RESYNTHESIZING THE TRADITIONAL
“These days the world seems almost always, at the precipice of chaos. Be it synthesizing one’s own identity, roots, racial polarity of masses, over-categorization, reservation, and anti-reservation views, the assertive conservative while the boisterous opposition lie at extreme ends of multiple dipoles. At this conjecture, coming from the Indian subcontinent, my work lies in the research, recording and analyzing identity of artists, trans-cultural effect over traditionalism, geo-political world views and the ultimate output of the artist. With my films, exploration of subculture, timed observations, self-questioning as well as external inquiries, I have always tried to present the present, observe the past and attempt projections for where probable futures would be at through my work. With the current explosion of soundcheck videos emerging from West Bengal that has enticed the world of research, sound, internet, subculture and multi-disciplinary eyes, I am attempting to look into my own Bengali roots and culture. What is political, religious or enthusiasm driven scope of a culture and what it can provide to the world, today it seems very meditative and self-observant for me. Having worked with major as well as independent artists in the past both onstage and backstage, the current state of sound check and sound box competitions provide a huge contrast as well as awe. My work as an avantgarde underground artist Démonos has also heavily derived both inspiration as well as substance from proto-cultural rituals, worship grounds, ancient occult lore, myth and practical following, current practices and methodology. With research and introspection, I seek to formulate a fluid cinematic and sonic exploration.”
As a producer and filmmaker in subculture & ethnography, I’ve made films on underground extreme music from the Indian subcontinent, Persian dervish Sufism, worked with mixed media storytelling via Tamilnadu’s traditional folklore, and from Indo-Jamaican reggae sound system cultures to working on suburban Bengal’s sound clashes narratives. Currently I am involved in projects that lie at the confluence of inter-disciplinary art, technology, humanities and subculture. My early A&R (artist & repertoire) work for major & world music record labels like Universal Music and EarthSync India, involved producing iconic releases with global names like A. R. Rahman, Ustad Sultan Khan, Panjabi MC, Sean Roldan and the like.’
Extreme Nation was my first feature – an award winning, critically acclaimed and definitive documentary on the Indian subcontinent’s underground subculture & geopolitics, which premiered at the prolific red carpet of Jecheon International Music and Film Festival 2019, South Korea and was also screened at Wacken Open Air in Germany, considered to be one of the world’s biggest metal festivals. Extreme Nation is listed on Doc’n Roll TV – a British Film Institute initiative for underground music docs.
NAFiR, a film that takes a closer look at Indo-Persian Sufi artistry, was my directorial debut and premiered at the 21st Kolkata International Film Festival, 14th Film Dokumenter Festival, Yogyakarta Indonesia & Chennai International Doc & Short Film Festival in 2015.
I’ve worked with the Films Division of India to showcase rare and progressive documentaries and films made through the decades, depicting the nation’s socio-economic, political and cultural landscape; having programmed more than 700 films as festival curator and held regular screenings and panels for community as well as industry development.
In 2020, I produced and directed as a part of an anthology of short films (fiction) running on Disney+Hotstar. During 2021 – ’22, I’ve been a part of the global research body called Sonic Street Technologies (SST) which based out of Goldsmiths University of London as a documentarian and research agent supported by the European Research Council. The project is mapping and learning about active reggae sound system cultures across the world. Our latest film Sound System Sanskriti just had a closed preview at WOMEX, UK and IDSFFK, Kerala 2024.