The men behind Inkenni Gayalu: Anup Rubens and Naveen Sai Kuriti

Way back in 2004 for his debut film Jai, Anup Rubens had composed a song Desam Manade ….Tejam Manade….Eguruthunna…. Janda…Manade (Country is ours…..glory is ours….the flag flying high is ours). Unfortunately, the commercial failure of the film resulted in this patriotic number not getting its fair due. Anup though has gone on to establish himself as one of the leading composers in the industry today with chartbuster projects such as Gopala Gopala, Katamarayudu, Nene Raju Nene Mantri and Hello in recent times. Therefore, it came as no surprise when Pawan Kalyan entrusted Anup with the responsibility for composing a nationalistic number

Inkenni Gayalu

for his political party Janasena. “I had worked for Pawan Sir’s Gopala Gopala and Katamarayudu. We share a very good rapport and I strongly identify with his thought process. He is a simple man, genuinely concerned about the well-being of society. He called me and showed me the lyrics which had already been written. He then gave me a comprehensive brief on what his ideas were and asked me to prepare the tune accordingly. I watched the visuals of Nehruji’s speech and various other leaders and came up with the required tune. It took me about a week’s time and Pawan sir gave me absolute freedom,” says Anup Rubens.

Inkenni Gayalu opens with Pandit Nehru’s famous ‘tryst with destiny’ quote followed by a humming of the national anthem. While the tryst with destiny promised Indians a bright future, the song questions as to what was promised and where we are as a nation today. “Where are the people who inspired us and where are we now,” question two lines from the song. It also includes quotes from the families of students who had sacrificed their lives for the Telangana and Andhra movements. Inkenni thootalu, Inkenni gaayalu, Inkenni pranalu, Inkenni mosalu (How many more bullets, how many more lives have to be sacrificed, how many more wounds and how many more deceptions) goes a line from the song. Another emotionally-charged line from the song goes Namme Siddhantham Kosam Cheyyara Yuddham………Preminche Desam Kosam Aripinchara Pranam (Fight for the cause you believe in…….Sacrifice your life for this nation you love)

And the young man behind these profound lyrics is Naveen Sai Kuriti, a final year Mechanical Engineering student of Gitam University, Vizag. A fan of Pawan Kalyan, Naveen got a call from his friend who was a member of the cultural wing of Janasena Party, to send lyrics for the party song. In a span of just 2 hours, Naveen wrote the lyrics and sent them. The cultural team forwarded the song to Pawan Kalyan who immediately asked Naveen to come and meet him in Hyderabad. Naveen was complimented by the

power star

for the lyrics and asked to meet Anup Rubens, who then composed the tune for the lyrics. “After my engineering, I intend to take up a job as it is essential for me.I love writing and it feels amazing to have written a song for Pawan sir and work with a top composer like Anup Sir. Idhi pawan sirki oka udhata sahayam lantidi. (It’s like a squirrel’s help to Lord Rama). Someday, I hope to make my debut in Tollywood as a lyricist,” says Naveen.