Celebs take musical stand against divisive politics

Kolkata: ‘Nijeder Mote Nijeder Gaan’, a song created by like-minded celebrities who are against fascism, has taken the internet by storm. Without naming any political party, the video, which is a montage of shots of the participants in different parts of the city, takes a stand against fake news, against the attempt at passing off mythology as history, against the bid to destroy the democratic fabric of the nation.
A joint effort by Anupam Roy, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Anirban Bhattacharya, Piya Chakraborty, Kaushik Sen, Santilal Mukherjee, Surangana Bandyopadhyay, Riddhi Sen and Rwitobroto Mukherjee, the video features actors and directors—veterans and current, of stage and film—including, Arun Mukhopadhya, Rudraprasad Sengupta, Sabyasachi Chakrabarty, Suman Mukhopadhyay, Chandan Sen, Anindya Chatterjee, Rahul Banerjee, Debleena Dutt Mukherjee and Reshmi Sen.
Modhura Palit and the team during the shooting of the video
The inspiration was the original song, composed by Anirban and Subhadeep Guha. Brevity of Anirban’s hard-hitting lyrics has turned it into an “emotional message”, rather than a “political propaganda”. “I wrote the lyrics during the anti-NRC-CAA movement. In the current toxic environment, an artist is unfortunately expected to either use the mainstream rhetoric or remain silent,” said Anirban, who questioned this divide in the song. It was recorded privately last year with Anupam, Anirban, Subhadeep, Riddhi, Surangana, Rwitobroto lending their voice, along with Arko Mukhaerjee, Rupankar Bagchi, Anindya, Debraj Bhattacharya, Sampa Biswas and Ujan Chatterjee. Riddhi, along with Surangana, wrote the screenplay. In January 2021, he and Rwitobroto began directing the video. But Anirban was clear about letting them work independently on the video. “The video reflects their honest reaction to the song and society at large,” said Anirban.
‘Nijeder Mote Nijeder Gaan’, a song created by like-minded celebrities who are against fascism, has taken the internet by storm
Though many said the video featured Left-leaning celebs, Riddhi insisted not everyone was on the same page politically. “Some may vote for Trinamool, some Left. But they are all against fascist forces. A labour of love, the video was filmed by Modhura Palit and edited by Subhajit Singha,” he said.
The first striking image is that of Riddhi reading a book on Khajuraho while singing ‘tumi puran ke bolo itihas aar itihas ke bolo purano’ (for you, mythology is history and history is backdated). The video hits out at those who threaten to banish anyone from India if there’s any note of dissent. Rwitobroto said, “The term, ‘intellectual’, has become a slang under fascists. They can ask anyone and everyone to go to Pakistan. I will go there on my own terms, not on their orders.”
A screenshot from this music video
Another interesting point is the use of 20-odd newspaper clippings. Dhee Majumder and Rajarshi Nag, who did the graphics, had to strike a balance between creativity and facts. Social worker Piya, who was involved in the content research, said, “We used headlines that were close to the core issue. Who gave the far-right forces of India the authority to claim they were the only patriots and that everyone with a different opinion was anti-national? Their brand of patriotism questionable and farcical on many counts. ”