Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Saturday 12th December 2015
Adelaide based BMG Films released their latest music video, Spicy Girlz in Town, sung in three languages. Not long ago they released the first Punjabi music video made in South Australia, DIL. My review of that can be read here. I predicted then that there was no doubt that more would follow, such was the high quality of that first production, and I was correct.
Conceived, produced and directed by Manpreet Gill, who worked on Bollywood films before moving to Adelaide, this is another innovative leap forward for BMG as this is the first Gujurati music video to be made in Adelaide. Digital Dave, or DJ DD, composed the music and appears as the central character, singing in Gujurati, the others being a group of girls on a night out. The lyrics are by Utpal Yagnik. Local night spot, Lava, provided the venue for the shoot.
Sarika Young, one of the principal actors and dancers in the earlier video, appears in this one, too, showing that another of her talents is as a singer, providing the English language part of the video, with Sunaina Sharma, as the third singer. Choreography was once again provided by Bollywood dancer and choreographer, Francesca Pascale McMillan, who also features in the video. The other "Spicy Girlz", Fiona Smith, Alicia Hurt, Tara Lukashev, Dannielle Capasso, Aishah Stocker, Emma Baulch, and Imogen Owen, who all seemed to be having lots of fun, were all from FTM Model Management.
The first music video was a romantic piece with a degree of poignancy. This is a look at the modern dating game, where young people go to dance clubs and hope to make a connection. The girls, of course, have their 'posse' with them for support and, dare I say it, intimidation, while the DJ who tries to approach them is alone, looking for the strength to establish a rapport with one, in the face of the ridicule of the others. There is more humour in this parody of night life in a club, and tongues in cheek interactions bring a smile or two.
The whole package, with the strong multicultural element appealing to a very wide range of people, has that same professionalism as the earlier work, with fine voices, great choreography, and light, colour, and movement abounding. One wonders when an Adelaide club with a smart management will begin hosting evenings exclusively based on music videos created by members the many cultures that we have in Adelaide. That is something to look forward to and, perhaps, would be a good move for the Nexus Multicultural Centre.
As for the content, there are elements of Bollywood in the video, but that is transformed by the electronic music and modern facets of life in Australaia. One might, perhaps, describe it as Bollywood-electro-pop. Whatever genre one cares to invent for it will work, as there is really nothing else like it, it is all new and exciting and opening up a whole new market that has existed for a long time, but not catered for until now. BMG films and Manpreet Gill are leading the way into a new era. Watch out for more groundbreaking work from them.
You can watch the music video.
