MUMBAI:  For the first time ever, over 450 artistes have lent their voices for a single song - the Marathi Abhimaan Geet  - which will be launched in Thane on Marathi Bhasha Diwas - February 27.

The song, penned by noted Marathi poet Suresh Bhat, has been set to tune by well known composer Kaushal Inamdar. Labhale amhas bhagya bolato Marathi has been sung by 112 established singers and a chorus of 356 upcoming singers. It was recorded in Mumbai, Chennai and Thane with 12 sound engineers and 65 musicians.

The well-known singers include Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Suresh Wadkar, Arti Anklikar, Avadhoot Gupte, Mahalakshmi Iyer and more. Inamdar invited Shankar Mahadevan too, and so enamoured was he that he asked Inamdar to invite Hariharan as well.

Inamdar's mission to put Marathi on the global map has apparently just begun. Irked by the fact that radio stations in Mumbai resist airing Marathi songs while other language songs are played, the composer got together donations of Rs 500 each from over 1400 enthusiasts like himself and put the album together. His ambitious plans now include starting a FM radio station that will play Marathi at all hours.

Interestingly, Inamdar also refused Uddhav Thackeray's offer of Rs 11 lakh, for it would then become a Sena song. For the inaugural event at Thane's Dadoji Konddev stadium on Saturday, Inamdar has lined up an illustrious assemblage of 21 noted Maharashtrians who will do the honours collectively. These will include filmmaker Sai Paranjape, photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha, restaurateur Vithal Kamat, veteran theatre personality Prabhakar Panshikar, Planning Commission member Dr Narendra Jadhav, among others.

The album contains two more songs by Kusumagraj and Ashok Bagwe, is priced Rs 300, and took a good 15 months to complete  After Marathi Abhimaan Geet releases, Inamdar has two more ambitious projects. For May 1, 2011, when Maharashtra State completes 51 years, he wants to perform Marathi fusion songs with an overseas philharmonic orchestra.

Adds a delighted Inamdar, "Interestingly, many radio stations from Mumbai have called me in the past two days wanting to know more about the project, and expressing their wish to include Marathi music in their programming." Now that would be the icing on the cake for Inamdar's mission.