I love Ladaniva’s Jako! It’s fun. It’s joyous. It’s designed to get everyone dancing and singing along. And it’s got one of the most fully-realised artistic visions in its video:
In this 2:38 video, despite the primary lyric being “la”, we totally get the story – there’s a young woman in the village that everyone loves, despite her being a bit of a handful at time (see: produce loose in the village; random sneak hugs). Despite her mischievous nature, she unites everyone with a shared love for dance.
Here’s where the feminist in me has to point out that the first verse of Jako is actually very revolutionary because it’s about a young girl throwing off the norms of gender expectations to do what she loves, which is dance. And then the las start up again and oh I guess the time for feminist analysis is over and we’re all dancing now.
Seriously, though, this video inspires such warm feelings in me because it reminds me so very much of another genre – the Bollywood romcom (or as romcom as a Bollywood film gets, as they are often maximalist affairs with three or four genres shoved into a multihour run time). Ladaniva’s video looks like it is the introduction song for both Jako, the main character of the film and her best friend (here a nameless horn player who has secretly been in love with her for years.)
If this were a Bollywood film, I’d bet we’d find out that Jako would be torn between two loves – the horn player and the playboy son of a real estate developer who has eyes on Jako’s village. Drama would ensue, Jako would realize she’d been in love with the horn player all along, and the playboy son would be heartbroken, but a better man for having loved her. (He would, of course, reform his playboy ways.) The real estate developer would turn out to be corrupt and a subplot would be how farming communities are being exploited by unscrupulous business interests and corrupt government officials. The plot to destroy Jako’s village would be stopped by the playboy son who would stand up to his father in a dramatic moment where he reveals himself to be the better man. If he can’t have Jako, at least he can do what’s right in her eyes. And if you think I’m farfetched in spinning this out of a sub-three minute video, I would note that you’ve never seen a romcom, let alone a Bollywood film. The tropes, they are troping!
Now, if you are going to note that Armenia and India are wholly different countries and cultures, I very much agree with you! It’s the feeling of fun and joy and general unironic entertainment pleasure that the Jako video shares with the Bollywood films I love the most (and in I am a dabbler, not an expert.) But can you blame me for watching a video where charming people dance around with produce, and not immediately recall this video, where charming people dance around with produce?
dudepoints.fun 