A parody to groove with

Rarely comes a track that makes you dance as well as laugh.

It’s not often that one laughs uproariously while hearing music. When I read that Mumbai-based musicians Tejas and Dinkar Dwivedi have come out with a ‘parody musical’ that takes a dig at our new normal of Zoom conference calls and Google Hangout meetings, I was skeptical. A musical parody is a rare beast; and certainly not an animal most people can tame easily. This time though, it has been nicely caught and roasted, excuse the meaty pun.

To put it simply, the video is a riot. The musicians are droll; the actors spot-on, the lyrics hilarious and the arrangement addictive. The musical video, titled ‘Conference Call’, begins with Dwivedi playing the boss and bleating to his employees to “go over the deck” before the all-important client joins the meeting. The exasperated employees, who have been on the call “way too long”, break into a song, much to the consternation of their boss (who eventually chides them in song too). The best part of this comic exchange is how smoothly the harmonies gel with the dialogues. The brief ‘love interlude’ by one employee who goes missing for some quick cootchie-coo with his long-distance partner (and returns sheepishly to the call later) is too cute for YouTube.

My only complaint is that at over 12 minutes, it feels stretched. A little trimming would have gone a long way in sharpening the black humour. Don’t miss the ending, though.

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