When Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar sang this patriotic song written by the ‘Monarch of Patriotic Songs,’ Kavi Pradeep, it became an instant hit. Few may know that the song was not written and composed for a film, but it was composed to commemorate the Indian soldiers who were martyred in the Sino-Indian War in 1962. The song was first performed ‘Live’ by Lata Mangeshkar at National Stadium in New Delhi on the occasion of Republic Day, 26 January 1963, in the presence of several lakh Indians. Among the notables present at the event were President of India Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Lata Mangeshkar’s patriotic rendition of “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon…” brought the National Stadium down with thunderous applause and cheers from the audience, concluding the event that featured many patriotic songs. But the ‘Best Compliment’ came from none other than the Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. The song had such a mesmerizing impact on Pt. Nehru that he burst into tears. He came on the stage and hugged Lata and said the iconic words, “Lata Beti, tumne aaj mujhe rula diya!”
A Patriotic Tribute: The Royalty Story Behind ‘Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon
In an interview, Lata said, “At first I was nervous as the song was composed in a hurry and I had not done rehearsals. But composer C. Ramchandra was confident, and he infused energy and boosted my confidence. But after I sang the song, the public response amazed me. The cream on the cake was Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru’s compliment!” She added, “The song is such a hit that none of my shows is complete until I sing the song.”
The event successfully raised Rs 2 lakh for the War Widows Fund, a cause that delighted readers, and was a huge success. Another interesting fact of the song is that watching the popularity of the song HMV (The Music Company) had recorded the song the same evening and released the records the next day in the market. The sale of the records was tremendous but Poet Kavi‘s daughter waged a legal battle with HMV, as Kavi Pradeep had pledged to donate the royalties obtained from the sale of records of the song to Army Welfare Funds, but HMV did not pay the amount to Army Welfare Fund.
Hence Mitul, daughter of Kavi Pradeep, filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) and in 2005 won the case, as the Bombay High Court ordered music company HMV to pay a lump sum of Rs 10 lakh to the Army Welfare Fund as the song’s royalty proceeds.
For more than several decades, even today commands the same sway over the hearts of every Indian and remains the nation’s number one patriotic number.
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