New Delhi, Jan 26 (IANS) “Mile sur mera tumhara”, that vibrant, lilting music video of the 1980s showcasing the colours, sights and sounds of India, was back in a younger and dynamic avatar across television screens on Republic Day Tuesday.
The captivating new video, “Phir mile sur”, in a 16-minute long sweep travels to 15 locations with over 68 known personalities, be it Bollywood’s macho man Salman Khan or badminton ace Saina Nehwal or musician A. Sivamani. From beaches to deserts, from mosques and temples to high rises, it gives a feel of modern India.

Each artiste speaks of a cause and the video is shot at places which have historic value and significance. Film veteran Amitabh Bachchan is perhaps the rare personality who featured in the original and surfaces again in the new one.

Corporate couple Arti and Kailash Surendranath have produced “Phir mile sur”.

“It has been an incredible journey creating ‘Mile sur’, which was a mosaic of so many different personalities from various walks of life and regions in India,” said Kailash Surendranath.

“Today, we feel the same emotions gushing, after a span of two decades. So many things have changed in India - growth, prosperity, the economic scenario. However, as citizens of this wonderfully diverse country, our feelings for India have only grown stronger and we hope that ‘Phir mile sur’ will further strengthen this bond,” he said.

When the original “Mile sur” was premiered on Doordarshan Aug 15 in 1988, it was an instant hit. It featured many national icons of the time, including Amitabh Bachchan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Kamal Haasan, Balamurli Krishna, Lata Mangeshkar, Prakash Padukone, to name a name a few.

This time many of the faces are from the new generation, be it sitar player Anoushka Shankar, sarod players Aman and Ayan Ali Khan or shooter Abhinav Bindra, boxers Mary Kom and Vijender Singh, and sand sculptor Sudarshan Patnaik.

The original video of 1980s was conceptualised by the late Suresh Mullick and written by adman Piyush Pandey.

The new one has brilliant cinematography and lilting music by Louis Banks who had also composed the original with late P. Vaidyanathan. It took the makers more than 60 days of shooting.

The video features 22 superstars, 18 musicians, 13 artistes and singers and 15 sportspersons.

There does, however, seem to be an overdose of Bollywood, with not only megastar Amitabh but also son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai along with Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty and Juhi Chawla.

The video has got more than 2,600 hits on Youtube so far and has got mixed responses from the surfers.

“It’s beautiful - I like the fact that it does not stress state-wise division, but was a beautiful flow up and down the country, not fixing every celebrity to the state they belong to. A big thank you to the makers. I will not compare it to the old one, this is definitely perfect for today,” posted a surfer on the site.

There were reactions on the other extreme.

“Awful, awful, awful…Very Bollywoodised. Bring back the old one,” said another surfer.