Bollywood reunites for 'Phir Mile Sur'

22 years back India woke up to a song that was called the country's second national anthem.

And today as India completes 60 years of its Republic, Mile Sur Mera Tumhara has been re-created as Phir Mile Sur.

More than 60 known personalities, including actors Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Salman Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Juhi Chawla along with other prominent personalities feature in the new version of the song.

In the song, they are spreading the message of national integration.

Phir Mile Sur was released by Amitabh Bachchan on 25th Jan.

It's a song that echoes the emotions of every Indian citizen.

It highlights India's unity in diversity.

And in many ways the song has become an anthem of sorts.

From vocalists Bhimsen Joshi and Balamurali Krishna to sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, tabla maestros Allah Rakha and Zakir Hussain to sportsmen Narendra Hirwani and Prakash Padukone featured in the original. Well-known film personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Lata Mangeshkar, Mithun Chakraborty, Jeetendra, Hema Malini, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Kamal Haasan, Sharmila Tagore, Tanuja and Waheeda Rehman too appeared in the national integration song.

Phir Mile Sur has the current favourites and more contemporary notes.

Amitabh Bachchan, who released this album, expresses his gratitude and says, "I was part of the old Mile Sur… and now yet again I am fortunate to be part of this one. We have integrated many tunes together and that's precisely the message of this video."

From Bollywood biggies to music maestros to even sports icons Phir Mile Sur stars over 68 popular artists from different fields.

It features 22 superstars, 18 musicians, 13 artistes and singers and 15 other known personalities.

The song has been composed by jazz artists Louis and Geno Banks.

It's an effort to create the feeling of unity across borders yet also celebrating the diverse cultural roots of every artist.

Featuring in the video is well known musician Sivamani, who says, "I wanted to do something unique for this so I started playing drums on water. This has never been done by any artist.

And though legends like Lata Mangeshkar who were part of Mile Sur… were conspicuous by their absence in its new version yet the essence still remains the same.