Shayan Italia presents Sha La La; the most symbolic music video to “come out” of India on International Coming Out Day
Mumbai: In a bid to celebrate International Coming Out Day (which is on 11th October), Indian-born global award-winning pianist, singer and songwriter, Shayan Italia puts forth his second video presentation, Sha La La, a follow-up to his historic world record breaking piano rendition of the Indian National Anthem, Jana Gana, Mana which was launched in 2018. Sha La La is a profound ballad with a deeply pertinent message of ‘Love Without Boundaries’. The stunning music video carries deep meaningful visual resonation built on a concept years in the making. A truly global project, Sha La La boasts of 65 musicians and 21 visual artists coming together from around the world to celebrate Love Without Boundaries.
A Hinglish single- Sha La La backed by Hungama is bold and showcases celebratory statements of passion and queer confidence. The storytelling is sensuous, passionate and dotted with symbolism while the production design is classic making this single a true celebration of love. The larger than life visuals capture many forms of romantic love that transcends beyond boundaries. The underlying message conveyed through the music video is that of inclusion and an appeal to the human race to end ‘hate. Shayan through his humble effort depicts inclusion and the supreme human emotion of love that can’t be defined within the confines of societal boundaries, but it is only LOVE that truly binds and builds us together in these trying times of ours.
Talking about the song, Shayan Italia in light of the horrors the world has witnessed in COVID times, especially towards LGBTQ and minority communities across the globe, and the recent killings of black people, said, “Ever since a little boy, and this extends not only to us as kids, from generation to generation, and Mum to son or daughter, in the Italia family we do not discriminate. We do not see “being different” as weakness or an oddity. We do not care if you are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer. Every individual is a ‘person’. This is my upbringing. So the opening line of the video: My heart sees love in many faces. It is not defined by gender, colour, culture, caste, creed or places.” is something I stand by and live by. The song and video have many layers, only upon repeated listening and viewing can you peel them off one by one. The lyrics, music and video are carefully constructed parts of a whole concept that has long been in the making and refined through many months of thought. In COVID times, it is more pertinent than ever with all the hate and discrimination out there, that we must remind ourselves to LOVE. WITHOUT BOUNDARIES.”
The music of Sha La features 65 legendary musicians across 3 global studios. Shayan said, “I recorded the Sha La La song before I came back to India and worked with an ace production team to bring a body of work to life. The musicians featured on the track are truly legendary and are not driven by money at all. They are purely driven by passion to make music. The incredibly catchy track features the likes of Guthrie Govan, Ralph Salmins, Laurence Cottle amongst other greats.”
You can check out the entire music video, Promo and Making here:
https://www.shalala.in/
Directed by Muni Agarwal, conceptualised and sung by Shayan Italia.