Songs of Freedom

Aye mere pyaare watan (Kabuliwala, 1961)

Aye mere pyaare watan: With a single tabla and rabab the song reached many hearts.

Prem Dhawan’s lyrics were an ode to the country that was put to tune by Salil Chaudhury who delivered a Persian melody with Indian compositional principles in place. With a single tabla and rabab the song reached many hearts. Manna Dey, the vocalist, said that the song’s first take was kept.

Apni azaadi ko hum (Leader, 1964)

Shakeel Badayuni’s line Sar kata sakte hain lekin sar jhuka sakte nahi in Ram Mukherjee’s Leader reminded people of the fight for independence and the line of thought that Bhagat Singh spoke of.

Mere desh ki dharti (Upkar, 1967)

This Kalyanji-Anandji piece was written by Gulshan Bawra and sung by Mahendra Kapoor.

After his famed movie, Shaheed, Manoj Kumar got a call from the then Prime Minister Pt Lal Bahadur Shastri, who requested him to make a film on his famous election-winning slogan, Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan. Upkar was born soon after. The entire nation crooned Mere Desh ki dharti with Mr Bharat. This Kalyanji-Anandji piece was written by Gulshan Bawra and sung by Mahendra Kapoor.

Bharat humko jaan se pyaara hai (Roja, 1992) 

Hariharan and AR Rahman aced this piece, which went on to become an anthem for Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations.

Maa tujhe salaam (Vande Matram, 1997)

A piece from AR Rahman’s studio album, Maa tujhe salaam was created to commemorate the 50th year of India’s independence and appealed to the younger audiences. The piece was a musical movement in itself for its rousing quality and addition of the phrase Vande Matram with it.

Rang de basanti (Rang De Basanti, 2006) 

This AR Rahman tune, set to lyrics by Prasoon Joshi, and sung by Daler Mehendi found Punjabi gusto at the heart of its style. The pulsating piece reached many hearts in no time.