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Please find below the link of the trailer along with a brief on Standing By- Arjun S. Ravi’s documentary on the influence of western music in India. Standing By is an attempt to uncover the history of the independent music scene in India; the untold chapters in India’s musical history. Through a six-part TV series and a mammoth digital archiving effort, Standing By will throw light on the largely undocumented evolution of the independent music scene in the country.
The independent music scene in India can largely be defined as genres that exist outside of the dominating entertainment force in the country – Bollywood. This definition also then should include regional, devotional and other such genres. However, the scope of this project is largely restricted to rock, metal, electronic and other more urban, metro-centric genres that began resonating with young people around the country all the way back in the ’60s. While much of the scene’s recent past – the rise of music festivals, the crossover between indie and Bollywood, et al – has been documented to some extent, a large part of the history of the alternative music movement remains undiscovered and undocumented. Rock ‘n’ roll has been in India since the early ’60s – taking off where the jazz scene left off. Jazz had been in India since the 1930s.
Through this six-part series, Standing By will shine a light on the raucous history of the Indian alternative music scene – right from the nation’s independence in 1947 all the way to the dance music explosion of present day. This story is told through over 100 interviews with some of the music scene’s key figureheads – artists, managers, promoters, producers, live and studio engineers, and many others.
