Bengali Songs Are So Unnecessary
Building a cultural storytelling IP around music, memory and belonging.
I grew up Bengali, outside Bengal.
I grew up Bengali in Jamshedpur, outside Bengal. I wasn’t always connected to the culture in the way I wanted to be. Music, though, has a funny way of carrying things across distance.
A song can bring back a person, a place, a version of yourself. And sometimes, if you know the story behind it, a song becomes more than something you listen to.
That’s the space I wanted to explore.
My interpretationThis is my own framing of how my relationship with culture and storytelling shaped the IP, not a claim that one thing caused it.
The idea. Tap the word.
Bengali songs are so
The title sounds like a complaint. That’s the point.
Bengali songs are so unnecessary, until one reminds you of home, or someone you haven’t seen in years, or a time you thought you’d forgotten.
I wanted to use the music as an entry point into the stories around it: the context, the people, the history and the feelings that make it stick.
Why people arrive
I don’t think everyone arrives at a cultural story for the same reason.
Recognition
Some people already know the reference. They want the recognition.
Discovery
Others know the song but not the story behind it.
Curiosity
Some are simply curious about a culture they haven’t grown up with.
That means nostalgia and discovery don’t have to compete. The same story can offer both, depending on who’s watching.
My interpretationThis is my read of audience feedback, comments and DMs. I haven’t profiled every viewer, and I’m not claiming I have.
Getting someone to stop
The challenge is getting someone to stop for a story they didn’t know they wanted. Walk through how I think about it:
A familiar song creates recognition. It’s the part that makes someone’s thumb pause.
An unexpected angle creates curiosity. I experiment with narration, visual and sound hooks to find the one that lands.
But a hook is only an invitation. The story still has to deliver.
What it can teach a brand
There’s a lesson here for brands, too. A product or cultural reference doesn’t have to be the whole story. Sometimes it can be the way into a much more human one.
The most interesting integration is the one that belongs in the story, not the one that interrupts it.
This is a thought about how the format could work for a brand. It isn’t a description of an existing brand partnership.
The creative opportunity was never just the song. It was what the song meant to the person listening.