👉 Dimash's broken, delicately breathy voice, a simple melody with uncomplcated pop rhythm (reminiscent a bit of 'I Miss You'), loving, sad but also comforting words and haunting images... and this adorable smile from Dimash... tears flow over my smiling face. For me, the lyrics, the pop beat and the images of the video all go together very well: They were just happy. But then Dimash leaves his beloved because she tells him that there is someone else. Dimash has no idea that his beloved is being blackmailed by a secret police officer and wants to protect him. He thinks she doesn't love him anymore. Dimash assures her that everything is “okay”. He accepts and she should too. Life goes on and the pain will subside. It seems easy for him to give up on his love. (pop beat, almost like a fast heartbeat)...but you can hear the pain in Dimash's voice. Both are fooling themselves. The secret police officer who wants to possess the young woman wants to catch Dimash and get him out of the way. When he finally realizes that the young woman will never love him, he gives her the “choice”. She flees with Dimash... A shot is fired... End? It leaves us stunned. What will happen? You brood and brood, but you can't get it out of your head. For whom is the glass always half full and for whom is it always half empty? ... Fascinating, clever ... great! Director Alina Veripia was blown away when she learned she was to create the story and video for Dimash's new song. Dimash also chose Alina's favorite from 4 stories: A beautiful and deep love story set in the years of Stalin's repression. This love is so deep, pure and immortal, It defies the horror, the fear, the penetrating cold and darkness of this time. The video was recorded in color but looks black and white, very dark, spookey. Only the lovers are shown in a bright, sun-drenched, warm, gold-bronze setting. These scenarios reinforce the intense feelings emanating from Dimash's breathy, delicate voice and the haunting, magical and beguiling, but also from the frightening and disturbing images. The location was St. Petersburg, appropriate to the dark year 1937 in which the video takes place. (Source and more information on Dimashnews) - Music - Igor Krutoy (Krutoy means 'Cool', *1954 in Ukraine SSR). He lives and works in Moscow/ Russia. He is singer, a world- famous composer and music titan in Russia (billionaire). His family lives in the US. Krutoy came out of retirement to write songs for Dimash. The maestro and Dimash have been working together from time to time since 2018. They are friends and have a father-son relationship. Krutoy wrote of what working with Dimash meant to him: “How lucky it is to be doing what you love to do, writing for such a brilliantly feeling singer, evoking deep emotion in the audience and being in demand'. All Dears should also subscribe to Igor's channel. He deserves it. - Lyrics - Igor Nikolaev, *1959, Russian singer and songwriter; Honored Artist of Russia. He also wrote the lyrics for „I Miss You“. - Script and directed by Alina Veripia (She directed „The Story of One Sky“) * Backstage: th-cam.com/video/3CwP95V6h_8/w-d-xo.html * Danger! Watch only if you really want to know the ending: th-cam.com/users/shorts2GDwB4hD1bE * ALGA PETERSBURG - Actress of the video Okay about a singer from Kazakhstan - th-cam.com/video/N4TT2Zhp8J4/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so so much for taking the time to write this here. I appreciate it, and I'm learning a lot, deepening my relationship with not only Dimash but the brilliant artists he surrounds himself with.
