MTV India, in association with MTV Exit will be launching a new show, the anthem for which has been produced by Hitesh Sonik and penned by Piyush Mishra. The show, called Traffic, is a series of five 30 minute short films which will shed light on various aspects of trafficking like domestic servitude, forced marriage, being sold into prostitution, enslavement in a foreign land, organ trafficking and bonded labour, amongst others. The series will start on 28 February 2014.
Music producer Hitesh Sonik was approached by the MTV team and shown clippings of the films that had been shot. “I was given the whole idea about what is happening with the series. I felt it was something that needed to be done and I was happy that they were doing this. They wanted a song that could highlight the so called “hero” of every story.”
Actor, singer and lyricist Piyush Mishra was roped in by Sonik on the project. “Hitesh and I have a very cool rapport. He composed the tune and I just wrote it. I knew the subject, plot and central idea of the theme so it did not take very long; about 2-3 days. But it took one and a half month to be paid properly,” chuckled Mishra.
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Sonik hit the studios and began working on it quite some time ago. “We started working on this somewhere around November or December 2013. There is a process to it and a song does take time. And it has taken us 2-3 months to get everything right.”
The videos Sonik was shown seem to have really hit him hard. Speaking about how it felt, he said, “No one should have to live a life that they do not want to, be forced to live in a particular way and have their will sabotaged. I think it is a very painful thing and it breaks me completely. In our society, we are so used to having help around, but we do not question what circumstances have led these people to live this way. After watching this, one will want to question and bring change. It is an issue that we all need to look at seriously. The few films that I saw were very disturbing. It makes you think about many things that you are doing in your own life. It will do the same to you too, once you watch it.
Mishra on the other hand felt that there is more to the issue of trafficking than just the show. “This problem has been there around a long time and nothing can be done about it unless the state intervenes, which is necessary. In our country, the state is so oblivious to these things be it child trafficking, human trafficking, drug trafficking or trafficking of any other kind. You can make 100 programs about it but nothing can happen unless the state intervenes. This show will generate awareness. The state only intervenes after protests by different persons and organisations.
The vocals for the anthem have been given by Sanam Puri, known for his tracks ‘Dhat Teri Ki’ and ‘Ishq Bulawa’. The films are anchored and produced by Anurag Kashyap, and each film will feature the journey of five people who were misled into trafficking.
