Yaara Music Video – “Phenomenal & Frightening Sparkle of Beauty”

(By Brian Sanders)

An ode to passion and pursuit of art, the music video of ‘Yaara’ (eng. translation: Friend), directed by Kristyna Budinova and cinematography by Cheriana Resky, was crowned the winner of the Best Experimental Music Video category at the United Kingdom Music Video Festival earlier last month on May 28th, 2023.

The project captured the audience’s attention with outstanding visuals and its creative storytelling and message for the world: follow your dreams, no matter what!

The video centers on the story of a young singer-songwriter Shambhavi Raj, who has not yet ‘made it’ but, despite all odds, is fighting to push through and follow her dream. We see as she rips her heart out and serves it whole on a plate to the people in her day job, watching as they tear it apart and eat it till there is nothing left. Heartbroken yet still hopeful, she sings on a stage at night and is able to connect with the audience through her music and thus provide a safe space for the people to lay their weary heads down and rest.

“The aim was to capture the importance of keeping one’s creative spirit alive. No matter what anyone says or does, if you keep going, you’ll see the fruit of your efforts sooner or later. The song’s inspirational lyrics compel people to follow their dreams and desires, while the somber melody reflects the struggle often found along the journey. The point is not to give up, have faith in yourself and charge forward. That was the idea for the video,” says Kristyna, the music video director.

The cinematographer Cheriana Resky made good use of the color theory throughout the video, explaining, “We used blue but almost touching velvet color gel on the LED light; it was Rosco Permacolor Round Glass Filter Deep Purple combined with CTB 1/4 Rosco # 3204 in order to simulate the blue hour feel and so show the sadness of the artist. As so, we chose to sacrifice some light to achieve a specific color to fit with the story. Then, as it transitions to the day job reality, to contrast, we used a Nova Aputure P300c LED light with 1500k and bounced it with unbleached muslin, switching into warm color and breaking away from ‘the uncomfortable feeling’ of the blue hour color.” The resulting cinematography is remarkable, masterfully defying the limits of low-budget filmmaking.

The dichotomy of good and bad where good always hail. Here is the official video for ‘Yaara.’

Music Video link: https://youtu.be/3AZ-GHPiqis