The Original scuttlebutt was he acted the death scene so well. That the crew were left in tears 😭 That’s why the CUT‼️ I think the Lyrics were clear enough to say it’s “OKAY” to LOVE AGAIN. I’m leaving 😭 🫠✨Igor & Dimash ✨🫠 🎶✨Another✨Beautiful✨🎶 ✨🌟✨Masterpiece ✨🌟✨ I first bought this song on ITunes No Subtitles in 🇬🇧 that day. No matter the melody and the lyrics were very soft and soothing. So THEN I put it in my 💛 Heart hearing 🎶🎶🎶🎶 Okay 🎶🎶🎶🎶 Okay etc….. . With the Full release including subtitles & video. It NOW lives ✨💛Deeper in my Heart💛✨ This is a love story in reference to Russian history. The Stalin’s repressions of the 1930s. How evil takes control over all. The government ruled every aspect of the people lives. Even (NKVD Officer) having the ability to effect “Her” direct memories of pure love, by tainting them with the uncontainable power over “Her”(The Lovers) life. The music video was shot in St. Petersburg, because no other city could convey the flavor of the harsh and terrible year of 1937. 💛2U&ALLU💛🦌🦌💫🌎🕊️🇺🇸
The original has him being shot and slowly sliding to the ground in her arms and dying. I think they cut that out because us Dears would get too upset lol
The story is set in the Stalin era Russia before WWII. It was a time of great repression of the people with the corrupt government with their FSB (not so secret police) suppressing the people and taking what they wanted and "disappearing" people in their way. The young couple are very happy until the officer saw the beautiful young lady and wanted her. She agrees to be the FSB officer's lady to save the life of Dimash but the officer knows she only loves Dimash so he tricks her into thinking he is letting her go and then goes after the two of them in the end and shoots Dimash so he can finaly have her to himself. Sad tragic story that happened all too often in the Stalin regime.
Oh , I'm a bit late😳. This song doesn't show his wide range or vocal exercises, just this incredibly soft, breathy voice. I think that's a very good choice for this song. At first the song didn't appeal to me that much. I wasn't alone there. But together with the MV it is a masterpiece. It moved me incredibly. All his songs and especially the MV’s have a deeper meaning. I love this one so much. It’s one of my favorites. The MV is about the time during Stalin’s repression in 1937. Back then, the secret police could do whatever they wanted. First I thought this officer for some reason was looking for Dimash’s character and then forced his girlfriend into some kind of relationship. Maybe that's why she had to end the relationship with Dimash without telling him the reason to protect him (see the lyrics). She had to endure it to protect the love of her life. So he had to accept her decision without knowing that she still loved him. The official, realizing that she never stopped loving Dimash's character, ended everything in his own way. But the more often I see this video I think it's the other way around, that this villain was her husband and he wanted to end the liaison between the two lovers in his own way. Who knows? The video was shot to the end, but the scene at the end where he dies in her arms was left out. As for the song, I actually like it better without the vocal acrobatics. We all know what Dimash is capable of vocally and I find that breathy, deeply sad voice really fitting. The MV really moved me deeply. There is a backstage video of Dimash collapsing in the arms of that girl😭. OMG he’s such a great actor too. I badly want to see him in a movie😳 If you want to see the ending. th-cam.com/video/NyugwYzkf40/w-d-xo.html But it’s only a really short Bts. You also have to react to one of his most awesome songs. Stranger: th-cam.com/video/lFsB5HVnmSA/w-d-xo.html Here you can hear a large part of his vocal range, as well as an incredibly awesome Kazakh instrument. The Qobys. The man who often plays the Qkobys in Dimash’s performances is the best on this instrument and a good friend of Dimash. His name is Olzhas Qurmanbek. Stranger is one of my absolute favorite songs. I get goosebumps every time I hear it. Stranger was written by the famous Russian/Ukrainian composer, producer and songwriter Igor Krutoy. His and Dimash's collaboration created true masterpieces. He writes songs that only Dimash can sing with his vocal range, such as Olimpico, Stranger or Ave Maria. You’ll often see him accompanying Dimash on the piano. If Igor Krutoy is there, the song was also written by him. The two have no contract. Their cooperation is based more on mutual trust. It’s more like a father/son relationship. He wrote this song and others especially for Dimash’s wide vocal range. But you have to be careful with this song. It gets blocked a lot😐 Greetings and love from Germany👋❤️
