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Spiced with the soul of sportspersons journey: Samarpit Golani on National Games anthem
After composing the anthem for 37th National Games 2023, to be held in Goa from October 26, composer Samarpit Golani wants to compose more sports theme songs.
After composing the anthem for the upcoming 37th National Games 2023, to be held in Goa from October 26, singer-composer Samarpit Golani wants to compose more sports theme songs. The 32-year-old feels blessed that megastar (actor) Amitabh Bachchan gave the narration to the song that will be played during the event’s opening ceremony.
“A lot of people, including some diggaj were in fray, but thankfully we were able to make the cut. A sportsperson’s life is full of struggle and after years of practice and struggle they get the chance to prove themselves. With my journey, I could relate with them and had put my soul in it, and probably that’s the reason it clicked – it has the soul of sportsperson’s struggle,” says the composer.
Golani says the punchline worked in his favour. “I wrote the punch line Khel aisa khel, jaise kabhi bhi khela na ho which was developed by lyricist Susheel Kumar. Singers Swaroop Khan and Nandini Sharma sang it brilliantly. We recorded with 90 live musicians, and all put together probably infused life into the anthem,” he says.
Remembering meeting Big B for the narration, he says, “He was already told about the song and when we met him in the evening at his residence Janak (in Mumbai), he had already recorded it. He liked the song and after giving the recording he humbly said, ‘kui truti ho bataiyega, phir se kar lengey’. After meeting him, I understood why he is a megastar!”
Hailing from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Golani started learning from his musician father. “I started at 3 and it has been 30 years, and I am still learning. I have recorded over 1,000 bhajans, sang for numbers and films and even given a break to singer Maithili Thakur. I have given background score for upcoming film Kaun Con Hai and have composed an album Temple of Arts which has songs by Hariharan, Rekha Bhardwaj, Javed Ali, Thakur and others. I also have sung a song with Anandi Joshi,” he says.
