NEW DELHI: Actress-Parliamentarian Hema Malini has come out with her debut bhajan album Gopala Ko Samarpan, written by noted poet Kavi Narayan Agrawal.

The album, which was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, will be launched in the presence of media at ISKCON Temple, Juhu in Mumbai to usher in Janmashtami on 13 August 2017. Classical stalwarts like Hariprasad Chaurasia, Suresh Wadkar, Shankar Mahadevan etc, will be present on the occasion.

When Hema Malini presented the album to the Prime Minister, he told her that he had already heard her chants in Soundarya Lahiri and was sure that her debut bhajan album Gopala Ko Samarpan will be as good.  

Malini said: "The entire credit goes to Narayan Agarwal, a Krishna bhakt, who is known for bringing out the best of Jagjit Singh and Anup Jalota bhajans. When Narayanji asked me to sing eight tracks for this album I was hesitant to sing as I am not a professional singer, and did not want to do anything in a half-hearted manner. But he insisted that I should listen to all the compositions first, before taking the final call.”

After hearing all the compositions she realized the importance of the album. She added, "You don't get to share a platform with legends like Pandit Jasraj ji, Hariparsadji, Rajan Sajan ji and Shiv Kumar Sharmaji that often. And when such stalwarts have composed the tunes, then it was a tremendous pressure on me to perform well. Besides every track is differently composed, keeping the mood and situations in mind.”

Poet Narayan Agarawal penned eight lyrics for this album. He has been a devotee of Lord Krishna and wanted Hema to be a part of this album. "Since the time, I heard her chanting Soundarya Lahiri in an album couple of years earlier; I knew that she would sing bhajans beautifully. Her Sanskrit pronunciation is impeccable and that is vital for any recitation. She even did her riyaaz for six months, ”poet Agarwal, who accompanied Malini to meet Modi, said.

8 Bhajan Tracks: ‘Gopala Ko Samarpan’

1. Krishna Ki Preet by Pt Jasraj

2. Na Radha Na Meera by Pt H Chourasia

3. Palna Jhule Nand Gopal by Pt HC

4. Nandlal Brijpal by Shiv Kumar 

5. Prem Kamal by Rajan Sajan Mishra

6. Kar Kamlan Mein by Shiv Kumar Sharma

7. Naino ki tum by Rajan Sajan Mishra

8. Aisan Riji Mein by Pandit Jasraj