Rashtraputra actor Aazaad lends his voice to Vande Matram; new version celebrates later verses of original song

Filmmaker and actor Aazaad, who is coming up with a new film Rashtraputra , the life story of Indian freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad, has lent his voice for the song ‘Vande Mataram’, released in Mumbai on Monday, 13 August. Written by late poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, the song is different from its popular version. [caption id=“attachment_4964771” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Still from the trailer of Rashtraputra. YouTube screengrab[/caption] Only the first two verses of the song were adopted as the National Song of India in October 1937 by the Congress Working Committee. The other verses that included references to Hindu goddesses Durga and Lakshmi were expunged, keeping in view the sentiments of the non-Hindu population.

However, the newly released version of ‘Vande Mataram’ for the film Rashtraputra celebrates the later verses of the original song. “I am lucky to have sung and composed this powerful song. This song is very unique because we are presenting soul mantra of ‘Vande Mataram’,” Aazaad said. Apart from ‘Vande Mataram’, the film has songs composed by Bappi Lahiri, sung by Palak Muchhal, Aish King and Mika Singh and produced by Bombay Talkies Music Gharana. Directed by Aazaad and produced by the Bombay Talkies, the film Rashtraputra is slated to be released on 14 September.