KOLKATA: The 31st Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) committee has added a new section ‘Vande Mataram’ to pay tribute to the national song on its 150th anniversary. And the KIFF committee has decided to screen Hemen Gupta’s classic film Anandamath (1952), a cinematic retelling of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s legendary novel of the same name.
Set against the backdrop of the Sannyasi Rebellion of the late 18th century, the film starred Prithviraj Kapoor, Bharat Bhushan, Pradeep Kumar, Geeta Bali and Ajit. Interestingly, the film also marked the Hindi debut of both actor Pradeep Kumar and music director Hemanta Mukhopadhyay.
The song ‘Vande Mataram’, penned by Chattopadhyay and composed by Mukhopadhyay, became a symbol of India’s freedom movement and was officially declared the National Song when the country gained independence in 1947. Decades later, its emotional power still resonates. In fact, in a BBC World Service poll (2003) conducted across 165 countries, Lata Mangeshkar’s version of Vande Mataram was voted the world’s second most popular song of all time.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to take part wholeheartedly in the celebrations marking 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram,’ on November 7.
Speaking in the 127th episode of his radio programme Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi said that chanting ‘Vande Mataram’ has the strength to unite 140 crore Indians, especially in challenging times. He also paid tribute to Chattopadhyay and said ‘Vande Mataram’ might have been written in the 19th century, but its spirit is connected to the immortal consciousness of India that is thousands of years old.