Phir Mile Sur

The reactions to Phir Mile Sur, the sequel to Mile Sur Mera Tumhara have not been nice. People have been saying that it is not up to the mark of its predecessor. they are pointing out to the grave mistake of passing over Sachin Tendulkar and A P J Abdul Kalam. While I agree with that people may say, I still feel that the new version fits in our times.

Let me explain.

The first version, released in 1988, came out of nowhere and captured our imagination, and it is not hard to imagine why. Here was a song, with just a line sung in many variations, by a host of known persons. In those days, when we had just Doordarshan for entertainment, it was easy to reach out to a large audience. Also, this was a time when we were starved for celebrity viewings. Fast forward 22 years later, and it is a different India today. There are more than 100 channels to choose from, that compete for the average 10 seconds of the viewers' attention span. The media today is saturated with celebrity news. We don't miss our celebrities as much as we used to. In such a scenario, it is impossible for the song to have the same impact.

When the song was first released in 1988, we were still a closed, protected and socialist society. Our only celebrity news came from rags like Stardust, Filmfare, Screen, Manohar Kahaniyan, Sports Today etc. To be able to see 37 celebrities in one song was a novelty, and people were hooked. I remember people playing the game of naming all the personalities, and when the names became fairly known to everyone, identifying them. But for the sequel, we knew what to expect. The only question was who to expect, and people had their own expectations. When these were not met, they protested, which they could not do in 1988. In 2010, however, the media is saturated with celebrity news, people are famous just for being famous. Them doing a crossover to other media is commonplace, and with user feedback a norm now, people are more vocal now about their choices. Hence, there was no protest when Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar did not participate in 1988, but when Sachin Tendulkar is omitted, people and press go to town about it.

Another difference between the two pieces is the music. Both have the same melody, but the interpretations vary a lot. In the 1988 version,  each artist gave his own interpretation of the melody. The pieces sung by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and M Balamuralikrishna are markedly different. Each has a different interpretation to the tune. Fast forward to the present, and frankly, the pieces sung by all the artists does sound a lot similar. The approach has changed, and the culprit here, is the song itself. In 1988, it came without any expectations. The artists were free to interpret it in their own ways. But over a period of time, the song has become an anthem, and people approach it as such, with a lot of reverence. The people who composed it now have approached it with a lot of reverence, not changing it too much, just their own personal tweaks. Hence my earlier judgment that it was one big jazz number. Each artist has taken the basic structure of the song and improvised on it. But none has been very adventurous. I had great hopes on A R Rehman, Ustad Zakir Hussain Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, but even they were not too adventurous.

The earlier version was reflective of the states more than the current one. Punjab was represented by the lush fields, Kashimir by the Shikaras and the Kahwa drinking., Bengal by the metro line, Goa by the beaches, North East by the Bihu dance. People were not so important in that one. In contrast, in the current version, the celebrities represent their states. This is indicative of how as a society we have moved from a collective society to an individualistic one. The person is important, and he represents the state.

In 1988, the song ended with children running to make the tricolor, while  2009 ends with the Passing Out Parade at the IMA. We looked at out children as our future, and now, the future has matured. The song makes it clear that the future is now.


Update: Stop Presses!! Sachin will finally be doing the song!! Ah well, the user feedback worked.  Not that it will actually help the song. But this a clear example of people power. More power to the people.