Wednesday, January 25, 2012

No line-up of India's greatest patriotic numbers would be complete without two songs that have Bollywood connections, but do not belong to Bollywood.

While the first, Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon, sung by legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and composed by another Bollywood great C Ramachandra, commemorates Indian soldiers who died during the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the second is of more recent origin.

AR Rahman took the words of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and moulded them with his musical genius into an extraordinary rendition for his 1997 album Gurus of Peace.

It has truly emerged as an anthem of Modern India.