It’s a feat that no Indian has achieved before. Music composers Salim Merchant and Suleiman were not only asked to compose the anthem for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, but the Bollywood duo will also open and close the football tournament in South Africa that commences on June 11 and goes on till July 11.
Salim and Suleiman - Music composers
India has reached the global stage and we are being recognised for not just the land we come from but also for the music we make.
They will be performing along with African RnB singers Loyiso Bala and Eric Wainaina who flew down to Mumbai specially to record the song.
“It’s called the African Promise,” says Salim who along with Suleiman had composed the popular track Chak De! India which had almost become like an anthem while the T20 matches were on. But the FIFA anthem, no doubt, is a bigger honour. The music composers say it all started with a friend from Africa suggesting that they compose music for the country. And thus was born the song which later reached the FIFA committee. “They loved it so much that they wanted it as the anthem of the World Cup,” says Salim, who later got in touch with Loyiso and Eric — who have done many songs on Africa’s freedom and are quite popular in their country. “The song’s written by my wife Jeanne and we will also be performing it for the Nelson Mandela Foundation after which we intend having a concert too,” adds Salim.
Salim and Suleiman will fly to Johannesburg in June but won’t be staying there till the end of the World Cup. “We can’t afford to. We’ll just go for the opening and the closing ceremony,” reveals Suleiman. So are they nervous? “No way,” they reply. “We don’t care if we are going to share the same stage as international celebrities, all we care about is our performance,” say the duo whose real concern is what designer clothes to wear at this big event in their lives.
Salim and Suleiman - Music composersIndia has reached the global stage and we are being recognised for not just the land we come from but also for the music we make.
They will be performing along with African RnB singers Loyiso Bala and Eric Wainaina who flew down to Mumbai specially to record the song.
“It’s called the African Promise,” says Salim who along with Suleiman had composed the popular track Chak De! India which had almost become like an anthem while the T20 matches were on. But the FIFA anthem, no doubt, is a bigger honour. The music composers say it all started with a friend from Africa suggesting that they compose music for the country. And thus was born the song which later reached the FIFA committee. “They loved it so much that they wanted it as the anthem of the World Cup,” says Salim, who later got in touch with Loyiso and Eric — who have done many songs on Africa’s freedom and are quite popular in their country. “The song’s written by my wife Jeanne and we will also be performing it for the Nelson Mandela Foundation after which we intend having a concert too,” adds Salim.
Watch video as Salim-Sulaiman record Anthem For FIFA with African RnB singers Loyiso Bala and Eric Wainaina
Salim and Suleiman will fly to Johannesburg in June but won’t be staying there till the end of the World Cup. “We can’t afford to. We’ll just go for the opening and the closing ceremony,” reveals Suleiman. So are they nervous? “No way,” they reply. “We don’t care if we are going to share the same stage as international celebrities, all we care about is our performance,” say the duo whose real concern is what designer clothes to wear at this big event in their lives.
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