MUMBAI: It is time for Gujarat’s symbolic festival – Navratri. In these nine nights of festivities, people completely devote themselves to music and dance, irrespective of their age or religion. The festival has truly created a unique global identity for Gujarat, but it is losing some of its traditional charm due to changing times.
In order to preserve the culture and tradition of Navratri, in sync with modern times, India’s super-hit radio station Red FM launches its third edition of ‘Red Raas’. For Navratri 2012, ‘Red Raas’ has been supported by Ahmedabad’s most popular township – Godrej Garden City. Renowned singers such as Aishwarya Majumdar, Shyamal Munshi, Saumil Munshi, Arti Munshi, Jay Chavda, Aman Lekhadia, Prasad Thaker and Niraj Pathak have been roped in for the third year of the campaign. These talented vocalists will mesmerize revelers with their renditions of songs written by well-known poets such as Tushar Shukla, Raish Maniyar, Vinay Dave, Shyamal-Saumil, Krushna Dave, Anil Chavada, Dr. Niraj Mehta and Naishadh Purani among others.
In 2010, the 93.5 Red FM team created a novel concept for Navratri celebrations called ‘Red Raas’. The melodious tunes of Navratri were making way for crass remixes, hence it was necessary to maintain the originality of the festival as well as reflect the current trends. The radio station approached revered poets to revise some of the most popular Navratri numbers by incorporating modern scenarios e.g.: the trademark Navratri number, ‘Pankhida tu udi jaje’ (a pigeon is used as a messenger here), had been modified by using words such as Email.
In fact, even traditional Garba steps were enriched with moves borrowed from dance forms like Salsa. This innovative campaign garnered a positive response from the audience. It also had a successful inning in 2011.
Commenting on the initiative, Ms. Nisha Narayanan, Senior VP – Programming & Projects, 93.5 RedFM said, “Red Raas definitely epitomizes the true spirit and pride of Gujarat which is reflected the most during the exuberant and vibrant festival season of Navratras. The initiative is three years old and has been received enthusiastically by our listeners as well as clients. We will continue to conceptualize such initiatives which bring our brand closer to the audiences and the cultural of the Gujarat.”