"My first experience of watching a dance on film was many years ago at a quaint theater in California that was playing host to a festival on Dance & Film. As a dancer, I was immediately inspired to create my own piece of art where dance, music and film came together to tell a story. That desire stayed in me until one day I happened to revisit the timeless vintage recording of Anna Pavlova dancing the Dying Swan! The first thing that struck me was the timeless beauty of her art, but what also struck instantly was the absolute contrast in approach to the concept of Swan in Indian culture. To me, a dance film on the Swan felt like a perfect opportunity to bring together the East & the West – as an artistic communion of movement, music and thought! I strongly believe in the versatility of Bharatanatyam as a highly evocative movement language and it has been a deep desire of mine to see Bharatanatyam not as an “exotic art form of the East”, but as mainstream in global conversations of dance.
I vividly remember my first discussion with Ranjani on creating the music for this piece. I am moved every time I think back to that meeting. As soon as she heard the concept she rushed out with her violin to the studio and sat down to compose! Her passion and excitement was so humbling and I knew at that moment that this film would be magical! Thus was born the first notes of Soham! Over the next few months, we worked to fine tune the music and narrative over which the marriage with choreography happened organically.
A chance meeting brought me to Usha Rajeswari, an extremely erudite and intelligent filmmaker, who visualized Soham not just as a dance-film, but holistically resonated and believed in the life truths that it represented.
The making of Soham was a transformative journey, both artistically and personally!"
- Divya Devaguptapu
"Soham for me represents awareness. The making of Soham for me was about the self unfolding as a work in progress of the creative energy that surrounds us. It was a journey of uncovering of my own layers of understanding and witness myself as a piece of creation undergoing changes every moment, was a marvel!
Soham was also about witnessing the power of creation in togetherness. It was something I had always believed in, but hadn’t actually experienced. The process of unison with another artist through an immersion in the presence of her creative expression and bring it alive with music, was ecstatic. I had a brief idea about the Dying Swan ballet. However, when Divya explained her concept of Soham to me, it made a very deep impact. That was the first time in my life, that I went and picked up the violin and immediately began playing, to reflect the idea of what she had just discussed!
I never made an attempt to “compose” for Soham. I just held that desire deeply and waited to hear the music within. Nothing concrete happened for a few weeks after we discussed it, until one night when I found a tune come to me. It was almost like I knew some tune was going to come to me and I had to stay receptive enough to hear it! I recorded the tune that came to me that night, which went on to become the refrain of Soham! Everything else layered itself around that refrain, which was just perfect.
Divya & I held our deep desire to have on board with us all those that deeply resonated with Soham. Everybody that finally participated in the making of the film, were just meant to be. They just fit in to give us their best experience of Soham. It was amazing to interact with Raji, Anand, Shiva, Aditya and all our musicians who brought in their own flavor to Soham, through their unique beautiful ways."
- Ranjani Ramakrishnan
