Although I spent the Republic day humming ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ for greater part of the day (as Zoom TV released the new avatar of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara), the connection was not instant. The new version propelled me to watch the older version on You Tube and fondly appreciate the early makers.
There are a host of subtle and significant changes that the present creators have done supposedly to be in sync with the present generation. This compels me to write this blog in support of pseudo national anthem of my childhood years. Why I didn’t like the recent version is because:
• I hated the liberal dose of bollywood stars and near stars – musicians and directors (are these the two major clans depicting achievement in life?). To add to the grief, the extensive close-ups are annoying. Shahrukh representing a baazigar emoticon or Ranbir seemingly humming a love song at a waterfall nearby; in his own complete solace. There were stars last time around as well but they were real. No close –ups, no glamour, adequate glitz and some real connection.
• Differentiation doesn’t mean excellence. Why remix to such greater extent that the originality gets shaked-up. Intermittent drifting from the original tune takes away the charm; at least for me.
• All this would have been still good if we would have felt a connection. All the stars sprinkled only with a few sportsmen and artists do not make up India. Where is the common man whom I never recognized but felt close-by. Where is that ‘mahaut’ riding the elephant in Kerala waters or the fisherman, content with the daily catch? Perhaps they are more marginalized now than they were 20 years back.
• Above all, where is the spirit of unity in diversity that ‘my’ older version so beautifully represented? I distinctly remember the ‘mashaal’ being carried on and everyone coming together at the sea shore, notwithstanding their differences but rising above for the cause of the nation. This time around, they came, they sang in solace and left. That’s the new ‘Phir Mile Sur’.
Few of my friends may comment – ‘Grow up, it’s a virtual world and everyone is connected.’ A few others may comment that I have ‘grown up’ and not in sync with changing times. Perhaps they are right or perhaps we are more networked but less connected now than we were couple of decades back.
Do watch the older version one last time on YouTube…
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Can't agree more...I was rather surprised to see Cricket (as in Sachin, Sourav, Dravid, Dhoni, even Kapil) missing in the theme, given that its scope in our daily life is probably bigger than that of religion...while you mention the mahout (representing common man), I remember being sad about Kerala not being represented by stars unlike other regions, but I do miss him too...KJY is a good addition though...given the length, I wonder how/when it would be telecast...I remember religiously listening to the earlier version every afternoon when it was played on the radio in Chennai...it never got boring...with the current one, I guess it offers an excuse to take a break or switch channels...
Yeah! you are bang on. Kricket, Kerala and Kommon Man are all missing....that time around I was able to hum around lyrics of different languages; not this time.
Post a Comment