Music from the kitchen appliances

Hyderabad: Singer Vasudha Sharma of Aasma fame and percussionist Sarthak Mudgal have teamed up for an innovative music project. The two musicians, known in the live music circuit of the country, have recreated A.R. Rahman’s hit Humma Humma using kitchen appliances to drive home a message, Respect women.

As part of a larger campaign, the video by Culture Machine features the man asking the woman (played by the musicians) to make herself “useful by making a sandwich”. Vasudha does make herself useful, but by making music instead.

“I sampled all the sounds produced by the kitchen appliances and other stuff like the switch and steam iron and recorded them in a loop. A switch going on and off, an oven opened and closed, toaster popping up, a mixer. Recording all these was a lot of fun,” she says.

The three-and-a-half minute song that features the petite singer-musician fittingly, ends with the man conceding, “Women belong wherever they want to.”

Karl Katgara, the creative director of Culture Machine, explains why the Rahman hit was picked instead of composing a new track to send across the message. “The minute we thought of this song, everybody was excited. But there was the challenge of not insulting a Rahman song, and making sure the sensibility of the music was still intact. Plus, the song is a lot of fun as it’s young.”