@bejewel4669 has done a nice job of summarizing the story in the video, both historical facts and more or less the artistic interpretation I believe the director intended to portray. (And now I've just finished this comment and am about to paste it here, I see @Melodie-q9u has posted another comment that likely overlaps with this one.) I see other interesting stories behind things that ultimately boil down to Okay being Igor Krutoy's swan song: - *Igor Krutoy, creator of Okay* - *Origins of Okay* - *Creation of Okay* - *Igor and Dimash* - *Dimash and Okay* - *Why the video's storyline is as it is* - *The making of this video* ---- *Igor Krutoy, the song's creator* Igor Krutoy, 70 years old as I write this, is one of the richest men in Russia. But he was born in central Ukraine, and there lies a tale (that culminates with Okay). As a young man in the 1970s he emigrated to Russia to follow his dream of being a professional musician and composer. He composed hundreds of songs in his life, and became a popular artistic collaborator, music producer, and businessman in both Russia and Ukraine. My understanding is that he loves the Russia he identified with, and the idea of a modern Russian renaissance, something he felt part of, something he felt he co-created, and is in turn loved by the Russian public as a refined gentleman of great art. He has mixed with the "upper crust" in Russia and surrounding countries for decades, and has socialized with Putin since around the turn of the century. *Origins of Okay* Igor presumably wouldn't have wanted Putin et al to all but destroy all he and his friends had worked to build up through their life. But by late 2021 Igor presumably realized his life as it had been was over. Presuming he wasn't actually pro invading Ukraine he would presumably have known that if he didn't like it, and protested overtly, that would not only lead to his downfall, perhaps as bad as Navalny's, but the downfall of anyone associated with him. He _could_ leave Russia at any time -- his wife lives in America, and I think all of his children live outside Russia -- but what kind of life would that be? As far as I know he _loved_ Russia, and perhaps still does. So imagine he was (still is) essentially stuck between the light he thought he had helped create, and the dark regressive authoritarian Russia that was so evident by late 2021. And he was getting old. It was time to create a swan song. *Creation of Okay* What kind of swan song would Igor create? It seems he had to address what was expediting the end of his career, perhaps bringing the light he had helped create to an end, perhaps bringing the world to an end. To do so he created a song that's a cross between a painful funeral song, a message of acceptance, and something profoundly dark; a melody that alternates between unmistakable dirge, and strained pop musical phrasing. Igor Nikolaev, a close poet friend who lived in the extreme east of Russia, wrote lyrics that would express their feelings about what they imagined (rightly, as it turns out) might be the death of their dreams, Russian or not. *Dimash and Igor* As I understand it Igor had apparently begun to semi-retire after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. But then Igor met Dimash. (Igor was the guy in a white shirt who stood up and clapped at the end of Dimash's performance of Sinful Passion at Sochi, Russia, in 2018. That was when they met.) They became fast friends and the possibilities apparently inspired Igor to spring back into life as it were, composing songs specifically for Dimash. Olimpico (which you've also reacted to) came first, and then several other amazing songs. (You've also already reacted to Ave Maria; Igor composed that song and played the piano.) Igor and Dimash have also rearranged a half dozen of Igor's existing songs to suit his voice. (You should react to them all.) *Dimash and Okay* I don't know what coordination there was between the Igors and Dimash, but I think the logic was likely something like this. The Igors created art to express themselves. They did so in such a way that the song in and of itself would not encourage the authorities to throw either of them in jail. In particular it was presumably important that they would insist they had nothing to do with any particular artist's interpretation of it. Notably anyone could have sung the song -- it was crafted very differently than all of Igor's creations that were clearly specifically for Dimash. Indeed, just about no artist would _want_ to perform it because of its dirge component. A dirge is _supposed_ to be boring; who the heck chooses to sing such a song? So the Igors could reasonably say that while they were unhappy with the world's directions, they weren't attacking Putin, they were just publishing a semi boring song. At the same time, Dimash could pick it up if he wanted to, and Russians would of course hear about it because Dimash was well known, having won many awards and hearts in Russia, but that wasn't the Igors' fault, and the artistic interpretation in Dimash's video was a reasonable thing for a Kazakh artist and Ukrainian director to produce. *Why the video's storyline is as it is* As was usual when she worked with Dimash on song videos, the director Alina Veripia sketched out several story choices. Dimash chose this story. Who knows who or what was involved in creating this story, and Dimash choosing it, but I'd say it reflects