Exclusive: 'Vande Bharatam will instil pride in Indians about our Indianness'

Image: Ricky Kej/Instagram

Grammy-winning Indian composer Ricky Kej and Oscar contender music composer and percussionist Bikram Ghosh created a 12-minute musical masterpiece ‘Vande Bharatam’. The music piece was played at the Republic Day Parade this year and was created to celebrate India’s 75 glorious years of independence. While the music piece was composed particularly for the Republic Day Parade 2022, on Monday evening, the entire ‘Vande Bharatam’ album was officially released by the Union Ministry of Culture at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts (IGNCA). Ahead of the album’s release, Ricky Kej, who won a Grammy Award in 2015 for his album ‘Winds of Samsara’, spoke exclusively with Asianet Newsable. Read excerpts from his interview where he talks about the album, on working with Ghosh and more.

Bikram Ghosh and you have composed ‘Vande Bharatam’, a piece of music that was played during this year’s Republic Day Parade. Tell us about your composition.

Ricky Kej: This particular music, ‘Vande Bharatam’, Bikram and I collaborated for, was created for the Republic Day Parade that took place on January 26, 2022. It was quite a magnum opus event which saw 500 dancers from across India, dance to this music. We worked very hard on this particular piece with musicians from across India to represent every region of the country, all forms of its folk and classical music. We were extremely happy with the piece of music we have created and that is when the Union Ministry of Culture got together with us and said that let this music not be restricted to only one event of the Republic Day alone. That is why we are releasing it today on February 21, on all digital music platforms.

Take a listen to the exclusive interview with Ricky Kej:

How many musicians did you work with for this song? And what were the thoughts that went behind its composition?

Ricky Kej: There were about 40 musicians from every region of India who collaborated with us on this music. The thought was to celebrate the 75 years of India’s independence. We wanted to instil a sense of pride in Indians about our Indianness. We also sort of contemporized the music in a way that it can be understood by anyone who likes any form of music. If a person from outside of Indian listens to it, there will be a sense of curiosity about Indians and the beauty of India and its music. That is what our thoughts were while creating it. We wanted everyone to appreciate the music, not just the connoisseurs of Indian pop music. It is sort of Indian in its essence but global in its outlook.

This is for the first time that Bikram Ghosh and you have collaborated. Since you two worked remotely on it, were there any challenges that you faced while composing it?

Ricky Kej: I never met Bikram before. But coincidently, just two days before we were asked to do this piece together by the Union Ministry of Culture, Bikram and I had met for dinner in Kolkata. I had gone there for a meeting and there was this sit-down dinner which was organised where Bikram and I were seated together. So, that is how we first met. And two days later, out of sheer coincidence and nothing related to the particular dinner, we were asked to this music. It was kind of shocking and serendipitous at the same time. We immediately accepted the offer and decided to work together.

Musicians nowadays, even pre-pandemic, have been used to working remotely since we work with people across the world, and it is not possible for us to travel everywhere.  Therefore, we are all very used to recording and working on music remotely with musicians from around the world. With the pandemic, it is just we don’t have the choice anymore, we have to record remotely. In this particular case also, Bikram and I worked remotely from our respective studios. What we would do is we would come up with ideas, send them across to each other, breed on the ideas and when we were both happy with it, we would create it.

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If you must define your style of music, what would that be?

Ricky Kej: The only type of music I make is on the environment, sustainability and positive social impact. I do not make pop music. You will also never see me creating music for a Bollywood film. I have dedicated myself to creating music for a purpose because I feel very strongly about that.

Do you think music has played an integral part in binding people including during the times of a revolution?

Ricky Kej: I believe music is not only a very powerful language for communicating a message but also for retaining the message in the consciousness of the listener. And this is why revolutions all over the world have been earmarked through music. Events all over the world such as the Great Depression or India’s Independence, there are always songs that are associated with it. And thus, also the reason why every country in this world, without an exception, has a national anthem; It is the music that binds the whole country. It instils a sense of pride and a sense of patriotism, the minute the first particular notes of a national anthem are played. I believe music if used wisely, has a very strong purpose and it is very useful for a revolution’s advocacy and for bringing about positive change in society.

Now when you look back at the album, is there a particular moment that you recall from the time when you two were composing Vande Bharatam? 

Ricky Kej: When we were creating music for the (Republic Day Parade) dance, the time was obviously a concern for us. Since it was a part of the Republic Day Parade, we were given a time slot of 12 minutes. To fit all of that into 12 minutes becomes a bit of a problem since you have so much information, music and ideas that you want to fit in, that time constrain become a bit difficult. But now, when we are releasing the album, we are free of those constraints because right now, the sky is the limit. It (the music) is not being accompanied by a dance or any other visual. So, what we have done is expanded on all that music and we are releasing it in a way we would have intended if it was just a musical extravaganza.

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AR Rahman's version of 'Vande Mataram', ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’, struck a chord with the nation. Tell us about how you think will 'Vande Bharatam' work with the audience.

Ricky Kej: It (Vande Bharatam) is largely instrumental, and thus it classifies as a musical piece than a song. Even though it will have an impact, it is not going to have the same impact as ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ because it was a song. Ours is basically a musical piece. I believe it is one of the pieces that I hope people do appreciate and love because it is pretty all-encompassing of the traditions and emotions of India; at least that is how we intended to make it. And at the same time, I believe that a lot of dance troupes from India would start using it, especially for choreographies during functions in schools and colleges. It is also very enjoyable; however, it is not something that you can probably sing along with but something that can take you to another place. It is a kind of music that can completely elevate your mood, elevate your sense of pride when it comes to being Indian and it can transport you. And that is what I believe is the primary purpose of music – to just transport you.

Ever since the music was played at the Republic Day Parade, it has been garnering a lot of appreciation. How do you feel about that?

Ricky Kej: The appreciation that has come from everywhere, has been tremendous. Mr Govind Mohan, secretary of the Ministry of Culture, had once said in a press conference that he finds the music truly world-class. That statement of is meant a lot to me because a person who is sitting in such a position saying that it’s world-class and one of the best pieces of music he has heard, has made a lot of difference to me.

• Ricky Kej
• Bikram Ghosh
• Vande Bharatam
• Ministry of Culture