Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

It started off as a “brain fart”, and within a few days this bunch of guys was trying to figure out how many fucks to give about haters. The hip-hop parody stars of India’s rap scene, specifically Mumbai-beloved gully rap, Gari-B had inadvertently created a monster with their parodies ‘Gari-B Ki Kahaani’ and Bhookh.

The brainchild of sketch comedy collective Tadpatri Talkies, the character Gari-B first appeared at B3 India: Art Of War, one of the biggest desi rap battles, on February 11, 2017. “I had a couple of pre-written bars that were hilariously shoddy when executed live with all the mannerisms of gully hip-hop, which drove the audience crazy as they loved a good joke,” says Sidharth Raveendran who plays Gari-B, a struggling rapper in Mumbai. “But we also managed to piss some rappers off, as they found it disrespectful. They still don't get it's a joke. We were just having fun with it. ‘Gari-B Ki Kahaani’ dropped a month after that, and Bhookh was out by November 2017.”

Tadpatri Talkies’ founding members Gaurang Bailoor and Nandan Kini are joined by Anmol Gawand, Sidharth Raveendran, Aseem Chandaver and Nikhil Vaiude. Their parodies are more than just about great comic timing. Tight rap delivery, a quick wit, and well produced tracks have created songs that are almost at par with those by Divine and Naezy (considered the “gold standard” in Indian rap). “The surprising bit, though, has been that some of the best known wordsmiths on the scene don’t understand what a parody is,” says Kini. But does it really matter, because as Vaidue puts it, “Rappers ka jalaya, bada mazaa aaya!”

The idea was not to do just a “diss track, but a spoof that just mutates every bar that most rappers had come up with.” Chandaver adds, “And when I heard the first draft by Anmol aka EMF, I said to myself this is an experiment worth risking no matter what people think of it. I never thought we’ll be making a full length album at first, but in the weeks following May and June we were already discussing some of the track themes. It was like we are all at Nandan’s house each night discussing the next theme, and the very next day Anmol is ready with the lyrics.”

They’ve recently released a video for their latest track “Fuck the Gari-B”, and in the spirit of nudging fledgling artists along the way, we spoke to them to help create a guide of “How to Direct a Parody Rap Video” with a budget of bhel puri.

1. COSTUMES ARE IMPORTANT, EVEN IF YOU’RE GAREEB.
SIDHARTH: It just happened to also be the hottest day in April [on one of the two shoot days], with 12 noon heat touching 43 degrees [centigrade]. Wearing a hoodie as part of the character's look didn't help. 20 litres of water were needed for a crew of 16 (and that still wasn't enough). Fun experience!

2. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION—CREATE YOUR OWN FILMISTAN.
GAURANG: We had this idea of doing a fight scene from the poor man’s (pun intended) version of a Sanjay Gupta movie. His movies (and also a few more South Indian/crossover movies) are so exceptionally corny, that their stylistic treatment gave us a lot of jokes to build. Because it was supposed to be a villains lair, and we didn’t have budgets for LED panels, we thought it’s very boss-like to have this lair on the terrace of a building, set against skyscrapers. Since Aseem’s terrace has pretty much become a place for the Tadpatri boys to meditate over ideas, we just decided to go ahead with that as the location.

3. COCKTAIL BANAO—MIX THE GENRES.
SIDHARTH: A noted buntai from our metal scene, Shezan Shaikh from Providence did a very high-spirited farewell gig with the boys from Swadesi. He gave a speech on the future of hip-hop and criticised rappers making use of the whole “poverty” stereotype to gain mileage. You can hear what he said on the song's intro sample, but things got taken out of context when we took it live for the first time at Generation Why 3 at Antisocial and suddenly people started whispering “controversy” and “diss track banayela hai”. We just had one idea—“metal pe rap” like RATM in the Gari-B style. Shezan’s quote worked beautifully for us and that's how the song got a title and theme, actually. Thanks, Shezan bhai! #BahutHard

4. DO IT FOR THE LOLS AND TROLLS.
GAURANG: With respect to the music video, I think the audience might stick around for some of the gags, because that’s exactly what the video is, an array of visual gags, so it should be obvious that it’s a joke. In general, the perception of the audience towards us has been that of a bunch of random people who are having a blast in each other’s company, and that has drawn in a lot more fans. But it’s rare that we’re taken seriously, and I’m glad that is the case. Having said that, I still feel that even though Bhookh was a “parody” album, it’s still the real deal when it comes to hip-hop. It’s original music, imaginative writing, and technically perfect rap flows. Dare I say, Bhookh is more hip hop than most rap that you’ll listen to in the country, and definitely the most enjoyable album in Indian hip hop last year. I wish I was bragging.
SIDHARTH: Plenty of commenters on our YouTube think Gari-B is a real rapper. Hell, a lot of metalheads from my list (since I play in bands and am from that scene) thought I sold out or hopped on to the trend and turned into a rapper, but mostly they get the joke and also happen to really dig the music.
NANDAN: I think you’re always going to have your naysayers, but by and large the scene has been enormously receptive to what we’ve been doing. That said, what would the world be without a few butthurts traipsing around?

5. BEWARE OF BIG, BAD BOLLYWOOD
GAURANG: It’s almost a year too early to speculate, but I will pay to watch the movie just so that I have all the rights of a consumer to critique it, if it has to come to that. Honestly, I have little to no hopes from the movie, much like Favreau’s Chef. What’s interesting is that the Gully Boy producers basically got everyone from the hip hop scene to be a part of the movie, who are flexing heavy on their Instagram with on-set photos and selfies with Ranveer Singh. But, who are they flexing to? Everyone else who would otherwise have possibly felt left out is already on set with them. I hope these kids who have been a part of Gully Boy don’t take the movie or Bollywood too seriously. The last thing you want to hear is of how Gully Boy inspired a local rapper to give up his 9-to-5 and pursue a career in Bollywood.
SIDHARTH: I think it will do exactly the same thing Rock On, Rockstar and Aashiqui 2 did for engineering boys wanting to learn guitar and form bands. The girl will break their hearts, they will quit and move to an MBA school to become marriage-material providers.
NIKHIL: Worst case 150 rupees waste hoga, best case 150 rupees mein mazaa aayega.
NANDAN: I don’t know. I don’t want to speculate, but given her past filmography, I think we can expect a proper, glossy, cookie cutter take on the gully rap scene. That’s both, the best and the worst case scenario. I heard she put a set of Kurla up on Carter Road. Is that shit true??
ASEEM: I know how the Akhtars and Bollywood work. It's an outrider’s periscope, so it'll be as massy and toned down as it can get. It'll be as milked and rainbowy as Slumdog Millionaire.
But yeah, it's one hell of a platform for the cast and crew alright.

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