Mumbai-based filmmaker and musician Pranav Bhasin has released his first single of 2023, ‘Screaming on the Fly’. Fresh from a premiere at SXSW 2023 – where the song’s video was one of the nominees of best music video – ‘Screaming on the Fly’ ft. Ro Maiti has been written and produced by Bhasin, and is now available on streaming platforms.
The 26-year-old multi-faceted director and writer has award-winning short films like Wolf of Chawl Street and Kanika, and was drawn to electronic music production in 2019. He has since then put out two EPs, Houseplant, and Great But Not For Me and ‘Screaming on the Fly’ is the young filmmaker and musician’s first ‘pop’ single.
The song is steeped in the concept of excess, and is the story of a girl trying to find satisfaction in a hyper-capitalistic world. “This is a satire on buying more and feeling less,” is Bhasin’s succinct summation. “Everybody’s kinda coping all the time, shopping on the fly, screaming on the side… I started humming the section to myself one afternoon and the song was born,” he recalls of the song’s creation.
Moody atmospheric pop with colourful synth lines accompanied by Rohini’s melancholic voice, interspersed by a decadent drawl, makes ‘Screaming on the Fly’ an earworm.
“Like most starting-out musicians, I have a mega-wide range of influences, and what comes out of me has an identity of its own,” Bhasin, who directed tragicomedy mini-series called Cabin Fever in collaboration with Ritviz during the 2020 lockdown, says. “I think I’m interested in alt-pop, and maybe a good reference since I’m a filmmaker/actor/musician who toys with humour could be Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino,” he adds.
Bhasin, who also has music videos like Prateek Kuhad’s Favourite Peeps and When Chai Met Toast’s Believe to his credit as a filmmaker, has also directed the video for ‘Screaming on the Fly’.
Produced by Jugaad Motion Pictures, the music video for the song is deeply reflective and tells the story of an entitled city girl, who wants everything she can possibly own. Even if it means punching your best friend in the face. “I didn’t imagine making a music video for it until after the song was complete — I have an instinct for visual stories, and decided to produce the video based on a list of story beats I had noted on my phone,” he says.
In the pipeline, is yet another single lined up with Rohini aka Ro Maiti, Bhasin’s third with the US-based musician. “Because we’re both open to experimenting, failing and are patient with the process, it’s easy to work together,” he explains their working style, adding, “I’ve only met her twice, over coffee, and we work from different countries, so the internet is a winner.”
