Kerala music connoisseur Shijo Manuel, who has the rare records of RK Shekhar’s 1972 compositions, has a plea for Rahman.
AR Ameen, AR Rahman and RK Shekhar
In his eagerness to collect rare old records, Shijo Manuel got hold of three short play vinyl records composed by late RK Shekhar some time ago. He found six patriotic songs in those records. It was much later that Shijo connected the year of their release to the songs - 1972, when India was celebrating 25 years of independence. It didn't take long for Shijo, a music connoisseur based in Kochi, to connect Shekhar's work with his famous composer son AR Rahman's song ‘Vande Mataram’, composed in 1997. That was the year India observed 50 years of freedom. Excited with his discovery, Shijo has a plea. "Will AR Ameen, Rahman's son, compose a song for the occasion of India's 75 years of independence," Shijo asks on a Facebook post. He hopes that Ameen ‘will compose and sing a patriotic song and create history', in whichever language he prefers. "I had not at first noticed the year of RK Shekhar's patriotic compositions. These are not easily available now and I was just happy as a collector to get them. It's later that I noticed the year of their release and made the connection. Even when AR Rahman released his much-popular composition of 'Vande Mataram’ in 1997, no one appears to have made this connection of father and son making similar compositions for India's 25 and 50 years of freedom," Shijo tells TNM. While AR Rahman sang his own composition, Shekhar had the likes of Yesudas, Jayachandran, P Leela, B Vasantha and Sudha Varma to sing his. The 1972 compositions mention the India-Pakistan war of the previous year and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Shijo hopes that he can somehow reach Rahman with this plea, the idea for a tradition that would continue through three generations. Ameen, now 20, began singing in films in 2015 with OK Kanmani. He has since sung in several films. Watch: AR Rahman's 'Vande Mataram' “It is now only the 75th year of independence. And it is next year that we celebrate completing 75 years, so I hope Ameen can compose a patriotic song by then and keep up the tradition,” Shijo says. He also mentions the name of GV Prakash Kumar, a noted composer in Tamil cinema and nephew of AR Rahman. “He is also a grandson of RK Shekhar. I mentioned Ameen since it was father and son who composed earlier and therefore the tradition can be passed onto Rahman’s son,” Shijo adds. It is to be noted that AR Rahman's daughters Khatija and Raheema are also singers, and may well take up the tradition too. Read: Meet the Kerala man with a vast collection of cassettes, records and all things music
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