Monday 5 March 2012

JoSH - Yeh Zameen


In January, I wrote a blog post highlighting tracks on albums that were underrated and did not receive the promotion they deserved. The post was partly inspired by a tweet by Q from JoSH who lamented the fact that so many great songs on albums don’t get heard because they don’t have a video. One of the songs I wrote about was Yeh Zameen by JoSH, so I am overjoyed that the track now has its own video.

Yeh Zameen
is a track by the late R.D. Burman that has had a make over by JoSH and was released on Beyond Kismat. The song is one of my favourites on the album. Despite not being totally original, Yeh Zameen still has that lovely soulful sound that I associate with JoSH. The JoSH version sounds totally different to the R.D. Burman version and the band dedicate the video to him.

The video starts by staring into Amina Sheik’s eyes and watching Rup tie his turban. Rup joins Q for music practise on the roof and notices Amina wafting around in a pink sari and turquoise blue paranda. He informs Q of his new love and together they hatch a plan to get Rup and Amina together. Five of these schemes fail. These seduction attempts range from the inventive (making a love letter into a paper plane) to the downright ridiculous (tying a red ribbon on a bird and trying to get it to fly to Amina). Eventually, Rup showers Amina with hundreds of love notes and wins Amina’s heart.

Yeh Zameen is directed by Maram Azmart and Aabro Hashimi and I think they have made an excellent video. It has a whimsical, timeless feel to it that draws the viewer in. The feminine touch in the video is obvious and striking, especially in the styling and the storyline. Amina’s outfits are gorgeous and elegant. The paranda that she wears in almost every scene adds a traditional element. Rup’s turban isn’t just any turban, it’s a Burberry print turban, with what looks like a coordinating Dolce and Gabbana scarf. The story is engaging and well thought out. It’s the boy meets girl scenario, but not as we have seen it before.

An incredible amount of thought has gone into making this video. There are small details pulling the whole concept together which I didn’t notice until I had watched the video several times. For example, sometimes the colour combinations look mismatched, but they actually connect the characters. In the second seduction attempt, the blue of the notebook picks out the blue lace on Amina’s sleeves and the embroidery on Rups’ top whilst the red of the heart is also the same red used in the embroidery of Q’s outfit.

Overall, this is a brilliant video. The beautiful set and clothes make this sublime to watch. The well written storyline was engaging and left me smiling. One of the best music videos I have seen for a long time.

2 comments:

Maria @ Vintage Gulab said...

Totally agree, the video is GORGEOUS! Great review and insight!

Sukhdeep said...

I loves the video and the way it has presented small small emptions
Heart shape sticker under Q's sleepers. All the notes ontp confetti coming down was a marvelous idea. Loved it