Our combination has worked well: Singers Vijay Prakash and Salman Ali on Hum Shaan Se Jalne Nikle Hai

With theatrical films still nervously grounded, it’s interesting to see Indian web shows adopt traditional promotional gambits. Last week, the lead track from 1962: The War in the Hills, an upcoming war series directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, was released. The song, titled Hum Shaan Se Jalne Nikle Hai, The song has garnered over 160k views on YouTube.. It’s being feted as the patriotic number of the season. Hitesh Modak, the track’s composer, has been praised, so has been the duo of singers Vijay Prakash and Salman Ali (a reprised version featuring Aditya Narayan and others was recently released).

Vijay has previously featured on iconic patriotic songs like Jai Ho (from Slumdog Millionaire) and Kandhon Se Milte Hain Kandhe (Lakshya). On Hum Shaan Se…, he leads the track’s emotive, low-pitched start.

“It’s always special to get an opportunity to show my gratitude to our soldiers,” Vijay says. “From the very first line (‘Tum Chain Se Sona…’), our lyricist Luvraj has captured the selfless work our armed forces do. I felt it was a beautiful mukhda to start the track. I’m thankful to Hitesh and our director to give me the freedom to express myself.”

Salman agrees it was a unique idea to begin the song that way. It allowed him to drop in midway with his signature high notes, says the former Indian Idol winner.

“Our combination has worked well,” Salman says. “Hitesh wanted to mean to perform the alap portions of the song. The shift in structure is crucial and leaves a powerful impact.”

Both Vijay and Salman praise their director for his keen musical ear. “I remember Mahesh sir coming to the studio and instructing me closely how to perform the track,” Salman says. “He has a sharp sense of music and wanted us to hit the right notes.”

Vijay asserts that irrespective of platform, patriotic songs always have their appeal. Nevertheless, he marks out Hum Shaan Se… as the start of something new. “Earlier, title tracks were generally associated with mainstream movies. It never got as much attention in the webspace. I think that transition is finally happening…”