Mile Sur Mera Tumhara ????

Mile sur mera tumhara - A song that impacted me personally every time I heard it, I had gooseflesh each time I viewed it. A song that is hard to erase from the memories of all Indians. A song that was not merely a symbiosis of words and lyrics woven together but the symbiosis of true spirit of Indians and the then mantra that seems extremely ironical in the present Indian scenario- Unity in Diversity!! It was released on 15th August, 1988 and went on to create history :)
22 years later we are ‘treated’ to a newer version “Phir mile sur mera tumhara”. Just another evidence of obsession with re-making classics but some classic should better be left untouched. The point in case comes in handy. To me it was utter disappointment to watch the video- yet another patriotic initiative by the Times Group. It has in its attempt miserably failed to re create the magic of the “old”. The old indeed did successfully represent India, the tune and the tone was extremely pronounced. The new lacks in its soul. It is clearly a lost opportunity to say the least - instead of retelling a ‘behind-the-times’ story of national integration, all I saw in the video was shilpa shetty promoting her ‘Solar Energy Brand’, Shahid Kapoor still seems to be promoting ‘Chance pe Dance’, the old video did bring together Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun and Jeetendra in a single frame but in the new version that promised to bring the khans together was again a let down, though I appreciate the causes being promoted by Aamir and Salman in the video the overall treatment does lack the lustre of the old version!! If it is “Phir mile sur mera tumhara” then why not come together in a single frame.
It was yet another surprise to find none of our cricketers in the video – I don’t know whether it was a deliberate attempt to promote other sports in a cricket crazy nation or it had to do with something else but yes now I would just want to add that for me the biggest disappointment was not seeing Sachin Tendulkar in the video and do I have to write something to prove his stature – How can we talk of India and not him. I truly missed him in the video. Apart from Sachin I would have been happier to see the likes of Lata Mangeshkar and Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam in the video.
The newer version is more entertaining that emotive. I don’t know about others but for me personally it’s just a little difficult to relate my sur with the NEW MILE SUR MERA TUMHARA.