3.5 lakh views for EC voter outreach song in first week; creative brain Subhash Ghai says politically-inclined celebrities kept out of video
NEW DELHI: As movies like Shahrukh Khan's 'comeback' vehicle Pathaan draw crowds to the cinema halls, the Election Commission of India is using the intermission breather to communicate with the "reluctant" voter on the power and significance of their vote and ensure that the next general election draws similar crowds to the polling stations.
An ECI spokesperson said its voter outreach song 'Main Bharat Hoon' - unveiled on January 25 this year coinciding with the National Voters Day - is already being played during the interval at movie theatres like INOX in Jangpura, Delhi even as chief electoral officers have also been directed by the poll panel to have a similar arrangement in their respective states or Union territories.
A movie intermission offers EC an ideal opportunity to "catch" the young and urban voters - many of whom do not cast their ballot and ended up as the 30% 'missing' electorate in the 2019 general election - and talk - in this case, sing - to them on how they can be responsible citizens and participate in the nation-building process by exercising their right to vote, said an officer.
"The song is dedicated to each voter who takes cognisance of his national duty and casts his vote, beating all odds. The song tends to inspire new voters," said chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
EC Special Officer and Delhi chief electoral officer Ranvir Singh said the song will be propagated through social media, TV spots, cellphone ringtones and even merchandise in the run up to 2024 general election. Within a week of its launch, it has received 3.5 lakh views and 5.6 lakh impressions on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube.
The creatives of 'Main Bharat Hoon' were entrusted by EC to renowned filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who, besides writing lyrics and composing the song with Whistling Woods International School of Music, Mumbai, roped in nine celebrity singers for the Hindi version and a dozen for the multilingual one. Also featured in the audio-visual are a host of actors from across the country and sportspersons. All the artistes and celebrities, including , became part of the EC song initiative on a pro-bono basis.
As per EC brief, Ghai took care not to feature politically-inclined celebrities in the audio-visual and to reflect inclusiveness by encompassing shots of all regions of the country and marginalised groups like women, persons with disabilities, third gender voters and centenarians.
Ghai told TOI: "It was a tough task as there were so many requests from EC on what all had to be included in the five-minute creative. While writing a song is freedom of expression, I worked hard over three months to put together the lyrics, music and audio-visual as per EC's requests. I borrowed shots from various sources and received recorded clips from R Madhavan who was in Spain, Pankaj Tripathi who was shooting in the jungles, Kavita Krishnamurthy who was away in the US and Alka Yagnik who was not well and recorded in her studio.
"I had come with a long list of stars to feature in the audio-visual but the EC had reservations regarding inclusion of politically-inclined celebrities."
Finally, Anil Kapoor, Siddharth Malhotra, R Madhavan, Subhodh Bhave, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Mohanlal, Kapil Bora, Suriya, Gippy Grewal, Shubman Gill, Harshal Patel, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal , Suryakumar and Shreyas Iyer were taken on board.
"I agree that one does not need big stars to endorse national interest. The message here is strong enough by itself," Ghai said and added that he was thankful that "song and audio-visual were received well both by EC as well as the people of India."
While the Hindi version of 'Main Bharat Hoon' features Sukhvinder Singh, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sonu Nigam, Hariharan, Alka Yagnik, Javed Ali, K S Chithra, Kaushiki Chakraborty and Ustad Rashid Khan, the multi-lingual version has been recorded in 12 languages by Kaushiki Chakraborty, Vaishali Samant, Bhoomi Trivedi, Mika Singh, K S Chithra, Mano, Vijay Prakash, Vijay Yesudas, Papon, Dipti Rekha Padhi, Mehmeed Syed and Pankaj Jal.
Source : Timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Added on : 4th February, 2023
An ECI spokesperson said its voter outreach song 'Main Bharat Hoon' - unveiled on January 25 this year coinciding with the National Voters Day - is already being played during the interval at movie theatres like INOX in Jangpura, Delhi even as chief electoral officers have also been directed by the poll panel to have a similar arrangement in their respective states or Union territories.
A movie intermission offers EC an ideal opportunity to "catch" the young and urban voters - many of whom do not cast their ballot and ended up as the 30% 'missing' electorate in the 2019 general election - and talk - in this case, sing - to them on how they can be responsible citizens and participate in the nation-building process by exercising their right to vote, said an officer.
"The song is dedicated to each voter who takes cognisance of his national duty and casts his vote, beating all odds. The song tends to inspire new voters," said chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
EC Special Officer and Delhi chief electoral officer Ranvir Singh said the song will be propagated through social media, TV spots, cellphone ringtones and even merchandise in the run up to 2024 general election. Within a week of its launch, it has received 3.5 lakh views and 5.6 lakh impressions on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube.
The creatives of 'Main Bharat Hoon' were entrusted by EC to renowned filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who, besides writing lyrics and composing the song with Whistling Woods International School of Music, Mumbai, roped in nine celebrity singers for the Hindi version and a dozen for the multilingual one. Also featured in the audio-visual are a host of actors from across the country and sportspersons. All the artistes and celebrities, including , became part of the EC song initiative on a pro-bono basis.
As per EC brief, Ghai took care not to feature politically-inclined celebrities in the audio-visual and to reflect inclusiveness by encompassing shots of all regions of the country and marginalised groups like women, persons with disabilities, third gender voters and centenarians.
Ghai told TOI: "It was a tough task as there were so many requests from EC on what all had to be included in the five-minute creative. While writing a song is freedom of expression, I worked hard over three months to put together the lyrics, music and audio-visual as per EC's requests. I borrowed shots from various sources and received recorded clips from R Madhavan who was in Spain, Pankaj Tripathi who was shooting in the jungles, Kavita Krishnamurthy who was away in the US and Alka Yagnik who was not well and recorded in her studio.
"I had come with a long list of stars to feature in the audio-visual but the EC had reservations regarding inclusion of politically-inclined celebrities."
Finally, Anil Kapoor, Siddharth Malhotra, R Madhavan, Subhodh Bhave, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Mohanlal, Kapil Bora, Suriya, Gippy Grewal, Shubman Gill, Harshal Patel, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal , Suryakumar and Shreyas Iyer were taken on board.
"I agree that one does not need big stars to endorse national interest. The message here is strong enough by itself," Ghai said and added that he was thankful that "song and audio-visual were received well both by EC as well as the people of India."
While the Hindi version of 'Main Bharat Hoon' features Sukhvinder Singh, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sonu Nigam, Hariharan, Alka Yagnik, Javed Ali, K S Chithra, Kaushiki Chakraborty and Ustad Rashid Khan, the multi-lingual version has been recorded in 12 languages by Kaushiki Chakraborty, Vaishali Samant, Bhoomi Trivedi, Mika Singh, K S Chithra, Mano, Vijay Prakash, Vijay Yesudas, Papon, Dipti Rekha Padhi, Mehmeed Syed and Pankaj Jal.
Source : Timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Added on : 4th February, 2023