January 25, 2010

Mile Sur.....Searching for the Soul of Integration






One of the real gems promoted by Doordarshan, the Government TV channel was the video “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” which was first telecast on 15th August 1988. Doordarshan has been performing a yeoman service for years before the plethora of new commercially motivated television channels made their appearance. This song and video are one of the all time great contributions by Doordarshan for the cause of national integration.

The song quickly became extremely popular and at that time and even now, whenever the song is heard or the video seen, it overwhelms the minds of the people, choking them with emotions for the country that they want to be truly great, not just in hyperbole.

The video was produced by Kailash Surendranath for Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad, the lyric written by Piyush Pande now as then with the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather in India. The music was composed by Louis Banks (or Ashok Patki?) and the concept was by Suresh Mullick. It made use of the same wordings in 14 languages other than Sanskrit and featured celebrities from various walks of life including the legendary Bhimsen Joshi and M. Balamuralikrishna who also lent their voices to the magical composition. More details can be found here in a very good article.

The original video and the song can be seen and heard on the following links:

Video Link here

Audio Link here

For those who wish to hear the song here is the recording in 24 kbps.





Phir Mile Sur….

An initiative that deserves compliments is the attempt to re-create the sentiments of the original in the new video Phir Mile Sur which is being telecast on 26th January 2010. Glimpses of the video show that those who thought of and executed the new production have tried to do justice to the theme. The music has been set in the present context and the visuals are using the present day celebrities, although rather sadly, the film personalities get the limelight. The new creation is also nice and may, in time, evoke similar emotions as felt by those in whose minds the original creation - the song as well as the visuals - has been so indelibly etched.

See the video: here


More such initiatives to unite the people are needed especially as even in the 60th year of the republic, the so-called leaders who run the show are failing the people and all is not yet well.





सारे जहाँ से अच्छा, हिंदोस्ताँ हमारा

11 comments:

Randhir Singh Suman said...

nice

sm said...

thanks for details and video

Ajay Angre said...

I was watching just the same on one of the TV channels and the wordings, music, compositions, dramatics, moved me too with the finest production that evokes your emotions to the core. And we feel proud of our country, country's heritage, diversity, cultural aspect and ethnicity.

This was a like a documentary Channel was showing how the whole production of it was executed. The Director, musicians, cameraman and the entire team has done a marvelous job.

Mile Sur mera Tumhara... lyrics by Piyush Pande are full of patriotic feelings and pictorial capture has done a great justice to it.

It deserves admiration for the creative work. Thanks for giving audio/video links here.

saumin said...

Sadly the new version is too glossy and doesn't even near the classic version by 10 percent. its not how much pain you take to make the video, Its what the people feel after watching it. The earlier version overwhelmed the viewers as it showcased so many languages and PEOPLE of india...The focus was on culture and people who promote the culture...Sadly the current version has excluded all that.It has missed out on the spirit of india completely... I have to say ZOOM and MR. Surendranath have ruined it completely and i would want Doordarshan to just sue them for copyright/intellectual property infringement. The person who could have made it work in todays context is Mr Bharatbala as he has done it with VANDE MATRAM videos.
Please do not praise this version of the video. It not worth it.

mansukhani said...

saumin may be right. but the very idea of reviving the spirit with a re-make, even if not comparable to the original one, is good.

priya ramanathan said...

i have tears in my eyes when i listen to the original.....

vasrao@gmail.com said...

I saw the new version on Zoom last night.It is good & again seems to evoke emotional feelings but comparitively less than the original.

Lets hope & trust we develop faith in team work so that in fact,our voices ( efforts ) add up & bring about changes for the better.

Ajay Angre said...

After reading Saumin's comments, I viewed the old and new version again and again. Though Saumin's reaction is harsh, I must agree, India's spirit, India's rich cultural aspect and heritage, different languages, unity in diversity and above all, the common people of India is missing in the new version.

When you watch the new version on its own, it does evoke emotions, but not as much as the original one, where you are completely overwhelmed by its Sur, Taal, Lay, Indian instrumental magic, and the best of all... the beginning by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi's majical voice with classical richness,with beats of Tabla, and other Indian instruments set the class apart. The audio video presentation, not just touches your heart, but moves you emotionally by striking the Indian cord. It evokes your pride as Indian completely.

Yes, I did experiences two different feelings. In the new version, common people aspect is missing and film celebrities are more in focus.

Without any offense meant, India is not just Amitabh Bachan, Shahrukh Khan, and Bollywood, it is much more than that. The ordinary people of India from all walks of life have made them heroes. And in the new version, this vital link is missing. And it does not appeal to your emotions as much as the original version.

But having said this, being an artist myself, I would still say, it is a good try to project it in a new, different way, in today's,fast changing India. Yes, One can say, it could have been better.

Richa Srivastava said...

its nice. I know u all make endless effort to remake this song..............u have done so much of hard work and beared so much of pain................its shows also in the video but its not as touching as the old version of the song...............but the spirit is really good.............

V said...

I liked the older version of 'Mile sur' than newer one.

Unknown said...

I strongly agree with u...
If we commit any mistake then we should accept it and take resposibility abt that...