Picture a typical London autumn evening: a midnight sky at 4 pm, borderline torrential rain and traffic that stretches as far as the eye can see. Amid all this, I find myself running from Dalston Kingsland Station to the Rio Cinema—a long-standing, independent art deco cinema in the middle of East London. A crowd of die-hard Raf-Saperra fans and industry supporters huddled inside the Rio’s foyer, away from the rain and awaited entrance to the screen where Mass Appeal and Fatboy Records, in partnership with Diet Paratha, would host a private and intimate film premiere of Sanvir Singh Chana’s self-portrait documentary, ‘Tale of the Snake Charmer’.

Filmed beautifully on 16mm Kodak print and Panavision, the documentary offered a close-up look at Adeel Sardar Khan and the persona we’ve come to know as Raf-Saperra. Chana’s documentary is a raw, introspective piece of work that shows the grass-touching side of a young lad from Streatham Hill who grew up to be a rising British superstar. He takes us on a journey where we discover Adeel’s love of skateboarding and the breadth of his musicality, as well as his fascination with the grandiosity of Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns and cult classic martial arts films by the Shaw Brothers Studio, one of which influenced the title of his latest hip-hop themed venture, ‘5 Deadly Venomz’. Through the dizzying balance of feeling like Adeel and embodying ‘Raf’, he speaks to the feeling of displacement from living out of a suitcase that never becomes fully unpacked, due to his successful touring life. It’s here that he speaks to the refuge he finds in his relationship with God, as the anchor he uses to keep himself grounded, graceful and peaceful in whatever rooms he finds himself in. Don’t get it twisted—Adeel very quickly reminds you in the documentary that he can switch it up and “slap up a couple bruddas” if necessary; that, at the end of the day, he is a product of his environment but that every day, he consciously chooses to be a better person. 

The screening was followed by a short interview and audience Q&A hosted by Navjosh Singh, Head of A&R at Mass Appeal India. Both Adeel and Sanvir offer incredible insights on the creative decision to use analogue methods to capture footage for this documentary, the films they each grew up enjoying in their homes, the rare sights of skating Sardars and Adeel’s affinity for 1993-1996 East Coast Rap/Hip-Hop, over the West Coast Hip-Hop sound that a lot of Punjabi Pop has adapted in its music as of late. While he claims his love for the West Coast sound as a fan of Hip-Hop, he expresses his disapproval of the supposed genuineness portrayed in the music that some mainstream musicians release—rapping and singing cautions of machismo and bravado they know nothing about.

Authenticity is a quality spoken quite highly of when describing the essence of Raf-Saperra. Every artistic decision he makes is a reflection of his want to please the audience member in him and the need to create something that feels like an extension of himself. His passion for creating meaningful art isn’t swayed by whatever sonic or visual trend is making its wave through the industry or on social media. He said it himself when answering a fan’s question about his intention in creating ‘5 Deadly Venomz’, “I’m not here to make content, I’m here to make culture.” It is precisely because of this mission statement of his, that he only surrounds himself and collaborates with people he feels as though are on equal, creative wavelengths as him.

We also had an exclusive first listen to his newest single, ‘Sultan Rahi’, produced by Ricky Chohan, before release in two days. An ocean of heads bop to the bass-heavy track in the dark theatre. There’s a cinematic feeling you find yourself being immersed in while enjoying the song—as you would with all his music, really—after watching a 10-minute art film dedicated to the artist. He later commented that he could hear the song ring off in strip clubs and I won’t lie… I can see it. Before tie-ending the event, he thanked all his fans for coming out, all the industry folk present for supporting his art and Mass Appeal staff for helping him with his vision, specifically calling out label co-founder and Hip-Hop legend Nas, who found himself in the audience admiring Sanvir’s work along with us and later, came out to pose for pictures with the stars of the evening.

You can watch the short film on Mass Appeal’s YouTube page right now.