Congress wants to say Jai Ho!
I just read that Congress has acquired the rights for the Oscar winning youth anthem “Jai Ho” for its election campaign. It doesn’t matter that in the past five year the government did little to upgrade the life of the slum dwellers leave alone making them millionaires.
A hit song is something they would like to capitalize on to get their message across to the masses. May be there was Rahul Gandhi’s hand in Congress placing its hands on this song.
I also read that “Oscar” Fernandes has stepped down as the Labor Minister to concentrate on party work. May be Congress party wanted not to separate Jai Ho and Oscar. So, now Oscar can go around doing party work singing Jai Ho in his “ishtyle“
Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s recently said that ”congress deserved an Oscar for mushrooming slums“.
Probably, that prompted Congress to grab that Oscar at any cost. So they would have gone and acquired the Oscar winning song to celebrate the “slum growth” achievement. Even if it was slum growth, it still was some growth which is good in recession times, Congress might have thought.
Congress deserves Oscar for mushrooming slums: Modi Tuesday, 03 March , 2009, 23:36
Thane: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday poked fun at the Congress, saying it should get an Oscar since it was under the party’s rule that “slums had mushroomed in the country” and but for this, Slumdog Millionaire would not have been made.
Speaking at an election rally here, Modi said: “If Congress had not been around, slums would not have been there. If slums had not existed there would not be any slumdogs and consequently the movie (Slumdog Millionaire) would not have been made.” “So, the Oscar should go to the Congress,” said Modi, who the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has put in charge of the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra. Reacting strongly to Modi’s remarks, Congress spokesperson and Minister of State for Home Affairs Shakeel Ahmad said: “We are not surprised. Modi is a person of perverted mind. He can say things.”
This acquisition also throws open a conspiracy theory. Is it possible that Congress, first acquired the rights to the song and then worked behind the scenes to ensure Oscar awards for “Jai Ho” song? Else why would “Jai Ho” win the Oscar and not “Oh Saiya” despite nomination for that song as well?
For those in Tamilnadu, parties singing their policies(?) to the tunes of hit numbers is not new. In Tamilnadu political parties have been using popular film songs for many years now – whether it is a melody or a “kuthu” (a dance number with unbelievably fast beats with singers at their loudest best).
Only condition for using a song is that the lead actor should not be aligned to the opposite party. So, however big hit a song be, a Vijayakant movie song will not be used by AIADMK and a Jayalalitha movie song will not be used by DMDK (Vijayakant’s party).
However, both will liberally use MGR movie songs, since Vijayakant projects himself as “karuppu MGR” (Black version of MGR). He will however be careful not to use the MGR numbers that also include Jayalalitha in the lead 
As far DMK is concerned songs have never been a problem and now with most people in DMK Chief’s family invoved in film production, distribution and exhibition (their own Television) they have a rich bank of songs to bank on. If nothing is available, they always have the services of “Kalaignar” and the Cine Lyricists and ardent DMK supporters Vairamuthu and Vaali to pen fresh songs for the party.
The most popular song that is very frequently used by AIADMK is ”Amma endral anbu” (mother means love) sung by Ms. Jayalalithaa herself in a movie and interestingly played now in praise of Ms. Jayalalithaa who is more popularly referred as “amma” by the party cadres.
While having movie tunes will be less of a problem for any other party in the country, only BJP might find itself left behind if it doesn’t sew up something quickly.
But they can take solace from the fact that last time when Congress went for a popular song and danced saying “Chak De” it was BJP that became the unsung hero winning the Gujarat Assembly elections.
When it is election time, cine stars really get busy, especially the ones that have no films on hand and out of party circles. Most parties circle them and make them attain partydom. I only hope that music senses prevailed and Congress has not also acquired our priceless A R Rahman alongwith “Jai Ho”.
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Hummm…..that conspiracy theory….made me think.
The most popular song that is very frequently used by AIADMK is ”Amma endral anbu” (mother means love) sung by Ms. Jayalalithaa herself – Fantastic. Is that true? I have heard lot of MGR songs
I only hope that music senses prevailed and Congress has not also acquired our priceless A R Rahman alongwith “Jai Ho”.
- I not only hope but pray that its not the case.
Being a chennaite I have experienced all these election-time songs with lyrics supporting the party. This is a voice pollution and must be banned by the election committee.
The two largest parties have both used Jai Ho – Be Victorious – in campaign rallies, creating a fresh battlefront in the bid for votes. The song appears in the closing moments of the film, where the main characters lead a Bollywood dance in Mumbai’s main train station.
The ruling Congress party has bought the exclusive rights to play the song, which was written by double Oscar-winner AR Rahman, at their election rallies, said a senior party official, Digvijay Singh.
The Congress party said it would be playing the song at rallies and in commercials leading up to the national elections, which will be held in five phases beginning in April at the end of the ruling party’s five-year term.
The main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), has protested, saying the song is “public property”. “Anyone should be able to use the song. Jai Ho should not belong to anyone; it belongs to the country,” Atul Shah, a member of the BJP campaign committee, told the NDTV news channel.
Lawyers representing Percept Picture Company, which is handling the Congress party’s media campaign, have warned the BJP of legal action if it used the song in its poll campaign. The Congress party paid 10m rupees (£140,000) for the song rights.
The Congress party, headed by Sonia Gandhi, sees the song as a way of connecting with the “common man”. However many internet comments condemned the move, saying it was “sad [that the song] is being used by a political party”. “People associate the song to victory and hope, not a victory to a political party,” wrote one man from south India.
Although Slumdog Millionaire has become a big box office success after its triumph at the Oscars, it initially had a lukewarm reception in India. Critics complained about the portrayal of the country and that the film had purveyed “poverty porn”.
It seems that the Congress’s move may allow the BJP to capitalise on this sentiment. Narendra Modi, one of the BJP’s most prominent politicians, said: “If it were not for Congress misrule for the last 60 years, there would be no slums and then no Slumdog and no Oscar.”
Thanks: Guardian, UK
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