Jana Gana Mana Video
The
Jana Gana Mana - Indian National Anthem was a historic video released
January 26,
2000 to mark the 50th year of the
Indian Republic. It has the distinction of being released by the then
President of India, in the Central Hall of the Indian Parliament. It was produced by
Bharat Bala and Kanika Myer and published by Ministry of Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
Bharat Bala and
A. R. Rahman came together to create a historic album called 'Jana Gana Mana'. This was a project in which over 35 top artistes of the nation came together to sing or play the National Anthem "
Jana Gana Mana". The project had started as "Desh Ka Salaam" which was telecast in Indian TV channels and on the web on
August 15,
1999, in which several great Indian musicians, from the classical to the contemporary, came together to give a soulful and modern rendition of the National Anthem. The video was released January 26, 2000
The music was produced and arranged by A R Rahman. The video was produced by
Bharat Bala Productions.
Vocalists
*D K Pattamal
*Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
*Lata Mangeshkar
*Pandit Jasraj
*Dr Balamuralikrishna
*Jagjit Singh
*Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty
*Shobha Gurtu
*Begum Parveena Sultana
*Bhupen Hazarika
*Ustad Rashid Khan
*Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan
*Smt. Shruti Sadolikar
*Dr S P Balasubramaniam
*Sudha Raghunathan
*Asha Bhosle
*Hariharan
*Kavita Krishnamurthy
*P Unnikrishnan
*Nityashree
*Saddiq Khan Langa
*Ghulam Murtaza Khan
*Ghulam Qadir Khan
*Kaushiki Chakrabarty
Instrumentalists
*
Flute: Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia
*
Sarod: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Amaan Ali Bangash, Ayaan Ali Bangash
*
Santoor: Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Rahul Sharma
*
Ghattam: Vikku Vinayakram, Uma Shankar
*
Mohan Veena: Pandit
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt*
Saxophone: Kadri Gopalnath
*
Chitraveena:
Ravikiran*
Veena: E Gayathri
*
Sarangi: Ustad Sultan Khan
*
Sitar: Pandit Kartick Kumar, Niladri Kumar
*
Violin: Kumaresh, Ganesh
Orchestra
*
Conductor: K. Srinivas Murthy
*
Cello: Ramsekar, R K Vijayandran, Bidyur Khayal
*
Tympany: Kumar, Karthikeyan
*
Violin: M Kalyanasundaram, Jerry Fernandes, Cyril Fernandes, R Joseph, K Murali, B J Chandru, B Balu, Murali, Dinakar, Rex Isaac, Debu Ashish, PJ Sebastian, P S Ramachandran
*
Mridangam: D A Srinivas
*
Harp: R Visweswaran
Bharat Bala and Kanika had been working together on various projects such as Vande Mataram (
1996,
1998), Desh Ka Salaam (
1999). They realised there was not a single good rendering of the Indian National Anthem. They thus decided to re-create the National Anthem in a year
2000 version, something that should be 'inspiring for young people to listen to.'
Bharat Bala Productions roped in A R Rahman to produce the music.
They took 60 artistes up to Ladakh to film the video for the instrumental version of the Anthem. It was a 40-piece string section along with Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Vikku Vinayakram and other instrumental maestros. There were two generations of maestros - fathers and sons. In Kanika's words, "It was a huge musical unification... this anthem has so much of soul."
Thota Tharini, a big artist in
Madras painted what is now the
Vande Mataram logo for the video.
The video producers can be contacted at:Bharat Bala Productions:P.O. Box No. 2189:Chennai - 600028
Future plans
Bharat Bala is working on a film which will have a worldwide release in IMAX format, an attempt at the first Indian film on IMAX. They hope to trigger a new India look across the world. Currently under production, it is called
Heart of India.
*
Jana Gana Mana Video on Google Video
*
Bharat Bala Productions*
A. R. Rahman*
A R Rahman - Khoj*
Featured Artist List on Rediff
*
The Making of the Jana Gana Mana Album - Interview transcript on Rediff
*
Jana Gana Mana,
The Making*
Effort to popularise national anthem, Hindustan Times
