New Delhi, Jan 25: To mark India's 63rd Republic day, 21 eminent singers and musicians have lent their voice to a new rendition of India's national song ‘Vande Mataram' composed by percussionist Bickram Ghosh.
The new version of the song, originally penned by Bankimchandra Chatterji in 1882, features vocals by Sonu Niigaam, Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shubha Mudgal, Roop Kumar Rathod, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Indian Ocean and Palash Sen jamming together in a video.
“My version of Vande Mataram is introspective. It is the national song woven into a new melody after 64 years of Independence. It's a sojourn of all these years. I have created a fusion of contemporary and ethnic India through this song,” Ghosh said at the launch of the album ‘Vande Mataram' here.
The six-minute-long video begins with a classical note by Niigaam and after capturing various folk notes it finally enters into the rock mode performed by the band Indian Ocean.
“The song is basically divided into three sections - Bollywood, classical and rock. The number tried to cover the whole spectrum of music in our country,” said Niigam, who has sang many patriotic numbers in the past.
The video will be played across all the 60 airports of the country on Republic Day and will also be telecast on various news channels.
Shot by Girish Malik, the video beautifully juxtaposes the age-old traditions with modern thoughts.
“I have intentionally captured the quotation ‘India is hot' written near a spice factory of Rajasthan to bring the original India to the viewers. These punch lines such as ‘Bharat cool hai' and many more have become a part of our life,” said Malik.