the kind of story that would be chosen by anyone who wanted to do justice to the song, whether Kazakh, Ukrainian, or, dare I say it, Russian. One of the many countries that has suffered terribly at the hands of Russia's leaders over the centuries is Kazakhstan, Dimash's much beloved home country. (cf the story behind the song Samaltau, a century old Kazakh song that Dimash has been hearing and singing since he was a child. I recommend you react to his Tokyo Jazz Festival performance of it.) This song Okay documents a pivotal moment in human history, but is arguably a "dangerous" act of subversion (albeit one that's sufficienly subtle and wise that it presumably flew under the radar). Should it be recorded and released? What video should go with it? What if it's too subtle? What if it's too unsubtle? It's Dimash; while he respected his friends' needs to be subtle in the song itself, he wanted to be brutally frank in the video. *The making of this video* Googling will fill you in, but highlights follow. It was shot in Saint Petersburg, Russia (the epicenter of the million plus murders/disappearances/rapes @bejewel4669 touched on), the city where Putin rose to his highest rank in the KGB, the agency that was the descendant of the much feared NKVD (the officer in the video wears an NKVD uniform). Shooting of the video finished just a few days before Russia invaded Ukraine. They shot an ending scene in which Dimash was killed by a bullet in the back, collapsing in the woman's arms as she stared back in horror at the Russian officer. Before the released the video, and after Russia had actually invaded Ukraine, the team decided they needed to cut that final scene, instead ending the video in black, to try steer fan reactions and discussion away from obsessing about an insignificant aspect (our beloved Dimash has been shot dead!) to instead take stock of the true limitless underlying horror of the story, essentially the place the human race has found itself in globally, a confrontation between light and dark.
Amazing, thank you so much! Especially for filling me in on Igor's biography since I've seen his name coming up so much as I find new Dimash performances to listen to. I can't imagine the feeling he must have had in his heart as he is caught between an idealization and a reality that has fallen short. To express complicated emotions in this song and for the finished product to come off so effectively, even to someone who does not know its history, is a mark of great artistry.
👉 Dimash's broken, delicately breathy voice, a simple melody with uncomplcated pop rhythm (reminiscent a bit of 'I Miss You'), loving, sad but also comforting words and haunting images... and this adorable smile from Dimash... tears flow over my smiling face.
For me, the lyrics, the pop beat and the images of the video all go together very well:
They were just happy. But then Dimash leaves his beloved because she tells him that there is someone else. Dimash has no idea that his beloved is being blackmailed by a secret police officer and wants to protect him. He thinks she doesn't love him anymore.
Dimash assures her that everything is “okay”. He accepts and she should too. Life goes on and the pain will subside. It seems easy for him to give up on his love. (pop beat, almost like a fast heartbeat)...but you can hear the pain in Dimash's voice. Both are fooling themselves.
The secret police officer who wants to possess the young woman wants to catch Dimash and get him out of the way. When he finally realizes that the young woman will never love him, he gives her the “choice”. She flees with Dimash... A shot is fired...
End? It leaves us stunned. What will happen? You brood and brood, but you can't get it out of your head. For whom is the glass always half full and for whom is it always half empty? ... Fascinating, clever ... great!
Director Alina Veripia was blown away when she learned she was to create the story and video for Dimash's new song. Dimash also chose Alina's favorite from 4 stories: A beautiful and deep love story set in the years of Stalin's repression. This love is so deep, pure and immortal, It defies the horror, the fear, the penetrating cold and darkness of this time.
The video was recorded in color but looks black and white, very dark, spookey. Only the lovers are shown in a bright, sun-drenched, warm, gold-bronze setting. These scenarios reinforce the intense feelings emanating from Dimash's breathy, delicate voice and the haunting, magical and beguiling, but also from the frightening and disturbing images.
The location was St. Petersburg, appropriate to the dark year 1937 in which the video takes place. (Source and more information on Dimashnews)
- Music - Igor Krutoy (Krutoy means 'Cool', *1954 in Ukraine SSR). He lives and works in Moscow/ Russia. He is singer, a world- famous composer and music titan in Russia (billionaire). His family lives in the US. Krutoy came out of retirement to write songs for Dimash. The maestro and Dimash have been working together from time to time since 2018. They are friends and have a father-son relationship.
