The video of composer Raghu Dixit’s anthem, Love 2 Humanity, begins with a shot of a sunrise. Shankar Mahadevan singing a prayer for world peace can be heard. Then, we see empty roads, deserted streets and people inside their homes. It is a situation the world hasn’t seen in recent history. The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to gnaw away at our hopes. Raghu felt this way before he started composing the anthem.

Neeraj Rajawat Singh’s lyrics (in Hindi), however, offer a dash of optimism. It begins, ‘Let the prayer from my heart reach every threshold, let it pour from the sky’. Raghu’s voice and breezy strumming of acoustic guitar uplifts the song’s mood.

Apart from Raghu, the video features celebrities including Yash, Nithya Menen, Shankar Mahadevan, Latha Rajnikanth, Salim Merchant, Javed Ali, Boman Irani, Kalki Koechlin, Soha Ali Khan and Kubra Sait.

The video, launched on World Music Day (June 21), is directed by Alok Shetty. Oum Pradutt, the founder of Phase 1 Events & Experiences, who conceptualised the anthem says, “This song carries a message of empathy, responsibility and strength. At a time when the world has been reset to zero – economically, socially and politically, we endeavoured to bring artists, change makers and industry leaders on the same page with a strong positive energy.”