Song Campaign to vote for Prashant Tamang

Darjeeling : Three singers from the hills have lent their voice to support Prashant Tamang, who has reached the Top Six at Indian Idol.

Sagar Bal and Kiran Waiba, who as Sagar-Kiran have seven hit Nepali albums under their belt, have joined hands with another singer, Anurag Waiba, to come up with a one-song video album dedicated to Prashant.

The proceeds of the album will be handed over to Prashant’s family to buy mobile recharge coupons, so that a dedicated group of volunteers can keep sending text messages to vote for the boy from Darjeeling.

Each contestant’s fate at the nationally televised talent hunt depends on the number of audience votes he or she can garner after every performance.

The album, which is in Hindi and called Lakho dil ki dharkan hamara Prashant Tamang, hit the market today and has been flying off the shelves. “The album is priced Rs 100, but we have decided to keep only Rs 25 to recover the investment. The rest will be given to Prashant’s family,” said Sagar.

A month ago, members of the Gorkha community living here as well as abroad had donated money with the same aim. The family members of Prashant in turn had formed an informal committee to manage the SMS voting process.

Darjeeling municipal commissioner Tenzing Khambachay, a close family friend who is monitoring the use of recharge coupons, said: “We will spend the money in the same way we did earlier. It is really heartening to see people coming forward to help their hero.”

The 15-minute song has been shot in different parts of the hills, including monasteries, churches, temples and mosques, with different communities in traditional attire drumming up support for the Calcutta Police constable.

Sagar, who like Kiran is in his mid-thirties, said the idea of the album germinated after he heard a comment that artists from the hills were not coming forward to help Prashant. “This really rankled and I got hold of other singers to come up with this album,” said Sagar. Ejazz Ali of Strings 786 Audio Station, a recording studio in Darjeeling, not only wrote the lyrics in Hindi but also composed and provided music to the album. Amar Jain produced it.

Various other people, along with local TV channels, also contributed and it took only 20 days to make the album.

Source: The Telegraph