Inspired by the spirit of India and Indians, some of the country’s most well-known singers along with a bevy of young upcoming artists have collaborated online to create a unique song titled “Chappa Chappa Afwaah Chale”, based on Vishal Bhardwaj’s evergreen hit from the film Maachis.
Led by Padmashri and National Award winner Hariharan, the band that calls themselves ‘The Sur-Viralists’, comprises of celebrities from various fields including Padmashri Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, playback singers Roop and Sunali Rathod and Ishaan Dutta, MasterChef Ranveer Brar, the young sibling duo of Actor Karan & Music Producer Akshay Hariharan, the svelte and talented Reewa Rathod, Marketing Guru turned Foodpreneur Vinod G. Nair, Diamond merchant Punit Gupta, renowned IT Advocate Nadeem Lasani, US based cryptocurrency expert Rakesh Sreekumar and music composer Immanuel Berlin.
The brainchild of Vinod G. Nair, who has also penned the lyrics for the Lockdown version of the original soundtrack, the song cautions people to not become victims of rumours (Afwaah) and to avoid being party to spreading false rumours.
The 5-minute track will release as a 1-minute promo video, that too has been entirely self- shot by the band members in their homes and the full track will be available as a free download on all social media and music platforms.
The Chappa Chappa Afwaah Chale track will be released on April 2, 2020 at 5pm across all social media platforms simultaneously. Follow #TheFightAgainstAfwaah, #AfwaahStopCorona and #TheSurViralists for updates.
“When we started off with the project, we all felt that it was impossible to achieve. But thanks to the marvel of technology and app-based platforms, we did it, says Vinod G. Nair, who conceptualised the initiative. “After this, we are now gearing up to do an even more ambitious project aimed at infotaining people as they battle the virus from their homes”, he adds.
Says Hariharan, “In the current environment where everybody is #gharbaithoindia and under #lockdown, the spread of rumours via social media especially whatsapp is alarming. We want to tell people to ignore rumours and to stop their friends and others from spreading them”.
Legendary Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, who is also an avid drummer, adds, “The song is a fun track with a serious message behind it – Afwaah Roko, Corona Roko. For every 1 person getting infected with the #COVID-19 virus, there are hundreds getting infected by the Afwaah Virus, which is equally dangerous and debilitating. People experience fear, despair and frustration due to uncontrolled rumour mongering and tend to be disturbed through-out the day”.
The 1-minute promo video is a light-hearted humorous look at the frustrations of people who are being bombarded with #fakenews, rumours and Afwaahs all day long.