BHUBANESWAR: The magical bonding of AR Rahman and Gulzar is set to come alive in the Capital. The two will be collaborating again, this time for the official song of Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 to be held here. The lyrics of the track, ‘Jai Hind Hind, Jai India’, has been penned by Gulzar, the composition is by the Oscar winning musician while Shah Rukh Khan’s performance in the video will add zing to the promotions. In a first, Rahman has directed Shah Rukh Khan for the first time.
The song will have a blend of poetry and pulsating rhythm. “Nothing says India more than our beloved sport hockey. And nothing is more exciting than the world’s biggest hockey tournament happening right here, on our turf. The Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup, Bhubaneswar 2018,” Rahman said in a statement. “It’s heart-warming to see the entire nation pledge their heartbeats for hockey.
As an extension of pledging our heartbeats, Gulzar Sahab and I have created the World Cup Song. Join me in this celebration of hockey - of not just our Men in Blue but the spirit of the game,” he added. The electrifying song and video are slated for october-end release when Team India returns from Asian Champions Trophy in Muscat. SRK last week took to twitter extending his support and pledging his heartbeat for Indian Hockey saying, “Mera dil hockey ke liye bahot tez dhadkta hai.”
The opening ceremony of HWC 2018 is slated on November 27 and will showcase both the maestros live at Kalinga Stadium here. To incorporate Odisha heritage and monument in the anthem, the crew members of Rahman reached here on Tuesday. The crew members will do the photo shoot and video at Konark Temple and Chandrabhaga sea. They will also visit Barabati Stadium in Cuttack and World Cup venue Kalinga Stadium.
Focus on sanitation for heritage core in Old Town Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come up with a special sanitation plan to maintain cleanliness and sanitation around ancient temples and monuments in Ekamra- Bhubaneswar, the heritage core area of Capital, during world cup hockey in November. As per the plan the civic body officials have decided to install more dustbins, increase manpower from 12 to 20 for better door-to-door collection of waste, bush cutting activities, strict vigilance on use of polythene and plastic besides immediate lifting of construction and demolition waste, officials said.
The move assumes significance ahead of the upcoming Bhubaneswar Art Trail which would open the entire Old Town area to an international perspective through art, heritage and tourism as the event is planned on the sidelines of Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018. City Health Officer Ramachandra Rout said they will request Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to coordinate with the civic authorities to ensure proper implementation of the move as many of the monuments remain locked most of the time. “They should coordinate with us for a better view of the monuments,’’ Rout said.