Music: “Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint” by A. R. Rahman
Game Studio: Capcom
Date of Production: June 08, 2008
A Bollywood song with a video game, why not? I first heard this song in the opening credits of Spike Lee’s Inside Man, starring Clive Owens, Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster. The song is quite long (6m 24s) and it was a bit of a challenge to find appropriate footage for the entire song. Song this is called Nero’s Song, Nero is the main protagonist in this clip. The game, Devil May Cry 4, allows you control over two characters, with Nero taking over the first part (and again at the very end).
The song’s opening coincides with the game’s cinematic opening nicely, with the vocals invoking a feel of dawn (or dusk). In this case, Nero is hurrying to attend her girlfriend’s (I presume) performance but is disrupted by these monsters. The way the clip cuts back and forth between the singing and the fighting also seems to synchronize with the song. I especially like the way the music picks up just before the fighting begins (around 0:43). I did have to slow the action in Final Cut Pro just to make it match up better, though.
The next part, around 1:55, when the rapping begins, I have mixed feelings about. In part, I like the chance of pace when Dante appears, but the fight sequence went on for too long (I would’ve liked to end it at 2:13). I felt that I had to stretch it a bit there, and there are some parts that I would have liked to fix.
I absolutely loved the next part (from 2:45 to 3:22) because the rhythm of the bass music and the vocals matched up almost perfectly with the footsteps of the monster and Nero. I know that method is often criticized (called “Mickey Mousing”), but I think it worked here since it was less deliberate. Plus, it’s a Bollywood song, so it’s supposed to look a bit like dancing.
The part that follows, with the ice toad, was okay. Again, the dance-like quality of the song makes it work, and it was a short part that cuts right to the third, plant-like monster (although that section stretched out for too long as well). The next fight, with the metallic-looking angel, was not my favorite for sure. I included all of these in sequence of their appearance, so I was a bit constrained in that sense, even though I didn’t have any particular reason to cut it this way.
I enjoyed the part that starts at 4:59, as the female voice seems to coincide with Nero’s struggle at the time, when his girlfriend is imprisoned. From there on, the song ends with a flourish, as does the clip, and so I thought it worked overall.
Posted by Aaron Chia Yuan Hung at 12:57 AM. Filed under:
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