MUMBAI: Two years of research, 400 hours of shooting, and countless hours of editing, is what sums up the journey of creating ‘Standing By’, by Arjun Ravi, editor of NH7. Regardless of the effort and time put into it, the documentary, slated to release on 13th October on StandingBy.In, will not be taken to television broadcasters to air it.

“When we planned this documentary, we initially thought of broadcasting it on television, but now we think that most youngsters consume the internet more. I also feel that television does not give you enough freedom; you need to cut each episode into 22 minutes. That was why we thought of releasing it online. Additionally, this way, you can watch the documentary at your own convenience, and you do not have to wait for the episodes to air,” said ‘Standing By’, director and host, Arjun Ravi.

Produced by OML and Red Bull Media House, the makers have interviewed 120 people, including Usha Uthup, Louis Banks and Carlton Kitto, journalists such as Jug Suraiya, Naresh Fernandes and Aruna Dasgupta, and some of the best-known names in the current music scene like Vishal Dadlani, Uday Benegal, Nikhil Chinapa, Rahul Ram, Monica Dogra, Nucleya and Dualist Inquiry.

The documentary explores genres which influenced music in India, in a journey that dates back to the pre-independence scene, where jazz was predominant. ‘Standing By’ covers the era of the 60s and 70s, which witnessed the rise of beat groups. It looks into the music scene from the mid 70s to late 80s, which witnessed the growth of rock and later, metal. But more importantly, it delves into the growth of Indian independent music, extensively.

“A lot of time went into research because we had to go through clippings and newspaper articles. As a journalist, I had an idea about the indie scene, which dated back to a couple of decades. I am really thankful to Red Bull Media house, which helped immensely on the research of this documentary. By now, I can even write a book on what not to do when it comes to making documentary,” Ravi chuckled.

He revealed that the biggest challenge the team faced during the making of ‘Standing By’ was that there was too much of information, and every input seemed important. That made it difficult to omit content. “There was so much of information and we did not know where to draw a line. Each interview was five or six hours long, and we spoke about different things. That was the only, and perhaps the biggest challenge we faced,” he explained.

Amongst those interviewed for the documentary are Carlton Kitto, Cyrus Oshidar, Debayan Deb, Deepak Puri, Dev Bhatia, Devraj Sanyal, Dhruv Jagasia, DJ Skip, Don Saigal, Dosser’s Urge, Dualist Inquiry, Electric Plant and Eugene Arnold Jaraine .

Ravi also explained that the documentary’s name- ‘Standing By’ is homage to Indian band Zero, which is his favourite band, and the ones who introduced Ravi to indie music. The title also reflects a mood, where people are standing by for something good to happen.