Electronic artist Ritviz’s new album, Mimmi, is as much a tribute to his mother as it is an equal collaboration with her as an artiste
Ritviz and his mother, music teacher Anvita Bharti, have co-written the album
For his debut album, electronic artist Ritviz—known for his clubby, yet melodious tracks such as Liggi and Udd Gaye—has decided to take a more eclectic, personal route. He has written songs about and with his mother.
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In a world full of songs about club bangers and romantic love, where does a comparison between maternal love and adoration from fans fit in?
“As long as the expression is relatable, the genre doesn’t matter,” says the 26-year-old musician. “Real, honest emotions always work. I have never looked at music as a career, or job; for me, it’s pure expression. These are basically conversations with my mother, and it’s very fresh. My debut is sort of like a snake shedding skin. It’s also a homecoming for me.”
We are talking to Ritviz and his mother over Zoom from Pune, and you can tell they are in sync with each other. The nine-track album, which will be out on September 2, carries his mother’s nickname, Mimmi. It is not only inspired by his childhood reminiscences, but also pivots around the close bond he shares with her.
Together, the Pune-based duo navigates their unique perspectives and notions of love via individualistic musical sensibilities. Mimmi makes an attempt to establish how life has come a full circle for Ritviz, who has always attributed his success to his supportive parents.
Ritviz
“I have always been writing and singing,” says Anvita Bharti, “It was routine in our home back in Darbhanga. I have studied under two gurus—sarangi player Ustad Maqbool Husian Khan, from the Tansen gharana, and Srimati Girija Devi.”
Bharti heads the department of Performing Arts at Delhi Public School in Pune. “But this album has Ritviz’s thoughts and themes; I have just put them down in words,” she says. “He would sit with me [and give feedback, saying] ‘I don’t like this word or that’.”
“I’m so glad mom used the word ‘routine’,” Ritviz laughs, “because music was just that in our house. That’s why I am who I am. We kept having conversations [while collaborating on the album], and she inspired me as well. The main theme is drawing a parallel between the unconditional love that I received as a child and the love I am now getting from the world, which is conditional. It’s about my journey to understand that, and in the end I realise it doesn’t come the way or in the form I am expecting it. I should just love, and whatever has to come by, will.”
Bharti’s favourite song is Ritviz’s version of the lullaby Chanda Mama. “He has written as if he is talking to his children,” she says. The title track is the most important to Ritviz. “Maa is singing on it as well,” he says. “I remember when I first started producing [music], we made a song together and called it ‘Traditional and individual talent’. Her classical background and my individual talent were combined in it. So, it’s very special that we are doing this again, 12 years later.”
Has their relationship changed in any way through the years?
Both reply that it has stayed exactly the same. “I don’t even think about our ages. I still feel like I am in fifth standard,” says Ritviz, and his mother laughs. “Ritviz is still the same. He talks about everything—’this happened, that happened’. It’s only when we head out and fans come to take a picture, do I feel that something is different. Parents should remain transparent with their kids, and remain the same. It’s good for everyone.”
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