A moment from Sanghvi’s video of the mashup

“Whenever you think of Love story, you think of old-school love. I wanted to retain those elements in times of modern, social media-influenced romance. So instead of exchanging their socials, the story of these strangers begins with a simple bonding over music,” the 22-year-old explains. The new-old trend of mashing up English and Indian songs is back on the rise. But instead of releasing full versions that are three-four minutes long, many music producers prefer to release a 20 to 30-second version. This newly birthed short format of remixing lives and dies within the frames of social media. And with good reason. 

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“I post my tracks only on Instagram initially. They are not meant for YouTube, or any other social media platform. The reason to do this is that the attention span of today’s generation is very short. Not many listeners want a full track. They’re just interested in 15 to 20 seconds of the song that’s striking,” Sanghvi tells us, adding that the aim of these songs is not to take away from the originals, but to give people something unexpected, and something they didn’t know they needed. “In times of reels, every song ends up getting overused. People get bored easily. Take Kesariya, for instance. That song became the Instagram anthem upon its release. But a month or so later, it vanished from the face of the platform; never to return unless there’s something new in it for the listeners [on Instagram].”

Saiyam Sanghvi

Sanghvi’s journey with music started when he was in the 11th grade. At the time, he tells us, the music was all about EDM and, for him, Martin Garrix. Over the years, he saw trending genres shift from EDM and LoFi (on Instagram) to synthwave and UK Punjabi. Dhillon’s With you is a classic example of UK Punjabi in synthwave. “It’s the kind of song with chill beats,” he explains. When he first heard the song, he knew within a few seconds into it that it was very similar to Love Story, which also was a song composed mainly on B-minor. “These were the kind of songs that I knew would marry well,” he recalls, adding that it took him a couple of days to ideate and execute. 

Storytelling makes for a huge part of remixes like this. Instagram is a visual-heavy platform, and so to cater to its users, Sanghvi either directs a short film to go along with his tracks, or collaborates with dancers. “A follower told me recently that my track made her return to listening to Love story, and that felt rewarding.

I am aware that these are tracks which will probably not live as long as the originals we borrow from. But they bring a smile to the listeners’ faces, even if it is just for a few moments. And more importantly, it makes artistes like me happy. It’s as if we hold the power to make iconic artistes collaborate, who probably will never do it themselves,” he laughs, as he signs off. 

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