Not only India but the entire world is facing COVID-19 pandemic crisis. This is the moment to stay calm, stay indoors and stay safe.
But staying at home and limiting yourself to move out has become the new normal now. Never ever expected that we would be home quarantined for months and experience lockdown version 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and so on.
Some of us sitting at home jobless while others working from home, watching news and getting depressed over rise in every new case.
Lockdown
As per the Chinese calendar, the year 2020 is indeed the year of rats. Like rats we came out of our house only for food and the moment we saw someone approaching us we ran away back into our house.
A stitch in time will save many of us. So, instead of getting bogged down over things that are not in our control, just a little effort of maintaining social distance can help us and others too.
Our actors and singers from the entertainment industry didn’t leave the chance to entertain, motivate and more importantly spread awareness about coronavirus. Coming up with a song amidst lockdown wasn’t an easy task as they couldn’t go to the studio to record the song with technical expertise. All they could do was record and bring out the song from what was at hand at home.
Like Bollywood actors and other regional actors, our Goan actors too have not missed out on the opportunity to bring out the song in their mother tongue – Konkani.
The famous ‘Amizade’ movie director, Aniket Arun Naik although staying in Mumbai but still attached to his Goan roots was overwhelmed to have a song on coronavirus in Konkani.
Carrying around 12 years of experience in the film industry, Aniket said, “I am emotionally attached to Goa and when the first thought of making a song came I immediately called up the producer of my film Sachin Verlekar. He immediately jumped to the idea and we had our song released on May 8, 2020.”
The song is titled as ‘Jait’ meaning victory. The director decided to keep the sound track same as that of the title song of the film ‘Amizade’. The only thing remaining was to ornament the song with words. So, he roped in Saiesh Pai Panandikar. Saiesh wrote the song in 24 hours and then they were ready to shoot.
Goa’s famous actor Salil Naik, theatre artist, Prince Jacob, actors like Sanjiv Prabhu, Siddharth Yaji, RJ Uday Chari, actor Nandan Kunkalekar, Saurabh Karkhanis, Saidutt Kamat, Brijesh Kakodker, Chetan Upadhye and Rushikesh Naik were part of the song. The singer was Aniket Daddikar.
The song is produced under the banner of Bymistake Motion Pictures
Making of the song took just a week. But for once Aniket was shrouded with the thought of forgoing the song.
“I wanted to call it off because Goa was declared as green zone and so thought there was no need of the song. But then the second thought of social distancing going to be the new normal gave the song the go-ahead,” said Aniket.
The song was then released spreading awareness on coronavirus and it acted as a soothing balm against the pain and anxiety that people suffered.
Another Goan famous actor, Kevin D’Mello and his father Cesar D’Mello who is a film director cum script writer for tiatrs sang the song on coronavirus in Konkani. Cesar D’Mello wrote the song with the intention to spread the message of staying safe and together we fight the battle of covid-19.
“I believe united we can fight against coronavirus,” said Cesar D’Mello.
Cesar D’Mello plays melodic and Ghumat while Kevin D’Mello sings
Struck by economic and social disparities and even despair, the singers knew no boundaries but to sing and bring back the life in people.
And, this saw huge number of people turning to music as a sole respite to their chaotic life. To many, it acted as an antidote that helped them to stay positive and hopeful.
A psychologist, Bhakti Deshpande said, “Music is a good mood booster and it builds a sense of community among people who feel alienated – more so when we are all asked to maintain social distance and isolate from the society in general.”
History is a witness to it all. Songs like ‘Tree of Life’, ‘We Shall Overcome’ and ‘Eyes on the Prize’ were sung during the civil rights movement in America. These songs of freedom brought about a huge impact in inspiring and keeping the hopes alive of bringing the black and white together.
The songs evoked emotions and vitality that gave voice to the people in the civil rights movement. The song also brings to once mind the long history of the sufferings of black people.
The music was also used as a medium to uplift the spirits of the soldiers in World War II. History has it that music has helped the soldiers to overcome stress and traumas faced at the battlefront.
Music played an important role in boosting morale and bringing back the courage.
“It is just great to have people singing as it releases endorphins and dopamine in the brain. These happy hormones help in lowering the feelings of anxiety and stress,” said Ms. Deshpande.
In times of uncertainty and torment, music is a great healer that distracts us from negative emotions and thus uplifts our mood positively.
This is amazing !! something fresh to read and very relevant. Gives a lot of positivity. Awesomely wrote with some great examples and research. I don’t read that much but this kept me interested..thank you to the author (Purvi Radia) for the amazing article 🙂 Made my day..Keep up the good work.