An anthem with a desi twist

While the rest of the world celebrates the FIFA World Cup, Hyderabad isn’t far behind. A large number of Hyderabadis are coming together to take part in the football frenzy by cheering on their favourite teams at pub screenings. Meanwhile, six youngsters have even composed a peppy theme song – Sons of the Ground — in English to keep the spirits of the fans up.

Jonas Abhishek Nathan, a software professional and the main initiator behind the video, says, “We are all friends. We had always wanted to do something with football and with FIFA now in full swing, we thought it would be the best time to release our video. India is a cricket-crazy nation and only in a few states do we see football fever. This video is our bit to promote the sport.” 

The song has been sung by Nathaniel and Jonas Abhishek. The music has been composed by Prateek Raio and the video was shot by Hari Charan with an additional voice-over by Kenneth Michael.

“Our song reflects football spirit, the pleasure, the pain and the pride of the game. This is our effort to let the world know that India is in full support of this wonderful game,” says Hari, who captured the spirit of the game beautifully by focusing his lenses on various city lanes. He adds, “We shot quite a lot of the video, especially where the kids are dribbling with the ball, at St Patrick’s School in Secunderabad.” 

The happy video has caught the attention of many but making it hasn’t been a smooth process. Elaborating on the challenges, Jonas Abhishek says, “We had the concept in mind and even the lyrics were penned down way back in January. But as we all are working professionals in different spheres, being able to get together to do a recce for suitable locations was difficult. Not to mention the budget, as we wanted to give the video a professional touch.”

But these youngsters aren’t ready to hang up their shoes yet. They are planning a video on similar lines for the upcoming cricket world cup. “I am planning to travel to different places within the city and even outside to capture the raw flavour of cricket (galli cricket),” concludes Hari.