‘A gift to every single Indian’: Bengaluru-based Grammy-winner Ricky Kej on rendition of ‘Jana Gana Mana’

Ricky Kej said his rendition of the ‘Jana Gana Mana’ with the 100-member Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was a gift to every single Indian.

Bengaluru-based musician and three-time Grammy award winner, Ricky Kej, on Tuesday said the Indian national anthem, "Jana Gana Mana", has been the most “important piece of music” in his life. Kej on Monday led the UK's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) for a rendition of "Jana Gana Mana" and said the experience was “special”, news agency PTI reported.

Ricky Kej conducting the 100-member Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios.

The rendition was recorded with a 100-piece British orchestra from the RPO in London, a video of which caught the eye of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well, who reacted on social media site X and said it will certainly make every Indian proud.

READ | PM Modi reacts to Grammy-winner Ricky Kej’s rendition of Indian National Anthem

Kej said the performance was a “gift” to “every single Indian everywhere in the world”. “At the back of my mind, it was going on that the British ruled us for over 200 years, so it was nice for an Indian conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, performing our Indian national anthem. They were very gracious, amazing, put in all their hard work into it, and created a beautiful version of our national anthem. I hope to gift this to every single Indian everywhere in the world,” he told the agency.

“It is very special and close to my heart. It's been the most important piece of music in my life – the first piece of music I learned even before nursery rhymes or lullabies. It's absolutely in my blood. In India, the minute anybody listens to the first few notes of the national anthem, you find a strong sense of patriotism, love for your country, pride for your country. I didn't have to work hard to get the passion, it was already there,” Kej added.

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Kej said he and a 100 other musicians who worked on the rendition planned on who was going to be playing what for around three months to come together in perfect harmony. The recording took 45 minutes, he said.

Kej also said he felt “grateful” for PM Modi's appreciation. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appreciated it, I'm grateful for this. He said it should make all Indians proud, which was very kind of him. The rendition has gone far and wide, I can see that people are sharing it on social media. I think we have crossed ten million views of the video across social media,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)