The first time former India cricketer Nilesh Kulkarni held the cricket ball in his hand to bowl in his first international match in 1997 against Sri Lanka, he scalped a wicket on his first delivery. This was a world record by an Indian bowler and Nilesh is about to script something similar when he brings together Indian sporting icons for a patriotic music video. Legends like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Dhanraj Pillai, Bhaichung Bhutia, Sania Mirza, Mahesh Bhupathi and many more will feature in a 56-second video and sing the National Anthem, Jana Gana Mana.
Nilesh Kulkarni gets Legends to sing National Anthem
Nilesh Kulkarni, who is the Director of Mumbai based International Institute of Sports Management (IISM), is the brain behind this video A brief discussion with the institute’s students revealed that there was no video that featured only sportsperson, especially considering the fact the sports has gained so much prominence in our day-to-day life. Sports and Patriotism literally go hand in hand and brings both these emotionally stirring topics together is bound to create waves.
Jana Gana Mana brings out our patriotic feelings in a big way and so does sports. The need of the hour was to build on the momentum sports has gathered and keep the youth involved and inspired to connect to sports as a daily activity. India has traditionally been a cricket and hockey centric nation but over the past few years, India has produced iconic sportspersons from other sports like Tennis, Boxing, Football, and Badminton. Indian sports like Kabaddi has tasted international success due to the participation of the corporate world in sponsorship.
The concept of a sports only patriotic video was accepted with open arms by the sporting legends of India and got the necessary support it deserves. Many sportspersons had to tweak their busy schedules and travel itineraries but did it more than willingly for this patriotic initiative. There have been few videos featuring some of the sports legends of India, the last one being the Mile Sur Mera Tumhara way back in the late 80s.
The director of this much-awaited video is Abhijeet Phanse who earlier directed the Marathi film, “Rege” which received tremendous critical acclaim and is helming a music video for the first time. Renowned music director Ram Sampath is giving his unique touch to this re-arranged version of our National Anthem. Nilesh’s wife Rasika has also been instrumental in bringing the legendary sporting personalities together and stringing this music video concept together.
The main idea behind this video is to make the rural as well as the urban population aware of sports in India and inspire them to connect to sports. Nilesh has chosen the Republic Day fervour of 26th January to coincide with the launch of the video that will be introduced on 24th January 2016 by the sports legend Sachin Tendulkar.
The initiative is a step to encourage more athletes to participate in Olympics and make India proud!
Tags: Bhaichung Bhutia, Dhanraj Pillai, Indian Sports, Jana Gana Mana, Legends, Mahesh Bhupathi, National Anthem, Nilesh Kulkarni, Republic Day, Sachin Tendulkar, Sania Mirza, Sports, Sunil Gavaskar, The Sports Heroes