Krutoy wrote of what working with Dimash meant to him: “How lucky it is to be doing what you love to do, writing for such a brilliantly feeling singer, evoking deep emotion in the audience and being in demand'.
All Dears should also subscribe to Igor's channel. He deserves it.
- Lyrics - Igor Nikolaev, *1959, Russian singer and songwriter; Honored Artist of Russia. He also wrote the lyrics for „I Miss You“.
- Script and directed by Alina Veripia (She directed „The Story of One Sky“)
* Backstage: th-cam.com/video/3CwP95V6h_8/w-d-xo.html
* Danger! Watch only if you really want to know the ending: th-cam.com/users/shorts2GDwB4hD1bE
* ALGA PETERSBURG - Actress of the video Okay about a singer from Kazakhstan - th-cam.com/video/N4TT2Zhp8J4/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so so much for taking the time to write this here. I appreciate it, and I'm learning a lot, deepening my relationship with not only Dimash but the brilliant artists he surrounds himself with.
The Original scuttlebutt was he acted the death scene so well. That the crew were left in tears 😭 That’s why the CUT‼️
I think the Lyrics were clear enough to say it’s “OKAY” to
LOVE AGAIN. I’m leaving 😭
🫠✨Igor & Dimash ✨🫠
🎶✨Another✨Beautiful✨🎶
✨🌟✨Masterpiece ✨🌟✨
I first bought this song on ITunes No Subtitles in 🇬🇧 that day. No matter the melody and the lyrics were very soft and soothing.
So THEN I put it in my
💛 Heart hearing
🎶🎶🎶🎶 Okay
🎶🎶🎶🎶 Okay etc….. .
With the Full release including subtitles & video. It NOW lives
✨💛Deeper in my Heart💛✨
This is a love story in reference to Russian history. The Stalin’s repressions of the 1930s. How evil takes control over all. The government ruled every aspect of the people lives. Even (NKVD Officer) having the ability to effect “Her” direct memories of pure love, by tainting them with the uncontainable power over “Her”(The Lovers) life.
The music video was shot in St. Petersburg, because no other city could convey the flavor of the harsh and terrible year of 1937.
💛2U&ALLU💛🦌🦌💫🌎🕊️🇺🇸
The original has him being shot and slowly sliding to the ground in her arms and dying. I think they cut that out because us Dears would get too upset lol
The story is set in the Stalin era Russia before WWII. It was a time of great repression of the people with the corrupt government with their FSB (not so secret police) suppressing the people and taking what they wanted and "disappearing" people in their way. The young couple are very happy until the officer saw the beautiful young lady and wanted her. She agrees to be the FSB officer's lady to save the life of Dimash but the officer knows she only loves Dimash so he tricks her into thinking he is letting her go and then goes after the two of them in the end and shoots Dimash so he can finaly have her to himself. Sad tragic story that happened all too often in the Stalin regime.
Oh , I'm a bit late😳.
This song doesn't show his wide range or vocal exercises, just this incredibly soft, breathy voice. I think that's a very good choice for this song. At first the song didn't appeal to me that much. I wasn't alone there. But together with the MV it is a masterpiece. It moved me incredibly.
All his songs and especially the MV’s have a deeper meaning. I love this one so much. It’s one of my favorites. The MV is about the time during Stalin’s repression in 1937. Back then, the secret police could do whatever they wanted.
First I thought this officer for some reason was looking for Dimash’s character and then forced his girlfriend into some kind of relationship. Maybe that's why she had to end the relationship with Dimash without telling him the reason to protect him (see the lyrics). She had to endure it to protect the love of her life. So he had to accept her decision without knowing that she still loved him. The official, realizing that she never stopped loving Dimash's character, ended everything in his own way.
But the more often I see this video I think it's the other way around, that this villain was her husband and he wanted to end the liaison between the two lovers in his own way. Who knows?
