Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a 90-minute stage adaptation of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Anandamath, the 1882 novel that includes India’s national song Vande Mataram, on Friday at Gujarat’s Ekta Nagar on the eve of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 151st birth anniversary. The National School of Drama (NSD) production will feature around 300 artistes on a 100 feet by 100 feet stage.
Shantanu Chattopadhyay, Barnali Chattopadhyay and Sumitro Chattopadhyay, members of the novelist’s family, will attend the adaptation at the invitation of the Union home ministry. The song became a rallying cry during the freedom movement. The move came against the backdrop of the Union government’s push to popularise Vande Mataram, a debate in Parliament to mark the 150th anniversary of the national song, and the display of tableaux during the Republic Day parade themed on the song. The Supreme Court in September declined to examine whether Vande Mataram should be recognised as the National Song or whether its official rendition should comprise two or six stanzas.
Vande Mataram was first published in 1875 and later incorporated into Anandamath. Rabindranath Tagore composed its music and sang it at the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta. The Union home ministry this year mandated that a six-stanza-long, 3 minutes and 10 seconds version of Vande Mataram be played or sung at official occasions. The celebrations will also feature a separate NSD production on a Maoist-free India, involving around 2,000 artistes from erstwhile 126 Left-wing extremism-hit districts, according to a government statement.
Gujarat government officials aware of the matter said the adaptation would offer a contemporary interpretation of the novel, highlighting every Indian’s responsibility to help build the country’s future, remain connected with its cultural heritage and contribute to national aspirations. It said the choice of national symbols and the aspirations associated with them fall within the remit of an elected government.
