The article looks at 'Bhalobashar Desh', a single by HooliGaanIsm, which responds to rising divisions around identity by imagining a more compassionate, unified society. It explores how the song centres on themes of healing, responsibility, and breaking cycles of hate, while also highlighting its visual interpretation directed by Riddhi Sen with performance art by Subodh Kerkar, framing the project as a call to rebuild collective identity through empathy and care.
Identity itself has become a point of contention in the digital age. Underscoring any and all forms of bigotry, it emerges as a rhetoric of otherness that divides people. Bring in the people in power who need to pit groups of people against each other to control them, and you have a broken, scared, and distrustful society. Be it religion, politics, gender, language, or class, the cycles of violence seem to run on autopilot without much effort.
In their latest single ‘Bhalobashar Desh’, musical group HooliGaanIsm asks us to break that cycle. Translating to 'Land of Love’, the song critiques a world shaped by hate, revenge, and repeated harm, while pushing the idea that people can choose to act with care and repair instead of continuing the same patterns.
Formed by nine musicians from diverse musical backgrounds, HooliGaanIsm is a Bengali cross-genre musical collective that writes, records, and performs original songs to reflect on the contemporary human experience. The members carry deep connections to folk, classical, modern, and experimental music. In this track, they create an invitation to construct an alternate society built on love.
The themes in the song centre on responsibility and change. It speaks about healing, letting go of ‘the poison in our hearts’, and building a different way of living. It also points to hope, especially through the idea of a future that has not been shaped yet, relying on the faith that people will always choose to walk towards love.
The video presents these ideas through performance art by Subodh Kerkar, who is a painter also known for creating large-scale installations using groups of people in outdoor spaces, especially along coastlines. His work often focuses on public memory, the environment, and shared identity. In this video, the formations reflect ideas of people coming together and the idea of a united nation. With other objects and visual messages, the video hints at displacement, migration and everything people go through in search of a home. It’s directed by Riddhi Sen, an Indian actor and filmmaker based in Kolkata, working mainly in Bengali cinema and theatre.
'Bhalobashar Desh' imagines a utopian possibility amidst the fragmented ruins of a nation divided. Through the theatrical embodiment of this idea, It asks us to consider the implications of being driven by hate and what we stand to lose because of it.
Follow HooliGaanIsm here and watch the music video at the top of the page:
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