MUMBAI: Independence Day has never been celebrated without music or musicians playing in compassion to convey their gratitude for their motherland. As India completes 61 years of independence, radio stations and musicians across the country are doing their bit to engender a feeling of unity and highlight issues that need to be addressed.
Red FM has organized a special program in which RJ Malishka and her team will be in Pune with the war veterans who suffered injuries while defending our country. The Morning No.1 team will visit the Paraplegic Rehab Centre of the Army Base in Pune and host a Radio Show from there which will be broadcast to listeners in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Red FM COO Abraham Thomas says, "Red FM is known for its endeavour to always bring to light things that need attention under its initiative, Bajaao for a Cause. On the occasion of Independence Day, Red FM salutes the spirit of the war heroes who have sacrificed all to defend our borders." With this, Red FM is making an attempt to highlight issues which need attention and bring the listeners closer to some harsh realities that war soldiers are facing.
In Mumbai and Delhi, Fever 104 will be putting listeners on air - callers will have the freedom to say what they want besides having a choice to play their favourite music. Fever's Kolkata listeners will be tested on their knowledge and understanding of India's history and listeners in Bengaluru will be given options to choose between saffron-coloured questions (toughest) and green questions (simplest). The toughest questions get the biggest prizes and listeners have an option to double their money with the 'chakra' question. Speaking on this concept, Fever's National Programming Director Gaurav Sharma says, "Fever 104 FM wishes to give its listeners an experience of being free and an opportunity to play music of their choice and say what they want to say on air."
Big FM's Bangalore station has started a marathon on 11 August 2008 which will conclude on 15 August at 11 am. Breakfast RJs Harsha and Shruthi will complete a total of 92.7 hrs of non-stop RJing on the occasion. Big's Kanpur station too will be setting out on a rally termed 'Maa Tujhe Pranam' which will cover all prominent locations of the city (a distance of 36 kms). The culmination of this rally will see some great fireworks, besides appealing to the local populace to light candles in memory of our great leaders. Big FM has also associated with Hindi daily Amar Ujala for this unique convention. Big FM's Mumbai station is currently running the Radio Olympiad activity which focuses on 'National Pride', where winners are given gold coins in gratification. On Independence day, the station has huge plans - music trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy will be jamming in the studio. Their songs will be aired everywhere excluding the non- Hindi speaking market.
To celebrate the festive spirit, Radio Mirchi has created a look and feel of a school set on the on-air premises called 'Azadi ki special assembly' .To execute the 'Azadi ki special assembly' RJs have made Independence Day assembly attendance mandatory for all Delhiites. The assembly will have a Chief Guest speech, school prayer, pledge, march past, students singing patriotic songs, Independence Day skits and flag hoisting. The station will also air a special prayer at 9 am on the HI Delhi show for listeners.
Radio Mirchi's Mumbai counterpart kicked started their on-air promotion early this week announcing its plan to spend Independence Day with the Jawans and shared interesting facts about them. On August 15, Hi Mumbai with Jeeturaaj will go LIVE from the Colaba Army Infantry Unit (Grenadiers), where the RJ along with officers and Jawans of the Unit will interact on air with Mumbaikars. Listeners can call in at their favourite station to express their gratitude and pay tribute to these brave young men. In addition, a Radio Mirchi music taxi organized by Mirchi team will dedicate songs especially for the Army Infantry Unit all through the day on August 15. Mirchi RJs will travel around the Unit area to capture the colorful moods of the Jawans. Listeners will also witness a dash of emotions, when the Army personnel gets to listen to messages from their dear ones back home courtesy Radio Mirchi. Noted personality and bollywood playback singer Sonu Nigam will play host and interact with the Army personnel as part of the special.
Radio Misty, the station for North Bengal and Sikkim, will have a unique theme show called 'Mere Sapno Ka Bharat'. Speaking on launch of this theme, Radio Misty CEO Nishant Mittal said, "Radio Misty always beleives in new and innovative themes and had started with new ideas to connect it listeners, in this show people will be asked to tell about what is thier dream for India(Mere Sapno Ka Bharat), and the five best answers will be given a chance to come on air, and given prizes. The good old Kavi Sammelan will also be held at the Radio Misty studio in Siliguri where eminent poets and soldiers will be invited to share their views.
Leading content provider BBC has packaged some special programmes like 'Jab We Won' which will talk about the Best Moments that India has witnessed in the field of sports since 1947. Listeners can experience the exciting moments directly from the legends. This special programme has contributions from sport icons like P.T. Usha, Prakash Padukone, Milkha Singh, Leander Paes, Kapil Dev and many more. The programme will be aired on all of BBC's partner channels. Through 'Mera Bharat Mahan', BBC is bringing alive the patriotic moments with celebrities like Javed Akhtar , Shreya Gosal, Sourav Ganguly and Shiny Ahuja. Celebrities will discuss the significance of Independence Day in their lives (this content is provided only to Radio One).
The country's first radio station, AIR, will broadcast a running commentary of the Red Fort flag hoisting ceremony to be held between 0135-0240 UTC.
Cybserspace
For those who would rather prefer to listen to Madonna, Enrique Iglesias, Lenny Kravitz, Akon, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Sugababes, and Backstreet Boys on Independence Day, can log on to MSN India. The web giant has planned an all-day musical treat for fans on this Independence Day. Freedom Live is a part of a series of live concerts that MSN India will host on August 15 where users will vote for their favourite artists. The artist who receives the maximum votes will get the maximum airtime. Speaking on the Freedom Live Concert, Krishna Prasad, Executive Producer, MSN India said, "With this unique concert, we wish to give the best of the music to our fans. We have been receiving tremendous responses on the MSN Control Room concerts and hope that this concert too keeps them entertaining throughout the Independence Day". However, the inclusion of some renowned Indian musicians would have added flavour on the occasion. Along with this, MSN India also brings to users "Dedicate A Song" section, where they have an option to dedicate a song of their choice to their special someone. On the day of the concert their messages will be displayed 'Live' on the portal along with their dedications.
Music channels
Music channel MTV will be showcasing its adaptation of the National Anthem capturing the spirit of GenX in true MTV ishtyle. Starting on the eve of Independence Day at 12 midnight, MTV will be putting the Indian youth under the spotlight and give them a chance to voice their opinions on freedom. This starts from August 14 midnight on MTV Freedom Rocks! Rock Music lovers can listen to back to back hits of some famous rock bands through out the day on August 15th with Vh1 India Rules.
Vh1 will also air some of the biggest names in the Indian music scene. Get ready to rock away your Independence with Indus Creed, Pentagram, Parikrama and a whole lot more. All this, without any ad breaks
Live!
On the occasion, the live act scenario in Mumbai will be roaring with musicians like Ranjit Barot and Taufiq Qureshi at Blue Frog. Classic Rock Band 'The works' will be playing at the Hard Rock Caf© and starting their set on the eve of 14th August which will go on till midnight. Shannon Pereira, Lead Guitarist of the Band says, "We do have some interesting stuff lined up for the Independence Day, but that's a surprise". 'The Works' will also be completing a year as a band. As far the country's original rock capital Bangalore goes, it is quite uncertain that the city's favourite rock annual rock festival 'Freedom Jam' will commence on the coming Independence Day owing to the recent ban on live acts in Bangalore.