Music video directors BoyWithLenz and Arsh Singh on their song Bai Bai

Sheetal

BoyWithLenz and Arsh Singh are cousins who recently ventured into directing music videos under their label I.Can Films. Earlier, they used to do wedding photography and videos and portfolios.

While BoyWithLenz studied from Guru Nanak Dev University, Arsh Singh completed his graduation from DAV College, Amritsar. During their college days, they discovered their passion for photography.

Originally from Amritsar, they share what made Arjan Dhillon’s song Bai Bai, which crossed 12 million views, a challenge for them and all that behind-the-scenes stories.

Your first camera?

BoyWithLenz: It was gifted by my dad. A Canon Mark IV.

An interesting project so far?

Arsh: It was the song Kala Jadu. If you watch the video, it has a very different concept which has not been done in Punjabi music industry earlier. It was a learning curve.

Who are the Punjabi celebs with screen presence?

BoyWithLenz: Nimrat Khaira and among actors, Mankirat Aulakh and Diljit Dosanjh are in the league of their own.

The most challenging project?

Arsh: When we were shooting for Arjan Dhillon’s song Bai Bai, Sidhu Moosewala also announced a song by the same name, 22 22. As we were likely to be compared to Sidhu bhaji’s song, we had to work harder and come out with something unique. And gladly, our concept worked.

An advice to a layman in photography?

BoyWithLenz: Always go for natural light. Don’t use filters.

Any weird request or demand from clients?

Arsh: Once a customer asked us to do an entire wedding song for Rs 10k. Nobody could top that kind of a bargain.

A mistake that one should avoid in the initial days of his/her career?

BoyWithLenz: Keep a positive outlook and dare to show your vision to your clients.

What inspires you?

Arsh: Travel. One cannot just sit at one place and keep the creative juices flowing.

Proud moment

BoyWithLenz: After the song Bai Bai was out, we never promoted it or asked anyone to share the clips on social media handles. But, we were happy when celebs like Diljit Dosanjh, Nimrat Khaira and Karan Aujla supported our video by sharing it.

An artiste you would like to work with?

Arsh: Diljit Dosanjh.

Who do you admire in direction and DOP?

Director, cinematographer and photographer Baljit Singh Deo.

Favourite set location— indoors and outdoors?

Karma Arts, Ropar and for outdoor locations, Udaipur has a lot to offer.