Ahliya Bamroo is an actor, singer, writer, workshop facilitator and content creator who has collaborated with brands, creators and influencers across the country to create content that is imbibed with her signature blend of wit, irreverence and poignancy. We sat down with the young creative to talk about her latest collaboration with Rahil Singh Datta a.k.a. Starving Artist films, her creative process and much more.

Tell us about the video.

This is a collaborative video with Starving Artist Films a.k.a. Rahul who approached me with the idea of making something special. It was clear early on that this video would be about friendship since a lot of my own content revolves around the themes of love between friends and the joy in sharing simple moments among a group of people.

The video explains the feeling a lot better than I can in writing. I used a song that my friend and I used to listen to, I used visuals and imagery of the mundane and the wild adventures we’ve been on together, intercut with childhood pictures of us both. I suppose I wanted to say that memories between people can exist very tangibly within the tune of a song, or a picture of a happy moment, and the importance of the memory is something that only they can know, but others looking in can still feel.

I wanted to be vulnerable and let people have a look at a friendship that is intimate and special to myself, but can make other’s feel like they can relate to it without having known us. I guess the takeaway is that friendship and love are universal and we all experience it in some way or another, so as different as we all feel, at the end of the day, we can find a space to understand each other.

What are some of your biggest inspirations over the years of your artistic career & why?

Filmmakers and musicians have achieved something that I am forever blown away by. They have managed to let us have our own little unique experience of their art, and stir something in us that really can’t be explained.

Bon Iver is a band that really hit me hard in terms of how I feel about love and loss, and it’s again this unique experience I feel like I have when I listen to their music. Their music accompanies my subjective experience and in that sense will always feel like my little secret world, and I want to emulate that feeling for others.

Describe your creative process and the purpose with which you create.

I create to tell a story, to make an emotion felt. I like sadness but I think happiness wins when it comes to creating content. I say this even though my favourite pieces of music and film are about sadness.

When I say happiness wins I don’t mean in terms of numbers, I just think that generating a positive emotion from things I create will always be the goal for me. And my creative process follows that by being very much about doing what I love, what I like and what I would want to see and feel. So in that way, my content can feel like a little part of myself, albeit digitalised.

Are there any Indian contemporaries of yours whose work you admire?

Shibani Mitra (@lostartistclub) she’s an artist, a photographer, a workshop facilitator and my oldest friend. I love everything she does.

Wunderhaus (@wunderhaus.pondicherry) one of the coolest clothing designers in my opinion. Kedar has captured the beauty of South Indian clothing and turned them into pieces that are so special and so unique. His photoshoots for his collections are also absolutely stunning.

Which is your favourite piece of work of your own & why?

This particular video is very special. But I enjoy my slice of life videos, because I can watch them and feel like they accurately convey so many aspects of my life and make me feel the things I feel about my home and my friends, even though I’m watching it through a screen. I’m proud of emulating those emotions even for myself.

One track you’re currently listening to?

Caffeine Rivers by Hailaker

A project you wish you were a part of and why?

Mura Masa has this album called RYC which stands for Raw Youth Collage. I wish I could have been part of the making of that album. He captures the feeling of being a teen so perfectly, using often strange sounds and unique tones you’ve never heard before. I just think he’s a genius and I would love to learn about music production from him.

One place in your city you always go to when you need to find inspiration?

On a motorcycle ride through the forest. I always come back home feeling very good about life.

One quality you wish you had?

Discipline. I’m extremely floaty and very ‘do when I feel like it

Watch the video here.

Find more of their work here.

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