Among several names from the entertainment industry across the world which came together for the ‘I For India’ virtual fundraiser concert, some young voices from Chennai rang out loud.
Members of the Nalandaway Foundation’s Chennai Children Choir along with the Delhi Children’s Choir, rendered the song ‘Raghupathy Raghava Rajaram’ as part of the four hour home-to-home fundraiser concert.
“We got 28 children from the Chennai and Delhi Choirs to sing the song. It was a challenge for us initially since we couldn’t meet to record the song. We instead asked the children to record themselves singing the song from their homes, and then put together the individual videos,” said Sriam Aiyar, founder, Nalandaway Foundation.
The Chennai Children’s Choir directors Manju Ponnapalli and Vedant Bharadwaj selected the song and reached out to the children. “We gave them instructions on how to record and guided them through the singing, all online. “Raghupathy raghava rajaram, we felt, was the best song to chose in these times to spread more love and happiness,” said Ms Manju. For the children, it was an interesting experience, one that they had taken to enthusiastically, she added.
Students from the city’s Corporation Schools, many of whom are from disadvantaged homes, are a part of the Chennai Children’s Choir. The children have performed extensively and trained every Saturday.
Facebook had announced that they were collaborating with names from the entertainment industry across the world for the ‘I for India’ concert. All the proceeds from the concert were given to the India COVID-19 response fund managed by GiveIndia to support on-ground relief efforts.
The concert opened with a message from Actor Akshay Kumar, urging people to come together and donate via the Give India platform. Through the concert, celebrities including Aamir Khan, Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Parineeti Chopra and Tiger Shroff participated and crooned short songs. Music composers A.R. Rahman, Ajay and Atul and Shankar-Ehsan-Loy too featured in the concert.
The songs were interspersed with short interviews of doctors and entrepreneurs and actors Katrina Kaif and Aishwarya Rai were among those who interacted with them. Sportspersons Virat Kohli and Sania Mirza as well as actors Will Smith, Jack Black and musicians Mick Jagger and Nick Jonas were among those who were a part of the concert as well.