Rock rendition for the Tiranga

This Independence Day, ditch the remix and plug into the first ever WebCert, which will feature a brand new single from the lungi-clad musician Raghu Dixit

A zany combination of kurta and sarong was Raghupati Dixit's claim to fame as he crooned in Hindi, English and Kannada over a decade ago.
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His rendition of Folk-Rock caught listener's fancy as this composer-lyricist-singer strummed on his guitar with a soulful vibe.
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Eleven years later he hasn't traded his lungi and ghungroo and is still on a roll. Raghu releases his latest single titled Chala Hai Tiranga on August 15 this year.



What took him so long to come up with a patriotic rendition in Hindi? He is quick to retort, "I have sung Namma Naadu Karunaa Du which means my beautiful land in Kannada for Karnataka Rajyotsava, which later was released as part of the Kannada film Psycho."
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He agrees, though, that Chala Hai Tiranga is his first patriotic song in Hindi. "My music has always been about happiness and songs that have a lot of life and meaning.

This time, I was quite enamoured by the beauty of the flag. It's not the usual clich ufffd song about the country, but has a different angle to the idea of patriotism."

Being the music composer, director and singer for most of his songs, this musician sure likes to don many hats. "I am like that.

I like to do it my way. But my friend Montoo Bassi has written this song and I've composed the music. I have always involved musicians who work with me.

I can't play bass guitar and percussion. It's eventually teamwork but this particular song is my personal venture."

If Chala Hai Tiranga is any indication that the next album might turn out to have a patriotic theme, Raghu is not sure yet.

"There has never been a plan for any of my songs. If a song fits a movie or another platform, that's great."

The song will be released on artistaloud.com, which will host the country's first ever WebCert. "I think in today's day and age, this is a great medium to reach out to music lovers.

You can download the song from the website for free," says Raghu as he gets back to his day's rehearsals.