Naved Shaikh grew up in a chawl in the Mumbai suburb of Kurla and for a while, it looked like he was headed down a dangerous path. For entertainment, he and his friends would shoplift, get into fights and damage property. Landing in jail was the wake-up call he needed to consider a course correction and it came in the form of poetry, rap and an alter ego called Naezy. Shaikh’s heart-warming story is told by director and editor Disha Noyonika Rindani in a short film set in his locality and named for it: Bombay 70. The film follows Naezy recording and mixing his music as well as making videos on his iPad. His songs talk about the struggles of a young man in a chawl and his audience responds because he speaks their language, Mumbaiya. This is probably the most exciting new artist you’ll see today.
