Indrajit Nattoji dedicates his animated short Nadam to his mother

Artist Indrajit Nattoji, the director of the Hindi film Aafat-e-Ishq (2021), has created an introductory film for the Indian Music Experience (IME) Museum — the country's first interactive music museum — in Bangalore.

According to Nattoji, the animated short, Nadam (Sound), presents a unique blend of music and art.

Sharing how he came to represent the vast world of Indian music in this immersive experiential work, the filmmaker said, “The museum comprises hi-tech multimedia exhibit galleries, a sound garden, a learning centre for music education and several performance spaces. My brief was to create film installations for the museum, which would play within the designed spaces and interactive exhibit galleries and tell this story simply as a captivating bedtime story for a child.”

Nattoji reportedly wrote the story and created a mood board, and the IME team loved the idea. “The story of Nadam is inspired by my little daughter and wife. I grew up in a household where music and art were essential aspects of daily life, and this project was an opportunity to explore and amalgamate both. The film is for my late mother, who introduced me to this beautiful journey of music," he added.

According to Nattoji, after the museum's reopening in the aftermath of the last wave of the pandemic, Nadam gained the attention of organizers of several film festivals. The film has received an honourable mention in the Best Short Film category at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival 2022. 

Nadam has also won two awards at the Indie Short Fest (Los Angeles International Film Festival). The musical also features in the official selection list of the 12th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival.

“Nadam is one of the three film installations for IME produced by my company, Blink Pictures,” said Nattoji. “It is designed to play in a 180º immersive circular projection, showcases a vibrant glimpse into the uniqueness and diversity of the music of India.”

Nadam is centred on a young girl named Shruti, who wakes up disturbed and scared by the sounds of the night. Her mother comforts her and shows her that every sound is a musical note. She then proceeds to take Shruti on a beautiful audiovisual journey, showcasing the diverse origins and the eclectic evolution of Indian music.

The characters were artistically rotoscoped and hand-painted by Nattoji, who is also the creative director, producer and cinematographer of the film.

Samay Chakra, another Blink Pictures installation at IME, showcases the different Hindustani classical ragas or musical tempers in the 24-hour cycle. The visitor gets to experience the ragas that correspond to particular times of the day. Associated imagery includes animated elements from ragamala paintings — miniature artworks depicting Hindustani classical ragas.

Speaking about Samay Chakra, he said, “The film, created in a circular format, is a visual amalgamation of live-action timelapse shots of landmarks and landscapes of North India and animated elements of ragamala paintings and mandalas. I visualized the layered composites to represent the passage of hours, days and seasons and cosmic time and space."