The Indian-origin hip-hop artist talks about how he turned his frustrations with the Indian entertainment industry into bite-sized, semi-autobiographical comedy episodes
The ever-burgeoning, bright glow of Indian hip-hop has attracted people from near and far to the shores of Mumbai and Jay Kila was one of them. By last year, though, the New York-raised half-Indian, half-Jewish artist was growing tired of the rigmarole making music and then constantly finding ways to promote them to reach audiences.
It led to his pivot to acting and directing as a new way of expression, spawning a new 11-episode web series called How To Make It in Mumbai, which recently concluded its first season. Kila says, “The idea for the show is something I had actually been working on for some time – a lot of experiences I’ve had in Mumbai and the entertainment industry have felt like they were out of a T.V. show or a movie.”
Initially written as 20-minute episodes that he pitched to OTT platforms, Kila teamed up with friend and filmmaker/producer Tarun Hansen last year to making it into a quick watch with episodes that averaged at the three to four-minute mark. Featuring fellow indie artists like seasoned rapper Poetik Justis, singer-songwriter Arunaja, hip-hop artist Yeda Anna, rapper Trichia Grace-Ann and more, How To Make It In Mumbai hones in on specific scenes from the life of Kila as he arrives in Mumbai and navigates his way through everyone from label execs with unclear and double standards to peers who dole out terrible advice and creative professionals who know their way around an “exposure” gig. In addition to re-introducing characters like his aunt (the subject of his 2017 song “Silumaasi,”) it embraces awkward moments and doesn’t stretch the jokes too far, balancing a sense of earnestness with the universe’s random sense of humor.
Kila says How To Make It In Mumbai – which has so far accrued a total of over 1.3 million views on YouTube – is autobiographical, even though that was initially uncomfortable for him. He says, “I’m kind of a private person so I don’t like revealing all the details about myself – but that’s also why we wanted the show to actually be more about the hip-hop scene as well. My character is kind of like an observer, going through all these experiences, so the audience gets to see this crazy world unfolding around me.”
The show also tells us just how comfortable Kila is in front of the camera. Whether it’s reacting to overzealous industry folks or rapping a song called “F Your Namaste,” Kila rises to the occasion. It comes from his love for acting. “Shooting music videos was always my favorite part of making music. I’ve also been getting more into acting over the past couple years, just from being in Mumbai. I’ve done some ads and was in the movie Maja Ma [2022, starring Madhuri Dixit] as a small role,” Kila adds.
With How To Make It In Mumbai, Kila also got to plug music by indie artists (often some featured in the episode, like Arunaja) in the episode end credits. “A lot of my favorite shows always have a dope track play when the credits roll, so that was the first idea that came to mind,” he says. A second season is also in the works, with more tales from the city that’s now become home for Kila.
Watch all the episodes of ‘How To Make It in Mumbai’ below.