Hitting the right notes

Bhavnani has a lot on her plate — a music track called Mad O Wot performed by Ishq Bector and choreographer Uma Shankar,a short film production house called Mad O Wot Productions — and her band,Translation of Intent. “The production house happened on a whim,” Bhavnani says,“I wanted a song for the salon,since we’re so big on music. Arijit Datta,the vocalist of Airport,spun out a lovely combination of R&B,rap and qawwali. “It’s totally commercial,but it’s also very creative,” she says. It was when they were shooting the video that a friend suggested to Bhavnani that she seriously consider making short films.

“Short films really don’t have a suitable platform in India,” says the 39-year-old. Mad O Wot Productions is already working on two films. “One is about a woman who’s decided early on that she doesn’t want children. She has multiple abortions without realising that they can wreak havoc on the reproductive system. The other story is about the process of creativity,” she adds.

At the moment,she’s most excited about the upcoming release of the track Mad O Wot. “I picked that name for the song because it’s such a Mumbai thing. No matter what people here talk about,a ‘mad o wat’ will creep into their conversation,” Bhavnani explains,“The song captures the spirit of the city and with its mish-mash of genres and slang,manages to be commercial,but also creative.”

Later,when Bhavnani sits down for a late breakfast at a nearby cafe,she reveals that she’s never really had formal training in anything. “I took some training in hair cutting only after I’d already been at it for sometime,” she says as she scoops in a forkful of scrambled eggs. “Similarly,I’ve also taught myself filmmaking.” She even took YouTube tutorials to learn how to play bass in her band,which besides herself and Datta,also has drummer Adrian D’Souza and Vinay Lobo of Airport. She’ll be playing classical Indian ragas,but the experiment doesn’t scare her,just like a lack of training in hairdressing didn’t keep her from opening her own highly successful salon. “I believe in pushing the boundaries,” she says,“So I go left,when everyone else is going right. Otherwise,how will you get noticed?”

Playlist

Raat – Airport

Tere Naina – Kailash Kher

Raanjhan – Begum Abida Parveen

Mockingbird – Eminem

Bomb Track – Rage Against the

Machine