Won't Break For You: A New Music Video Subverts The Rishi-Apsara Trope In Indian Myths

In the opening shots of actor-filmmaker Gia Singh Arora’s music video for actor-dancer-vocal artist Sreya Muthukumar’s new song ‘Won’t Break for You’, a Sage opens a door, finds a statue of an Apsara — a nymph-like figure from Indian myths — and proceeds to kiss the statue. Elsewhere, the Apsara comes alive and begins to dance.

In Indian mythology, apsaras are celestial beings — similar to the Greek water nymphs — who reside in the palaces of the gods and entertain them by dancing to the music made by the gandharvas. Stories of apsaras seducing sages known as ‘rishi’ with their charms and beauty to break their meditation and stop the sages from attaining divine powers and abilities are a common trope in later Hindu myths. They are often depicted in these stories as objects of desire: eternally beautiful, youthful, and elegant. They are symbols of otherworldly perfection.

‘Won’t Break For You’ subverts the Apsara archetype by presenting the Apsara not as an object of someone else’s desire, but as someone who desires and wants to be desired on her own terms. Arora’s concept and direction for the music video complements Muthukumar’s lyrics by blending mythological characters with modern problems to create a visually intense narrative. As the video progresses, the Apsara dances on a dining table, kicks away bowls of food with her feet, and digs into a cake with her fingers; eating mouthfuls with her bare hands. There’s no denying it: this is a song about a woman letting go of her pursuit for perfection and taking control of her life.

Near the end of the music video, Arora breaks the fourth wall to reveal that the Apsara is actually on a film set with a full-crew watching her break down. She is now a figure who has moved from the divine and mythical realm and into the real world of a Bollywood film set — a medium that can be perverse and even profane. This is a recurring theme in Arora’s work.

In ‘In No Sence’, she breaks the fourth wall to show one of the subjects of the documentary standing still as a make-up artist applies make-up on her skin, alluding to a ‘cover up’ — not only of the character, but the medium itself. Similarly in ‘Dekho Main Hoon’, Arora again breaks the fourth wall by showing the cinematographers interacting with the performers.

In Arora’s films and music videos, breaking the fourth wall isn’t only about exposing the medium; it’s about implicating the viewer in the act of viewing, turning them from passive spectators into active participants, letting them know that in the act of looking, they too are being looked at.

Follow Sreya Muthukumar here.

Follow Gia Singh Arora here.

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