Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; March 29, 2019)

Only days after director Umesh Shukla announced that he will be using Shyam Ke Rogan Rele — the poem penned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — in his web series, mid-day has learnt that singer Sonu Nigam has been roped in to render the verse. The director reveals that music composers Salim-Sulaiman and Nigam came together at a city studio yesterday to give shape to the song. “We wanted to present Modi ji’s bhajan and were looking for a soulful voice. We thought Sonu would do complete justice to the song.”

Shukla adds that the team chanced upon Modi’s works during their research for the 10-part biographical series for Eros Now. “We have used 10 poems, employing a different one in the end credits of each episode.” Ask him if he procured the necessary permissions, and he says, “We wrote to the PMO last June and were surprised to get an instant response. The PM said that he didn’t mind his works being used if they help in the enlightenment of society.”