Derided by critics, but song gives a boost to image of Samajwadi Party leader.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: A popular 1980s song by Billy Joel has been adapted into Hindi as the campaign anthem for the Samajwadi Party.
“We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Joel’s 1989 pop rock tune that’s drawn equal measure of praise and criticism from all corners of the music world since its debut 25 years ago, now has a Hindi version called “Man Se Hain Mulayam Aur Irade Loha Hai” (literally meaning “Mulayam – the Samajwadi Party’s leader – is soft at heart, firm in intention”).
The new version is composed by Bollywood composer Nikhil Kamath – best known as half of the Nikhil-Vinay duo, which has composed several Bollywood films, most notably 2001’s Tum Bin – and sung by Javed Ali, who has several chart-toppers to his name (“Guzarish,” “Jashn-e-Bahara,” and “Nagada Nagada,” to name a few).
The song’s lyrics praise Yadav, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh who served that office from 2003-2007. The lyrics were adapted by Udai Pratap Singh, a former teacher of Yadav who was also a member of the Rajya Sabha at one time. The song’s lyrics, in addition to espousing the virtues of Yadav and the party’s Socialist platform, also feature the names of past Socialist leaders.
The idea to take “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and turn it into a Samajwadi Party campaign anthem came from Mulayam’s son, Akhilesh Yadav, who is the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. The party bought the rights to the song.
This is not the first song the Samajwadi Party has released to help raise their profile among Indian voters. Composer Kamath provided two other songs for the party: Jago Samajwadiyo and Kasam Khatey Hain, both of which are sung by Ali and Rekha Bhardwaj. A third song, composed by Kamath again, is a party anthem entitled “Yeh Samajwadi Jhanda,” also sung by Ali.
The song “Man Se Hain Mulayam Aur Irade Loha Hai” can be heard below:
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com