The Marathi ‘caller tune’ song: Vishal Rathod on creating music with a local touch

Vishal Rathod. Pic/Anurag Ahire

In a world of music labels and commercial distribution, Jalgaon boy, Vishal Rathod, has charted his own path. He began as a folk dancer in his village, and later became a music producer/ distributor/ and actor. He recently created nationwide buzz on social media, after his songs, Mad kelay tu and Jejuri yeshil ka went viral, with over 12.6 thousand reels and shorts being re-made on Instagram and YouTube. "I yearned to do something in this world. I was always passionate about dancing, and have been a folk dancer since childhood, but it had its physical and financial limitations. I also belong to a farmer's family, so I had to start from scratch. My brother and I began releasing album songs on YouTube, and a few years later with Everest Entertainment," says Rathod when we meet him at the mid-day office.

In 2019, he started a music distribution company, VR Music Station, through which he produces and distributes music every month where all of it has been created by local artistes. "From the beginning, I wanted to create music that can also be caller tunes for a phone. So, we produced songs with that intention," says Rathod.

He believes in making music that promotes the country's heritage, specifically his home state, Maharashtra. With this thought, he creates, shoots, and produces music from Nashik that highlights the local nuances of the state. "Nashik is not only a cultural hub but also an affordable location for us to produce music. All our friends hail from Pune, Jalgaon and Nashik, and we pitch in," shares Rathod.

Their new projects will include setting up a Khandeshi label (a dialect spoken in northern parts of Maharashtra). "We started reaching out to local influencers on social media who had earlier commented or reacted to our music and asked them to recreate our music. Slowly, we started building our circle of friends, fans, and influencers, and evolved into what we are today," he signs off.

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