Bollywood singer Ankit Tiwari is set to release his version of 'Vande Mataram' less than a week before India’s 74th Independence Day on 15 August, as per a report by Mumbai Mirror.
Speaking about the song, he expressed his fondness for the original version, which played a major part in his school life.
“It has become a part of me”, he said. “I attended an RSS-run school and had to sing it daily with the utmost respect towards it”, he said, adding that he unconsciously stood in attention even while recording his own version of the song.
The origins of Vande Mataram can be traced back to the Bengali poem of the same name written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the 1870s which was included in his 1882 novel Anandmath. After being sung by many Indian politicians at the time, including Rabindranath Tagore, it became a part of the Indian independence struggle. In 1952, it reached the silver screen when it was sung by Lata Mangeshkar for Anand Math, which was based on Bankim Chandra’s novel.
Another popular version, and Ankit Tiwari’s favourite, is the one recorded by AR Rahman. He said, “I still perform the song at shows and functions” also adding that it “hits differently” when you listen to it. Nevertheless, his take on the song is sure to include more modern elements of music.
“I am trying to make the new version of Vande Mataram more young and energetic”, he said. He hopes that it will resonate with a higher population of young people in the country.
In these trying times, his music just might be one of the few positives for many people. Speaking about the situation, Tiwari said that Indians have been “surrounded by a lot of negativity” and every person is struggling to free themselves from it. He hopes that this time next year we all can look back and be grateful to have survived 2020.
(Inputs: Mumbai Mirror)
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