Sarim Momin, the lyricist of the controversial 'parody' of the national anthem in RGV's Rann, defends the song
Sarim Momin, the lyricist of the controversial 'parody' of the national anthem in RGV's Rann, defends the songWhen I was writing this song, I wanted to capture the emotions of a situation in the film where we Indians are asked to wake up. To wake up and that we are surrendering the very freedom that we fought for. And that we are dividing the country when we should actually stand up united for its progress.
Now, if we had used lines like "Jaag jaou2026 Bhaarat ko bachaao' or 'Humari jaan Hindustaan', maximum reaction would have been a yawn or a raise of an eyebrow. But it wouldn't have made people sit up and think about the current state.
The Election Commission started many campaigns this year to urge Indians to come out and vote yet the turnout was only around 50 per cent. And it's not like we don't care. It's just that we don't care enough to make an effort to even elect the best men to decide the future and fate of our country.
We are comfortably numb and almost sleepy to what is happening to us. So how do we wake up a person who is asleep? Do we sing lullabies to him or shrug him and shake him out of his sleep?
And since the film Rann is about the battle that all of us fight within ourselves, the words were meant to express this. There is a battle in the minds of all people and literally they translated into 'Jana gann mana rann hai'.
And yes, there is a reference to our national anthem but this song is not our national anthem nor is it demeaning or insulting it in any way. While the national anthem speaks about India and victory, this song talks about the need to achieve that victory by keeping India united today.
Kindly go through the lyrics once and decide for yourself if there is any insult to India andkindly be honest.
If anyone thinks that it is a crime to ask Indians to stand up and help India be the glorious country that it was, then I have only one thing to say, 'Bharat ko bachale vidhaata'.
