How often do 150 musicians come together for a song dedicated to children with special needs?
It’s not spot-who-is-in-it but spot-who-is-not.
“Banni munde, heli inde, naavu ella onde. (Come forward, say it now, we are all one.)” These are the three lines that inspired the Bengaluru-based music director duo Venky-Varun to create what has turned out to be one of India’s largest music collaborations.
The One Song, composed by the duo, and launched in collaboration with Unicef India, has brought together more than 150 musicians from India, and a some from other parts of the world, in a multilingual, multicultural, cross-genre video (above) with a cause – the song is dedicated to children with special needs.
Though composed primarily in Kannada, the exuberant track, preaching harmony and acceptance, is sung in more than 12 languages, and incorporates multiple genres, including Indian classical, folk, jazz, and fusion.
The star-cast of musicians featured in the charity video – all of whom contributed their musical talents on an honorary basis – is glittering. It includes Pandit Jasraj, M Balamuralikrishna, Sonu Nigam Raghu Dixit, Louis Banks and Leslie Lewis, to name a few.