Getting rapping to Mumbai streets is this 25-year-old artist Naved Shaikh (aka Naezy). Trying to turn away from a life of delinquency, young Naved found himself turning to poetry. Soon his father gifted him an iPad, and since then there has been no turning back. Posited between his religious identity, the expectations of his parents and his love for rapping in the vernacular, Naved attempts to use hip hop to fight regressive ideologies and bring change in society. The short film narrates the struggles of an aspiring artist in the most honest and skilful manner. It's visual language is in direct relation with the music created by the protagonist on his iPad. While Bombay 70, titled thus after the part of Mumbai Naved comes from, introduces the viewer to the rapper, it also manages to incorporate his music and art with its narration and storytelling, making it a well-rounded, wholesome product.

Bombay 70 | Short Film of the Day

The rap begins at a note that might not catch your eye first. However, before you can even attempt to write it off, you are proven wrong. Beyond that, it only goes higher and higher and takes you along. 


Tandav has sass, attitude and fierceness. As more and more rappers come to the fore, it is difficult to make your own mark. Dino James, on the other hand, stands out most effortlessly with his music, lyrics and the general vibe of his latest offering. Additionally, the collaboration with Girish Nakod only helps to enhance the product. The black and white colour palette and the smooth transitions of tight frames to wide to mid and back again is achieved with a seamlessness that is elegant and worthy of mention. Tandav is a powerful song that promises to give you a glimpse into the contemporary rap scene and the state of the youth, along with the artist's own struggle to secure success, and it indeed delivers on all of that.

Tandav | Ft. Girish Nakod  | Music Video

If Gaitonde's soul animal was a street style rapper, this is what his theme video (and rap) would be. Netflix India does it gain -produces yet another stellar piece of art. Kaam 25, performed by rap artist DIVINE, is part of the Sacred Games OST (original soundtrack). Much like the show, the music video is shot most expertly with the same background and frames as those used in Sacred Games. It should be noted that while rapping about Mumbai and the varied struggles it harbours under itself, DIVINE takes the genre to new heights in the realm of mainstream art.

Kaam 25 | Short Film of the Day

We Wake Up is a powerful rap by Karma (Vivek Arora) about the bleakness of the world. While talking about the selfishness of people who are too lost in superficialities, the video subtly hints at the corruption and dissatisfaction with political and administrative leaders. Made as a reminder to wake up in the year 2019, the video also talks about how in the rat-race of getting more likes and hollow fame on social media, people are willingly closing their eyes to all that's wrong around them. But will this be the year they wake up?

We Wake Up | Short Film of the Day

The documentary takes the viewer into the life of Indian rapper Emiway Bantai. From his struggles to his process of making music - the film engages with all the aspects of the creation of his art. The first part of a series by Red Bull, the episode delves into the mind of the rapper and emerges with a detailed breakdown of his individual style of rapping. The film is an editing feat achieved most seamlessly, and yet, made to look effortless. Without its surreal, magical edit, very much in tandem with the theme of the episode and its subject, the film won't be the wonderful product it is. The subsequent episodes of the series will further introduce you to the processes and passion of actors, artists, standup comics, dancers, designers, filmmakers, athletes and more.

Emiway Bantai - The Mind Behind | Short Film of the Day

With rap as its medium and tool of choice, the video attempts a powerful comment on the Indian society. Rapper Divine brings to the screen the angst and apprehensions regarding notions of gender, class and financial inequality the nation has found itself gripped by. The visuals follow one after the other in quick successions to communicate the same message - about the hollowness of an existence that has come to be defined by only empty exteriors. The soundtrack constitutes of addictive beats, also a remote echo of Tiger Baby's previous major rap production, Gully Boy. However, despite the overlap, it manages to stand on its own as a masterful music video, supported by an equally skilled song.

Gandhi Money | Divine | Short Film of the Day

Emiway Bantai is back yet again with Hard rap. He talks about his personal struggles and the scene of hip hop in India. Directed by Nishan Bhujel and Emiway, the visuals are complimentary to the music and the lyrics and invoke a sense of dystopia 

Emiway - Pagal Sa Rapper | Short Film of the day

As India remains a nation ravaged by huge protests against the NRC (National Register of Citizens) and CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), artists have taken it upon themselves to use their work to declare their allegiance. The rap song is one of the firsts on the topic, rejecting the Indian government's decision in no equivocal terms. It uses real life footage of protest rallies and the clamping down of the authorities to convey its point. In an increasingly political time and age, when art cannot help, but become a political expression of one's beliefs and ideologies, the song does its bit to raise a call for action and to further remind the viewer that their silence indeed is a louder comment than they realise. For a country that is up in flames in its fight against discrimination, Streetocracy is an assertion of the power of the ordinary people and their democratic right to protest.

Streetocracy | Osapraka | ft Shumais, Manosh | Expat Alive

The film introduces the viewer to a powerful protagonist in the form of an aspiring rap artist. Keeping him unnamed throughout as a deliberate decision, the narratorial progression offers an intimate, long glimpse into his life. It is marked by financial tribulations which robbed the young performer of the privilege of truly pursuing his art, and yet, the twinkle in his eye and the cheer of his smiles are unmissable and insurmountable even in the face of all difficulty. 

The film, due to its raw edges in the department of sound and the inconsistency of visuals, attains an informality, but the voice of its beautifully impactful protagonist remains undiminished amidst it all.

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