MUMBAI: Almost a year after the prime minister announced #SwachhBharat mission, artists across the country have come together to unite the citizens to once again commit themselves towards a cleaner and healthier India by 2019. Considered as the pioneers of fusion rock genre in India, India Ocean and lyricist Prasoon Joshi have partnered with Dettol Banega Swachh India to launch a new music track to re-energise the hygiene and sanitation movement across the country. For a cause as noble and important as this, other prominent bands and artists such as Dr. Palash Sen of Euphoria, Subir and Nitin Malik from Parikrama, Karthik, Kutle Khan, Koco and Mohan of Agnee and Shilpa Rao have also joined the initiative.
Titled as ‘Banega Swachh India’, the video has been shot near various historic monuments like Qutub Minar, Amer Fort, Humayun’s Tomb and Gateway of India. The title track was released today on MTV, Aaj Tak and YouTube featuring all the band members Rahul Ram, Amit Kilam, Nikhil Rao, Himanshu Joshi and Tuheen Chakravorty. All the elements of the video, the futuristic approach, the eye-catching sequences, charm of historical places and expressions of the singers, create a long-lasting impact on the spectators.
Talking about the new track, Indian Ocean said “Swachtha zindagi ki har raah aur har dagar mein hona aniwarya hai, dimagi swachta, Zehni swachta, karam ki swachta, dharam ki swachta, karya ki swachta. It is about the heart, body, mind and soul being clean which will relieve the world from pain and disharmony. For us the song is not just about being hygienic, that of course is the text of the song and also an extremely important message but the subtext for us is the fact that cleanliness in all walks and factors of life is important and that is what we hope will be the message of the song. We cannot thank our friends enough, who have been part of this song - Dr. Palash Sen of Euphoria, Subir and Nitin Malik from Parikrama, Karthik, Kutle Khan, Koco and Mohan of Agnee and Shilpa Rao. All agreed to be part of this anthem within seconds of us asking them. We also want to thank Shantanu Hudlikar, Abhishek Khandelwal and Manasi Tare from Yashraj Studios who have worked tirelessly to have this track sounding beautiful. Thank you all."
Commenting on the inspiration behind the lyrics, McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, CEO & chief creative officer India Mr. Prasoon Joshi said, “Music can be a powerful instrument for bringing alive mass consciousness and for a movement like BSI where we are trying to get as many people to come forward, it can certainly play a role. The song tries to capture the upbeat sentiment prevailing in the nation right now and connects people to people to intent to make India swachh. It's a song of hope and of a better, cleaner future."
Speaking about this collaboration Dettol, Developing Markets MD Arjun Purkayastha said, “In the last one year after launching our nationwide campaign Dettol Banega Swachh India, we have made a considerable progress in driving behaviour change towards hygiene and sanitation - Right from developing hygiene curriculum for 2.5 million school children and building 25,000 toilets to adopting 200 villages to make them open defecation free. While we will continue to move forward on this initiative, we also want to encourage people to stand up and do their bit towards this movement. Music is a universal language which unites people across cultures and can serve as an agent of change. And we are extremely delighted to join hands with iconic artists in the country for making music as the medium to reunite people towards a Swachh Bharat.”