The Story Behind India’s Iconic Anthem Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

Transcript

00:00Mille Sur Mera Tumhara

00:05What if Mille Sur Mera Tumhara, often called India's anthem of unity, was released today?

00:10Stand-up comic Shraddha joked it would cause absolute chaos.

00:13And the internet agreed because it taps into India's ongoing language debate.

00:17The song, also called Ek Sur, first aired on Independence Day, 1988, right after the

00:22Prime Minister's speech at the Red Fort.

00:24Commissioned by Doordarshan and the Information Ministry, it was meant to showcase India's

00:28unity in diversity, celebrating different communities and languages.

00:32Composed by Bhim Sen Joshi, arranged by Lewis Banks and written by Young Piyush Pandey,

00:37the anthem brought together legends like Lata Mangeshkar, Kamal Hassan, Bala Murali Krishna,

00:42along with film stars, sports icons and school children.

00:45It featured Kashmiri, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Gujarati, Marathi.

00:51But Hindi took the lion's share of screen time.

00:54Behind the scenes, the making had its own stories.

00:56An aerial Taj Mahal shot with an IAF helicopter that got the director into trouble, the Kolkata

01:01Metro and the Deccan Queen making appearances, and Kamal Hassan's cameo happening only because

01:06he tagged along with Bala Murali Krishna.

01:08Even Lata Mangeshkar joined last minute recording in a saree with the Indian tricolor on its pallu.

01:13Back in 1988, the song was a symbol of national pride.

01:16But today in the middle of heated language politics, it might be seen as Hindi imposition.

01:21And that's why Shraddha's joke hit home.