The video was shot to the end, but the scene at the end where he dies in her arms was left out. As for the song, I actually like it better without the vocal acrobatics. We all know what Dimash is capable of vocally and I find that breathy, deeply sad voice really fitting. The MV really moved me deeply.
There is a backstage video of Dimash collapsing in the arms of that girl😭. OMG he’s such a great actor too. I badly want to see him in a movie😳
If you want to see the ending.
th-cam.com/video/NyugwYzkf40/w-d-xo.html
But it’s only a really short Bts.
You also have to react to one of his most awesome songs.
Stranger: th-cam.com/video/lFsB5HVnmSA/w-d-xo.html
Here you can hear a large part of his vocal range, as well as an incredibly awesome Kazakh instrument. The Qobys. The man who often plays the Qkobys in Dimash’s performances is the best on this instrument and a good friend of Dimash. His name is Olzhas Qurmanbek. Stranger is one of my absolute favorite songs. I get goosebumps every time I hear it.
Stranger was written by the famous Russian/Ukrainian composer, producer and songwriter Igor Krutoy. His and Dimash's collaboration created true masterpieces. He writes songs that only Dimash can sing with his vocal range, such as Olimpico, Stranger or Ave Maria. You’ll often see him accompanying Dimash on the piano. If Igor Krutoy is there, the song was also written by him. The two have no contract. Their cooperation is based more on mutual trust. It’s more like a father/son relationship.
He wrote this song and others especially for Dimash’s wide vocal range. But you have to be careful with this song. It gets blocked a lot😐
Greetings and love from Germany👋❤️
Thank you so much! =)
@bejewel4669 has done a nice job of summarizing the story in the video, both historical facts and more or less the artistic interpretation I believe the director intended to portray. (And now I've just finished this comment and am about to paste it here, I see @Melodie-q9u has posted another comment that likely overlaps with this one.) I see other interesting stories behind things that ultimately boil down to Okay being Igor Krutoy's swan song:
- *Igor Krutoy, creator of Okay*
- *Origins of Okay*
- *Creation of Okay*
- *Igor and Dimash*
- *Dimash and Okay*
- *Why the video's storyline is as it is*
- *The making of this video*
----
*Igor Krutoy, the song's creator* Igor Krutoy, 70 years old as I write this, is one of the richest men in Russia. But he was born in central Ukraine, and there lies a tale (that culminates with Okay). As a young man in the 1970s he emigrated to Russia to follow his dream of being a professional musician and composer. He composed hundreds of songs in his life, and became a popular artistic collaborator, music producer, and businessman in both Russia and Ukraine. My understanding is that he loves the Russia he identified with, and the idea of a modern Russian renaissance, something he felt part of, something he felt he co-created, and is in turn loved by the Russian public as a refined gentleman of great art. He has mixed with the "upper crust" in Russia and surrounding countries for decades, and has socialized with Putin since around the turn of the century.
*Origins of Okay* Igor presumably wouldn't have wanted Putin et al to all but destroy all he and his friends had worked to build up through their life. But by late 2021 Igor presumably realized his life as it had been was over. Presuming he wasn't actually pro invading Ukraine he would presumably have known that if he didn't like it, and protested overtly, that would not only lead to his downfall, perhaps as bad as Navalny's, but the downfall of anyone associated with him. He _could_ leave Russia at any time -- his wife lives in America, and I think all of his children live outside Russia -- but what kind of life would that be? As far as I know he _loved_ Russia, and perhaps still does. So imagine he was (still is) essentially stuck between the light he thought he had helped create, and the dark regressive authoritarian Russia that was so evident by late 2021. And he was getting old. It was time to create a swan song.
*Creation of Okay* What kind of swan song would Igor create? It seems he had to address what was expediting the end of his career, perhaps bringing the light he had helped create to an end, perhaps bringing the world to an end. To do so he created a song that's a cross between a painful funeral song, a message of acceptance, and something profoundly dark; a melody that alternates between unmistakable dirge, and strained pop musical phrasing. Igor Nikolaev, a close poet friend who lived in the extreme east of Russia, wrote lyrics that would express their feelings about what they imagined (rightly, as it turns out) might be the death of their dreams, Russian or not.
