Oscar winner A.R. Rahman, musician Ananya Birla collaborate for Indian Olympians ahead of Tokyo 2020

Marking their maiden collaboration, Oscar, BAFTA and Grammy-winning composer, A.R. Rahman joins Ananya Birla on the record of her latest track 'Hindustani Way’ as the composer and producer.

The track is an amalgamation of Hindi and English lyrics that is set out to establish an upbeat message of unity and optimism, heralding the gradual retreat of COVID-19 led tumultuous times as the kick-off date of the sporting extravaganza nears.

Talking about this collaboration with her 'role model', Ananya said in a statement,“It is a true honour to write and sing a song to cheer our Indian Olympic contingent at Tokyo 2020. The grit and fortitude of the Indian Olympic team in the face of such a challenging year is inspiring. It was surreal to have had the opportunity to collaborate with my role model, AR sir on such a prestigious project, from whom I have learnt so much. We are here cheering, the 'Hindustani Way'”

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Speaking about his involvement in the project, A.R. Rahman added, “All of us are really excited to have made this special song and hope our athletes can feel the entire nation rooting for them, the Hindustani way, when they hear it. It was a pleasure working with Ananya on this project and we hope to convey all our support and best wishes to Team India through it. Jai Hind!”

The patriotic track was jointly written by Ananya Birla, lyricists Nirmika Singh and Shishir Samant. The music video's been directed by Danny Mamik and Sahaan Hattangadi, and produced by Ananya's new production house. The music video features key Olympic archival footage from Atlanta (1996), Athens (2004), Beijing (2002, 2008), Rio (2016), London (2012) and exclusive training footage of this year’s contingent.

The Tokyo Olympics 2020 will kickstart on July 23 after it was postponed for a year amid soaring Coronavirus infection rates and lockdowns across the world. With the mercury of excitement soaring new high, Indians are weaving high hopes around their star athletes to shine at the biggest sporting extravaganza in the world.