''Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat'' (alternately titled Gujarat Theme Song) is a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

song composed by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

. Prasoon Joshi has written the Hindi lyrics of the song. The title line is taken from a song ''

Jai Jai Garavi Gujarat Jai Jai Garavi Gujarat (; "Victory to Proud Gujarat") is a poem written by Gujarati poet Narmadashankar Dave in 1873. It is used as a state anthem during ceremonies of the Government of Gujarat. Composition Narmad is considered the first modern ...

'' penned by Gujarati poet

Narmad Narmadashankar Lalshankar Dave () (24 August 1833 – 26 February 1886), popularly known as Narmad, was an Indian Gujarati-language poet, playwright, essayist, orator, lexicographer and reformer under the British Raj. He is considered to be the ...

. It is performed by

Keerthi Sagathia Keerthi Sagathia (born 14 September 1979, in Mumbai) is a musician and singer. Keerthi is the son of famous Gujarati folk singer Karsan Sagathiya. In 2005 he was a contestant for Sony TV reality show ''Fame Gurukul''. He was a celebrity guest s ...

and various other artists. It was composed as part of the 50th year of formation of Gujarat state.

Background

Rahman was commissioned by the Gujarat government to set tune for the famous lines by the noted Gujarati poet

, which were long used in many Gujarat government functions, as part of celebrations regarding the 50th year of formation of Gujarat State. Rahman composed those lines with his typical inspirational style and recorded the song with many major artists. According to Rahman, "The people of Gujarat are some of the nicest that I've come across whether in India or across the globe. Also, the fact that my wife is from Kutch, gave me additional impetus to compose this song."

Release and reception

The song was released on 1 May 2010, the same date on which the Gujarat State was formed 50 years before in

Sardar Patel Stadium The Narendra Modi Stadium (Gujarati: નરેન્દ્ર મોદી સ્ટેડિયમ; Hindi: नरेन्द्र मोदी स्टेडियम), formerly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium is a cricket stadi ...

, Ahmedabad. There was no official audio launch function and the song was made available for free download from various websites including the official site of

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...

. The song received positive responses, for the comparatively mild instrumentation which indirectly helped the audience to get to the lines easily. The song released as a single but not commercially. It was made available for digital download in 2 versions,

and

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

languages respectively. Hence, there was an initial controversy whether the song was composed by the noted composer or not but later came the official clarifications. There was also criticisms that the song was not well used and was not given any deserved importance in the functions.

Contributing artists

Lead vocals *

Sadhana Sargam Sadhana Sargam (née Ghanekar, born 7 March 1969) is an Indian singer known for her playback career in Indian cinema predominantly in Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil language films. She is a recipient of the National Film Award and Filmfare ...

Backing vocals * Haricharan * Bhagyaraj * Nithin Raj * R. Vijay Narain * Kalyani * Megha * Maya * Rita * Priya Panchal * Jahnvi Shrimankar * Upanga * Shruti *

Shriram Iyer Shriram Iyer is an Indian singer who has provided the music for the Bollywood film, Iqbal and also sung the opening theme song for the Zee TV show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007. He is lead singer of the fusion band "OM The Fusion Band". Life ...

* Bhavin Dhanak * Kapil * Sagar Kendurker *

Sachin–Jigar Sachin–Jigar is an Indian music composer duo consisting of Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya. They compose for Hindi and Gujarati language films. They have scored a number of successful soundtracks in recent times. Before working independently ...

Music video

Music video was conceived and directed by

Bharat Bala Bharath Bala is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Career Bharat Bala produced the acclaimed album ''Vande Mataram'' and '' Jana Gana Mana Video'' and heads BharatBala Productions based in Che ...

under Bharat Bala Productions.

References

{{authority control 2010 singles Songs with music by A. R. Rahman Songs about India Indian songs Gujarati-language songs 2010 songs