RadioandMusic
| 19 Apr 2024
'Independence Day' patriotism reaches TV channels programming

MUMBAI: This Independence Day, music channels like MTV, 9XO and VH1 will shower viewers with patriotism through their nationalistic programming line-up.

Music has the power to invoke the strongest and deepest patriotic feelings and ‘Coke Studio @ MTV Season 4’ brings this belief alive with its Independence Day special episode, which will air on 16 August, 2015. This special episode will showcase a handpicked assortment of some of the most dynamic tracks by Gurdass Mann and Diljit Dosanjh, Salim Sulaiman and Sukhwinder Singh, Manj Musik and Raftaar, featuring Jashan Singh.

MTV Coke Studio viewers will get to hear three original compositions by these musical masters. The Punjabi musical legend, Mann has rewritten his originally composition, 1982 song ‘Ki Banu Duniya Da.’ This exclusive track will bring together some of the best talent in the Punjabi music industry and features an iconic performance by versatile Punjabi singer Dosanjh. Mann artistically weaves words into the song and will bring out the importance of staying true to one’s roots in this day and age.

The music director duo Salim - Sulaiman will celebrate Punjabi singer, Sukhwinder Singh this Independence Day. The trio will get coloured in the spirit of patriotism and present an ode to the national flag, ‘Peer Manaawan Challiyaan.’ The song evokes a feeling of national pride and belongingness to one’s country.

Manj Musik and Raftaar, India’s hip hop talent will rhyme their songs with a patriotic theme through the track ‘Allah Ve.’ The track will showcase a power- packed performance by Raftaar rapping to the soulful vocal written by Jashan Singh. The song talks about breaking free from the shackles of religion and embracing humanity.

Talking about this Independence Day special offering, MTV head of music content Jagjit Singh said, “Gurdass Mann and Diljit Dosanjh will be seen on Coke Studio for the first time and this will definitely create history. In fact, the song that Gurdass Mann composed for MTV is something that he wrote in 1980s but it still manages to connect with the youth of today. The others too have done an outstanding job on composition.”

On getting these faces together, Singh said, “I have been tracking Gurdass Mann for two years now but things did not materialise because of some reason or the other. Even Diljit Dosanjh is an apt thing to happen now. It’s the same thing with the others. More than anything, it is the conviction that matters.”

The episode has been in the planning process for a while now. Speaking on the same, Singh said, “The creative process and ideas are like a coin that pops out but then it takes a while to materialise. So, we knew that we had to work on an Independence Day episode but, working on the artist and the songs took a while. In fact, Gurdas Mann ji came in at the last minute.”

He added, “These are upbeat folk meets western kind of music. This is going to be one killer episode and the Coke viewers will definitely love it.”

On the other hand, 9XO will celebrate Independence Day under its special initiative - ‘Feel Free.’ The six-part series revolving around freedom, which went on-air a couple of days back, has animated characters talking about porn, alcohol, music and many other topical themes. Additionally, as part of their I-Day programming, the channel will feature independent acts from North, East, West and South, who will sing covers of various songs. It will feature names like Beat Hierarchy (Bengaluru), Indus Creed (Mumbai), Abiogenesis (North East), Neel and The Lightbulbs (Kolkata) and Thermal and A Quarter (Bengaluru).

In a special attempt to make Independence Day memorable for music lovers, VH1 reached out to Indian artists under ‘#Vh1CelebratesIndia.’ Here they will be seen asking Indian artists about their playlist and viewers can watch their favourite Indian artists’ favourite playlist.