To show gratitude for the bill — which makes it mandatory for music companies and producers to share royalty with all singers, lyricists and scriptwriters — music icons such as Lata Mangeshkar and AR Rahman will take part in a musical evening at GMC Balayogi auditorium in the parliament library building on Thursday.Lyricist and Rajya Sabha MP Javed Akhtar, who pursued the government to pass the copyright bill, arranged the event, aptly titled Shukrana (Thank you).
“Lataji is unlikely to sing but she may say a few words. The list of stars includes Gulzar, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, Vishal and Rekha Bhardwaj, Sonu Niigaam and Sunidhi Chauhan,” Akhtar said.
While some, like Mangeshkar and Rahman, have been there before, many are first timers. “I’m excited about the performance. I’m singing four songs — Zara Si Aahat, Diye Jalte Hain, Mere Pyare Watan and Ishq Sufiyana,” says Chauhan.
“The bill means we can earn till we die, but don’t have to work till we die. This is a small token of thanks to all the parliamentarians,” says Shankar Mahadevan.
“We will entertain them for a couple of hours. We’re shortlisting a few songs and I’ll try to make the evening melodious with ones like Breathless and Mitwa,” Mahadevan adds. The event, to be anchored by actor Shabana Azmi, will start with a jugalbandi of pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma and pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Gulzar and Akhtar are expected to recite poetry.
To ensure it all goes well, the auditorium will be fitted with a special sound system. After the singing, the artists will be treated to a dinner hosted by Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar.