Back in the good old days of DD(Doordarshan), one song had captivated the entire nation. Mile Sur Mera Tumhara introduced the concept of National Integration to a generation of people like me. One never tired of watching the song, and it also generated a curiosity within to know more about the musicians who were featured on the song, about whom I was unaware of. It was one of those childhood memories which I warmly recall.

The spell has finally been broken.Kailash Surendranath, take a bow. So what’s wrong with the latest version? Plenty.One gets the distinct feeling that this is a show-case of Bollywood, and the demi-Gods who inhabit it. For heavens sake, India is not only about Bollywood.

There is King Khan, displaying all his passion while the camera slowly reveals the Bandra-Worli sea link. When it comes to Shah Rukh, it seems nothing but something special would do. Even in a song like this. We have Salman Khan in a cute piece involving kids with disabilities. And yes, he is shirtless, showing off his much displayed abs. The Shahid Kapoor part could as well have been taken from any one of his recent movies. And then to top it all, there is Shilpa Shetty. What on earth is she doing here? She would be a great fit in a song about Britain’s national integration. Here she doesn’t fit in at all.

Some of the parts where the Bollywood celebrities are featured, one gets the feeling that the Stars image played a part in how they were portrayed. And it diluted the whole experience of the song.

The sports persons got a real raw deal. There is Abhinav Bindra in a blink-and-you-miss-him appearance. Same with Sushil Kumar. This is how well we treat our few real sporting heroes. Gopichand and Saina Nehwal look like they are lost in the Hyderabad Airport. By the way, Sachin Tendulkar does not feature in this song. One would like to know why?

There are touching moments too. It was wonderful to see all the next generation musicians being featured with their famous Dads. And Bhupen Hazarika singing with so much feeling at such an advanced age was touching indeed. Sadly, he is an exception. The song lacks a Soul, something the original had in plenty. The makers say it is intended for a newer generation with a younger feel. Remains to be seen how long this version will stay in public memory.

Which reminds me of an interesting event. At the height of the Coca Cola- Pepsi battle, when Pepsi was eating away into Coke’s market share, Coke came up with a version of Coca Cola which was more similar to Pepsi than to Coke. There was widespread public condemnation of the new version, and Coke had to withdraw the product. When companies try to revamp or change an existing brand( one that is very successful) they have to be extremely careful that they don’t lose the original customer.
The key challenge lies in retaining your existing set of customers, as well as getting the new generation of youth to follow the brand and become converts.

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