An Aamir-Ram Sampath-Prasoon Joshi creation is bound to make waves, even if it’s made for the small screen. Harpreet Khokhar finds out what went into the making of Satyamev Jayate’s theme track
Come May and another Bollywood star marks his debut on the small screen. After years of eluding the television space, Aamir Khan has finally joined his contemporaries Shah Rukh and Salman Khan to jump onto the television bandwagon. Though the format of his show titled Satyamev Jayate is still under wraps, Aamir – always known for his marketing skills – has generated enough hype around it. To mark the launch of his maiden television venture, a theme song was released with a lot of hoopla earlier in April.
The responsibility for composing the theme song, also titled Satyamev Jayate was on the shoulders of Ram Sampath while the lyrics were penned by Prasoon Joshi. After the success of Delhi Belly, the team of Aamir Khan and Ram Sampath have paired up again for this venture. The composer has also lent his vocals to the track along with Keerthi Sagathia. The video is directed by Ram Madhvani of Equinox Films.
The video shows the actor travelling through the length and breadth of the country with snippets of his visits to states like Punjab, Kashmir, Kerala, Delhi, the North-East intertwined within, and his interactions with the common man of the country. For the first time ever, the show will be telecast on two television channels simultaneously – Star Plus as well as Doordarshan as well as dubbed in four Southern languages – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
Talking about the process of coming up with the track, Ram Sampath’s partner and music producer of their production house, OmGrown music, Sona Mohapatra explains, “It was a long and incredible journey. We came up with five or six options that would suit the theme. While most people working on the project wanted a very ‘anthem’ kind of song that would arouse feelings of patriotism amongst the listeners, Ram wanted a very casual yet young song that is not very upbeat patriotic. Aamir also didn’t want the song to be very heavy. In fact, he came up with the idea of a romantic song that is not quintessentially patriotic. He wanted a very intimate kind of sound that reiterated the feeling of conversation as if he were having a one-on-one dialogue with the country. There were a couple of lyricists who were working on several songs and finally this song penned very thoughtfully by Prasoon Joshi was chosen.”
Talking about the song and the experience, Keerthi Sangathia says, “When Ram Sampath called me, I had no idea what the song was or where it would be used. It was only a couple of days after the entire recording got over, did I get to know that the song was for Aamir Khan’s new show on television. We had recorded two versions of the song but ultimately stuck to this one.”
The singer adds enthusiastically, “I am really blessed to be a part of the project. I have worked with Ram for a very long time now. Since we understand the ethos of each other’s working, it took us just a day to record the song.”
Sona adds, “From the feedback that we received, people have complimented us on the use of the two different voices that in a way represent the two different Indias, the old rich one with all its heritage and the young vibrant one that is raring to go. While Ram’s vocals represent the rock young part in the song, Keerthi has beautifully given vocals that represent the maturity in the song. Despite the contrast in their vocals, there is a perfect harmony and balance between the two.” Keerthi has earlier worked with Ram for Delhi Belly as well lent his vocals to a couple of tracks in the album.
So how was it working with the man who is often known for his complete involvement in the project? Sona explains, “It’s a very positive thing to have someone as committed and disciplined as you are. Aamir’s enthusiasm for his work is child-like and infectious. He takes into consideration every idea that is thrown and gives his inputs along with them. You can call him any hour of the day to discuss the creative nitty-gritties with him and you can count on him to be present there. His level of commitment towards whatever he does is commendable.” She further adds it’s his commitment that makes most of his projects such a success. “No other person can take your project to that level that he takes it. You can have all the creative satisfaction but if it doesn’t reach out to the audience your hard work is futile.”
