Breaking news coverage for Global-Indian section of India.com
NAFS—the 10-person band created by Oscar-winning musician, A. R. Rahman—is creating quite a splash with their latest video: a catchy cover of “Ghanan Ghanan” from “Lagaan.”
The video begins in a dried out desert with the musical group in their trademark white face paint and florescent costumes. The one standout is Arjun Chandy, the group’s musical director, arranger, and conductor, who appears in his classic monochromatic checkerboard makeup and black top hat. According to Rahman’s site, Chandy, an Indo-American from Dallas, was specially commissioned to make NAFS into “a world class act,” and spent more than a year and a half training the hand-selected group of young musicians.
As the beat picks up, the video cuts to silhouettes singing in (technicolor) rain, in what looks like a modern-day “Flashdance.” The video continues to cut back and forth from drought to rain, blending two different visuals, as it mixes Western beats with Indian rhythms to create a completely new experience for audiences.
Ishani Nath 