001: Miya Suryakant and Biwi Surabhi Behind Miya Biwi Films on Their Partnership, Beauty in the Ordinary, and a Rich Mental Diet
⌛ 5 MINUTES
“We didn’t have a choice, we live together,” says Surabhi Tandon, one half of Miya Biwi Films, when asked about how it started. It can be said that everything that makes them compatible as a couple contributed to the birth of this creative partnership. To their team, Surabhi brings the ability to find stories in real life, while Suryakant plays with small elements and weaves a story around them with his imagination. Together, they create a medley of the two and the result is something truly remarkable.
Similarities and Crossovers: The Right Foundation
Surabhi comes from a journalistic background and has 8 years of experience working as a documentary artist with news channels in different parts of Europe. Her (and Miya Biwi’s) other half, Suryakant Sawhney, adds a melodic touch — having fronted Peter Cat Recording Co., one of India’s most experimental jazz outfits, as well as his solo electronic project ‘Lifafa’. Their harmonious aesthetics and the varying perspectives between them come together to make this partnership work.
Look at Everything as a Thing of Beauty
Talking about their creative process, Surabhi says that she’s learnt from Suryakant to train her brain to always be receptive to ideas — “Dreaming, drinking coffee, being at a party (even if it’s your own wedding), the ideas need not stop swirling.” Suryakant believes an artist should never aim for complete surrealism — it comes across as ignorance towards one’s surroundings. They should make all aspects of the environment — natural, social or cultural — a part of their process by engaging with them. The radar must never be switched off. When ideas evolve from simple, realistic roots, it becomes easier to understand and appreciate the end product. Doesn’t that reach a saturation point? Suryakant offers a contrasting view, saying that people only run into creative blocks when they sit down to force an idea without inspiration handily tucked away in some corner of their brain. He believes in building a bank of ideas while going through daily life and parking them for future use. “There’s no creative block unless you stop being creative,” he says.
They have embraced the Indian mentality of jugaad — creating something beautiful despite the lack of superior resources. They believe in this method to the extent that Suryakant says his favourite kind of idea to execute is one that requires the least resources but still packs a punch.
After going through the wedding footage shot by friend and renowned filmmaker Sachin Pillai, Suryakant saw the perfect opportunity for a fun and memorable music video for his band’s new album Bismillah. When Surabhi brought up the privacy of the wedding, a justification along the lines of, “Babe, you’re married to me, from now on everything is art,” seemed to suffice.
Getting the Bread: Approach to Commercial Projects
Suryakant’s vast skill-set in the field of music and Surabhi’s training as a video journalist have made them “self-sufficient units”. This has made it possible for them to follow their impulses while working on projects, often assuming a guerilla or war journalism approach. It also gives them the flexibility to cater to different clients in different ways — some with set briefs and others with relatively more creative freedom. “As an artist, however, it is always more fun and exciting to work on projects where you have the license to create something of your own without having to fit into someone else’s aesthetic.” This is an important aspect of commercial work because it helps one bring their vision to life instead of just filling blank spaces. Like any good partnership, Miya Biwi works on give and take; Surabhi contributes to Suryakant’s perspective with her understanding of rhythm as a dancer and provides a societal context to his wild imagination.
Seeing as most of their commercial work has been with fashion and beauty houses, the question stands — does this industry offer more scope for creative exploration? To a certain degree, yes, as the extent of experimentation with clothes is wider than with any other product. However, the duo says that the pattern of their favourite projects having been with fashion houses is entirely a coincidence. While working on their campaign for Forest Essentials, the basic premise was handed to them by Mira Kulkarni, founder and boss lady. But even then, Miya Biwi had their work cut out for them. The central focus was the careful, gentle manufacturing processes of some of their major products and the medium was the voice of the workers. Extensive background work to understand the steps and ingredients was followed by complementary set design, storylines and music. “There are so many little details to layer in, from deciding which steps to include and who could play the part well to making sure the significance of every stage shines through.” The result was a collection of short videos that used simplicity combined with insightful direction, powerful cinematography and calming Indian classical music as a tool to highlight the brand’s core value — the use of premium natural materials to produce high-quality personal care products by hand.
If there is a piece of work that perfectly exemplifies Miya Biwi’s style and approach, it’s this video of two dogs playing around on a beach in Goa. Shot entirely on an iPhone, this video draws power from it’s simple yet impactful root — finding love in the ordinary.
What You Feed Your Brain Is What It Gives Out
What sets the work of Miya Biwi apart is the subtlety and sensitivity with which they approach their films. They take pride in the fact that they have been exposed to several different cultures, which has shaped them as artists and reflects in their work. Suryakant feels the Indian filmmaking industry has a lot to learn from other parts of the world, not in terms of themes and ideas but the way films are built. He hopes that the internet will help bring this change. “It seems that the education system of our country works almost counterproductively in this sense — putting a lid on people trying to be creative. This has led to a dearth of originality in the content being put out. Often work from the past or a film that did well in the west is rehashed.” It is, however, undeniable that content creators are evolving and increasingly exploring ideas that grow from nothing. Anurag Kashyap and Zoya Akhtar are, according to Surabhi, at the forefront of this change and pushing the creative boundaries of Indian entertainment. New-age web series and creators like Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Jesse Armstrong and Sam Levinson are helping bring a change all over the world. The duo is looking to make more documentaries and music videos in the future but is wary of the fact that the current documentary culture in our country isn’t very strong. Big fans of David Lynch, they strongly believe that the quality of content you consume deeply impacts the quality of content you produce.
As we reach the end of the episode, we sign off with some rapid 🔥 questions. Get the popcorn and start reading!
