MUMBAI: The Dewarists reappeared on YouTube, two years after its previous season, with a season opener featuring playback singer Benny Dayal and rapper Naezy. Set against the background of idyllic regions of Manali, the first episode of the fifth season continued on its tradition of story-telling about the featured musicians, ending it with a collaborative track. The first episode stands as a reminder to the unique and refreshing collaborations and songs the show has managed to impress everyone with.
Here’s a look at a few of these collaborations from the previous seasons –
Raghu Dixit Project and Guru Rewben Mashangva
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The Dewarists’ opening season had a fitting finale justifying its entire journey of the ten-episode part-travelogue. Titled ‘Masti Ki Basti’, the collaboration featured one of the most popular Indian live act ‘Raghu Dixit Project’ and the face of folk blues music in the North east Guru Rewben Mashangva.
Zeb & Habiya and Shantanu Moitra
Staying with the same season, the second episode featured one of the most vibrant acts to have emerged from the subcontinent. Zeb & Haniya collaborated with one of the leading Bollywood composers Shantanu Moitra for a cross-border composition titled ‘Kya Khayal Hai’. The song also featured popular lyricist Swanand Kirkire on the vocals.
Dualist Inquiry and Advaita
One of the most surprising collaboration, considering the respective genres and sound, has to be the one between two of Delhi’s leading music components in the respective genres and sounds – Dualist Inquiry and Advaita. With vocals in Hindi and English, the song truly encapsulates the essence of the series that represents diverse sounds with a fusion that has never been heard before.
Karsh Kale, Papon and Carl Barat
The second season finale truly went global in terms of its sound and the video. Shot in Scotland, ‘The Minstrel’s Tale’ features Assamese singer Papon, (the latest season’s host) songwriter and composer Karsh Kale and Carl Barat from the post-punk/indie band from London The Libertines. The song is about a traveler’s journey seeking for a home away from home, set against the mesmerising blend of Celtic tunes coupled with Assamese vocals.
Lucky Ali and Shilpi Gupta
The 2013-season welcomed a new set or forms of collaborators to the music-travelogue. From theatre groups to visual artists, the third season of The Dewarists emphasised equally on the visual aspects of the music videos through modern methods of story-telling complimenting the essence of the song. The third season opened with Monica Dogra, however, it was the sober and modest effort by Shilpi Gupta on the visuals for a collaboration featuring Lucky Ali that arguably steered the entire composition to a new level of audio-visual experience, not often seen in music videos in India.
Nucleya and Shruti Pathak
The Dewarists did not wait for too long to describe what it had in store for the fourth season of the series. Opening the season with arguably the biggest name in Indian electronic scene – Nucleya – accompanied by Shruti Pathak (of the ‘Shubharambh’ fame), The Dewarists had continued to acknowledge the growth of electronic music as a genre and incorporated at least two such tracks in each season.
Vishal Dadlani and Neeraj Arya’s Kabir’s Café
The collaboration with the Kabir’s Café turned out to Dadlani’s second appearance on the series (first after the series opener with Imogen Heap). And trust the leading music directors of the town to turn up the compatibility factor while collaborating with a new artist, Mumbai’s Neeraj Arya’s Kabir’s Café in this case. Kabir’s poetry in Neeraj Arya’s typical famed style and Dadlani doing what he does best, here’s ‘Fakiri’.
Indian Ocean and Mohit Chauhan
Moving back to the series’ first season, it would be only fitting to end the list with the third episode featuring arguably the most celebrated Indian rock act Indian Ocean and Bollywood producers’ darling Mohit Chauhan. What emerged as a result of this collaboration, titled ‘Maaya’, presents the two collaborators in their natural avatars ultimately creating a sound once again celebrating the essence of the series ‘The Dewarists’.
