Varied renditions of the National Anthem will feature on all television channels in the country on Republic Day as the country gears to celebrate its 52nd Republic Day tomorrow.
The initiative is the brainchild of BharatBala Productions, and is backed by the Confederation of Indian Industry. The producers have got celebrated vocalists like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia, DK Pattamal and Jagjit Singh to sing Jana Gana Mana for the small screen. The music for the project has been arranged by AR Rahman and the films have been directed by Bala and Kanika. The duo of Lata and Asha are scheduled to make their appearance together in a common rendition.
Each film has the artists singing the Anthem in their own style, according to a release, giving music buffs a chance to see the subtle variations that the musicians bring to the Anthem. These exclusive films will be telecast throughout the day tomorrow on all TV channels including Star News, Aaj Tak, Set Max, Doordarshan, Doordarshan Metro, DD International, DD Sports and all DD regional Kendras, Channel V, B4U Music & Movies, Universal, MTV, etc, Sahara, Sabe TV, Asianet, Eenadu TV, Raj TV, Sun TV, the Zee channels and Jaya TV & Vijay TV.
BharatBala Productions are veterans in the television field and have created several televison commercials. Their recent efforts include films such as Maa Tujhe Salaam-Vande Mataram, Vande Mataram 2 and Desh ka Salaam.
BharatBala Productions have also made a documentary titled, Gurus of Peace which involved filming peace laureates like Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama; Mikhail Gorbachev; Yasser Arafat; Shimon Peres and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.