nagpur’ video.
The video is said to cover people from different strata of the society dancing in the backdrop of the city’s popular sites. Kasturchand Park, Deekshabhoomi and Futala Lake will be the hotspots covered in the video. The making of HappyNagpur video is trending across social media platforms in the city.
The Creative team is involved in shooting the film. This includes Prasad Narkhede, Avinash Nikash, Aditya Sharma. The other members of the core group include Prwashen Kyawal, Avinash Nikash, Ajinkya Soitkar, Sei Deshpande, Vanna, Abhijit Maske, Atharva Chandorkar, Yasha Jain, Rohan Lala and Baldev Singh Rawat.
The dances in the video will be choreographed by city’s popular choreographer Pawan Mangoli. The team is on a mission to spread and capture happiness in the city and it is ensuring that the city landscapes are full of lively people swinging, grooving and jumping to the catchy Happy beats that will see Nagpurians going viral across the internet!
When Nagpur Today asked Aditya Sharma why only Happy Nagpur, he said that it is a group of young professionals who have joined together to make a difference and depict Nagpur in a positive manner and showcase the beauty and architectural structures of yesteryears.
He added that they have included everybody with no bars of Class, Age, Caste creed, Religion etc. He said that they have made a Kamwali (maid-servant), Kachrawale (garbage collectors), Hippies, Poha-Walahs (road-side snacks vendors), Chai Tapris (road-side tea shops) especially Dolly Ka Tapri, Banjaras (Gypsies’ from Rajasthan). He added that they have a clip with a 90 year old man dancing. They have included everybody from kids to old and aged.
Abhijit Maske said that why depict only sadness and pain? We said that in our life, around us every day. At least for a few moments, let us be happy, depict happiness and joy. Aditya Sharma added that they also wanted to show the world how creative they are.
Yo Boy…Full of Joy
Kids exuberate their energy level at the shoot of ‘Happy Nagpur’ video.
One very funny thing Aditya shared with Nagpur Today was Nagpur has three climates: a) Summer, b) Wet-Summer & c) Chilled Summer. We in Nagpur have adapted ourselves to all the three climates well and have fun throughout the year. He added that life is too small to show the bad, sad, and sorry state of affairs we live in. He said that the theme of the Creative Team is “Be Happy and Remain Happy, and Keep others Happy always.
Sab Chaangla Aahe Bhau…
An elderly man depicts enthusiasm at Kasturchand Park.