*Dimash and Igor* As I understand it Igor had apparently begun to semi-retire after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. But then Igor met Dimash. (Igor was the guy in a white shirt who stood up and clapped at the end of Dimash's performance of Sinful Passion at Sochi, Russia, in 2018. That was when they met.) They became fast friends and the possibilities apparently inspired Igor to spring back into life as it were, composing songs specifically for Dimash. Olimpico (which you've also reacted to) came first, and then several other amazing songs. (You've also already reacted to Ave Maria; Igor composed that song and played the piano.) Igor and Dimash have also rearranged a half dozen of Igor's existing songs to suit his voice. (You should react to them all.)
*Dimash and Okay* I don't know what coordination there was between the Igors and Dimash, but I think the logic was likely something like this. The Igors created art to express themselves. They did so in such a way that the song in and of itself would not encourage the authorities to throw either of them in jail. In particular it was presumably important that they would insist they had nothing to do with any particular artist's interpretation of it. Notably anyone could have sung the song -- it was crafted very differently than all of Igor's creations that were clearly specifically for Dimash. Indeed, just about no artist would _want_ to perform it because of its dirge component. A dirge is _supposed_ to be boring; who the heck chooses to sing such a song? So the Igors could reasonably say that while they were unhappy with the world's directions, they weren't attacking Putin, they were just publishing a semi boring song. At the same time, Dimash could pick it up if he wanted to, and Russians would of course hear about it because Dimash was well known, having won many awards and hearts in Russia, but that wasn't the Igors' fault, and the artistic interpretation in Dimash's video was a reasonable thing for a Kazakh artist and Ukrainian director to produce.
*Why the video's storyline is as it is* As was usual when she worked with Dimash on song videos, the director Alina Veripia sketched out several story choices. Dimash chose this story. Who knows who or what was involved in creating this story, and Dimash choosing it, but I'd say it reflects the kind of story that would be chosen by anyone who wanted to do justice to the song, whether Kazakh, Ukrainian, or, dare I say it, Russian. One of the many countries that has suffered terribly at the hands of Russia's leaders over the centuries is Kazakhstan, Dimash's much beloved home country. (cf the story behind the song Samaltau, a century old Kazakh song that Dimash has been hearing and singing since he was a child. I recommend you react to his Tokyo Jazz Festival performance of it.) This song Okay documents a pivotal moment in human history, but is arguably a "dangerous" act of subversion (albeit one that's sufficienly subtle and wise that it presumably flew under the radar). Should it be recorded and released? What video should go with it? What if it's too subtle? What if it's too unsubtle? It's Dimash; while he respected his friends' needs to be subtle in the song itself, he wanted to be brutally frank in the video.
*The making of this video* Googling will fill you in, but highlights follow. It was shot in Saint Petersburg, Russia (the epicenter of the million plus murders/disappearances/rapes @bejewel4669 touched on), the city where Putin rose to his highest rank in the KGB, the agency that was the descendant of the much feared NKVD (the officer in the video wears an NKVD uniform). Shooting of the video finished just a few days before Russia invaded Ukraine. They shot an ending scene in which Dimash was killed by a bullet in the back, collapsing in the woman's arms as she stared back in horror at the Russian officer. Before the released the video, and after Russia had actually invaded Ukraine, the team decided they needed to cut that final scene, instead ending the video in black, to try steer fan reactions and discussion away from obsessing about an insignificant aspect (our beloved Dimash has been shot dead!) to instead take stock of the true limitless underlying horror of the story, essentially the place the human race has found itself in globally, a confrontation between light and dark.
Amazing, thank you so much! Especially for filling me in on Igor's biography since I've seen his name coming up so much as I find new Dimash performances to listen to. I can't imagine the feeling he must have had in his heart as he is caught between an idealization and a reality that has fallen short. To express complicated emotions in this song and for the finished product to come off so effectively, even to someone who does not know its history, is a mark of great artistry.