AUGUST 23, 2020
“I haven’t slept for the last two days as I have been consistently getting calls. And I was so taken aback when last evening, Kokilaben (Rupal Patel) called me on my personal number. It was an unbelievable experience as I never expected the video would reach her,” shared Yashraj Mukhate, the latest social media sensation.
The 24-year-old from Aurangabad rose to fame when he remixed a dialogue from TV show Saath Nibhana Saathiya with some beats and background score. The video features Kokila (Rupal Patel) scolding her bahu Gopi (Giaa Manek) and Rashi (Richa Hasabnis) for keeping the cooker on the gas stove without chane (chickpeas). The video has already garnered close to three million views on Instagram and has even caught the fancy of popular Bollywood stars. However, it’s the call from Kokila that made Yashraj’s day.
On Saturday, the music producer interacted with Indian Express Entertainment on Instagram, and shared that Rupal Patel applauded his efforts, and even invited him to meet her whenever he is in Mumbai. “She could have just congratulated and hung up, but she actually spoke to me for 10 minutes. I was amazed by the gesture.”
Going back to the making of the video, Yashraj Mukhate shared that he was scrolling through Facebook when he found this particular clip shared as a meme. “The dialogue already had a rhythm to it,” he shared. Yashraj added that he worked on it for two days, and posted it without giving much thought. “I never expected it to go viral this way. But now that it has, I am sure people will expect a lot from me. Since they have loved this format, I will work on it more. However, I would also want them to enjoy my original compositions.”
During the conversation, Yashraj revealed that a chance encounter with Salim Merchant helped him start composing. He said, “I am a huge fan, and he is an inspiration for me. I had produced my take on one of his songs, and that led to a meeting. I always thought that composing is a spiritual thing that one is born with. However, while talking to him, he encouraged me, and told me that it’s a craft that one can learn with practice. That thought stuck with me and I started making my own music.”
Talking more about himself, Yashraj Mukhate shared that he is an engineer. Given his father is a singer, he was always inclined towards music. A self-trained musician, he setup his own studio in Aurangabad and learnt musical instruments and software by watching online videos. “I have been freelancing for a while, and it’s all going great,” he shared.
The idea of using dialogues with beats came to him after he followed Dub Sharma’s work. “While he mostly works with tunes, I decided to work around with dialogues. I had created an entire song with Uri’s ‘How’s the josh’ dialogue, and that had a million views on YouTube,” he said, though confessing that it was nothing compared to his newfound virality.
Watch Yashraj Mukhate’s viral video here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEHeALNJMjm/
The musician’s video has been liked by Bollywood stars Taapsee Pannu, Varun Dhawan, Rajkummar Rao among others. However, he did not have an inkling. “Really? I will have to go back and see it,” he exclaimed when we informed him about the same.
Sharing his story of becoming a social media craze, Yashraj Mukhate said, “I had nine thousand followers last month and I was struggling to increase it to 10K so that I could get the ‘swipe up’ option on Instagram. The last video helped me reach 25K, but I never knew that I will manage to garner more than two lakh followers in just a couple of days. It’s maddening. I have been getting so many messages, and I am trying to reply to everyone. It’s a big thing for me that they actually took out time from their life to message me.”
When we quizzed him on when did he realise that his Kokilaben video has gone viral, Yashraj said, “I think when Smriti Irani reposted it on her profile. Isse zyada kya expect karta? Modi ji will not share it, na? (laughs). Apart from that, Anurag Kashyap shared it. I am a huge fan of his work and I was over the moon seeing his post.”
Yashraj Mukhate further told us that he consciously featured in the video as he has seen that not many creators get due credit for their work. “Even if they cut out my watermark, my face keeps popping up every few seconds. So people would know who has worked on it,” he said with a broad smile.
The young man is hoping the viral video would bring him more work. He shared that a filmmaker did DM him on Instagram and they are discussing the probability of a project. “Apart from that, I am working on two films. I cannot speak about it right now though. I just hope that something good happens next,” concluded Yashraj.
Courtesy/Source: The Indian Express
