“Music is everywhere,” says Sulaiman Merchant. “At office, at home, in the car, in the elevator…what better way to pass on a message than through music?” Known for several Bollywood chartbusters and cross-genre music, Salim and Sulaiman Merchant, have teamed with Animal Planet to do just that. They have composed the Yeh Mera India ‘animal anthem’ to mark the channel’s month-long celebration of our country’s wildlife in view of India’s 67th year of Independence.
The multi-lingual song, with lines in Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil, has been sung by Salim Merchant, Monali Thakur and Neeti Mohan. The video features breathtaking visuals of India’s flora and fauna. “It sends out a subtle message that humans are not the only ones walking this planet; that we have an incredible wildlife that has to be conserved,” says Sulaiman in a telephone interview. The song does so “without being preachy,” he adds.
Salim and Sulaiman have long been “animal lovers”. “We’ve had Chihuahuas as pets,” says Sulaiman, adding that the duo has been to the Maasai Mara in Kenya during their concert tours. “It was beautiful,” he says of the experience. “We stayed in tents within the forest, in close contact with the birds and animals there. It was incredible to see them in the wild; to see them move about with absolute freedom.” It’s this message that the duo hopes to convey through their ‘animal anthem’ — that one has to stop to admire the diverse wildlife that India is home to.
On the Bollywood front, Salim and Sulaiman have composed music for the Rani Mukherjee-starrer Mardaani . The movie deals with human trafficking, says Sulaiman, adding that they composed “powerful songs that convey women’s empowerment and the various roles women take on in life; that of a sister, wife, mother…” The music will be a portrayal of what the nation’s women are going through at present, he explains.
The brothers are also composing music for Love Story , a remake of the 1981 Kumar Gaurav film. Presently, they are involved in the media campaign of the Hollywood film Sold for which they composed the music. That aside, the Merchant brothers are “touring the world as usual” for the sake of music. Their calendars are packed. Says Sulaiman: “We had a concert in Dubai, participated in the WOMAD Charlton Park Festival in London, and are travelling to Oslo in Norway for the World Performing Arts Festival.”
Animal Planet will feature Yeh Mera India , a month-long programme at 8 p.m. from August 15 onwards. From the Himalayan mountains to the pristine world of the North East, the line-up will showcase wildlife from across the country.
