Mumbai, Jan 30 (IANS) Coldplay is out with a new song “Hymn for the weekend”, and the British rock band has splashed myriad hues of Indian culture in it with both Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor and international pop icon Beyonce Knowles sporting creations by Indian designers.
The song is for their album “A Head Full of Dreams”.
The video of the much hyped song seems to be a leaf out of a book on India, with Beyonce as a glamorous Bollywood diva and Sonam walking among ruins in an ethnic attire.
It also gives a sneak-peak into Indian classical dance forms, and features Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin enjoying touristy things — from exploring India with a ride in a ‘black and yellow’ taxi, and even in a boat on a ghat, to celebrating the festival of colours in Mumbai.
The reason behind the hush-hush India visit by the band-mates last year was out of the kitty long back, but the first glimpse of the song was posted on Twitter only on Friday.
The video captures the essence of Mumbai, which is also known as the city of dreams, with visuals from its streets. Directed by Ben Mor, the video carries an energetic vibe, and seems like the band wanted to create a colourful anthem.
In the video, the band – also comprising Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion – is performing on the streets during a Holi celebration; and international singer and actress Beyonce seems to be playing the role of an Indian star as she’s been featured on television sets, billboards, and on the silver screen.
She has worn a creation by designer duo Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla.
Martin can be seen heading to a movie theatre to watch her sing in front of an ornate wall adorned with flowers of different colours.
In the clip, she is donning a cleavage-baring gold and red ensemble with a crown and cape. In another scene, she is also seen wearing a heavily-embellished veil on head with jewellery and henna tattoos, and it brings back traces of memories from the song “Choli ke peeche kya hai”.
The song starts with an appearance of peacocks, India’s national bird, flocking their wings; and the visuals are then taken over by a saffron hue with a group of priests (sadhus) and their long flowing robes.
A group of children even showcase their dancing skills, and Bharatnatyam and Kathakali dancers give a dekko of their art. In another interesting visual, a group of men are dressed as Hindu deity lord Hanuman.
Talking of Sonam, though her appearance only lasts five to ten seconds, she manages to leave an impact. She looks ravishing in a creation by Mayurr Girotra.
Sonam, who is also known as a Bollywood fashionista, is excited about the video.
The actress, who’s the daughter of Indian actor Anil Kapoor whose film “Slumdog Millionaire” won many awards at the Oscars, tweeted: “A story to tell my grandkids! I was in a @Coldplay video! Woo hoo! #biggestfan”.
The video was not the only thing which attracted Martin to India. Martin met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed how they can support his ‘Swachh Bharat’ and the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaigns last year in July. He even surprised Delhiites with an impromptu gig.