Mirror was the primary to report (September 15) that veteran composer Vanraj Bhatia, who had received the National Award for Govind Nihalani’s TV sequence, Tamas, is just about penniless and affected by debilitating well being points. Soon after, the Javed Akhtar-led Indian Performing Rights Society got here to his aid by releasing funds. Now, we now have learnt that the alumni of the Anand-based Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) has additionally come ahead with assist.

The group raised Rs 2.80 lakh in 5 days and handed over the cheque to Bhatia on Monday morning. “We met him around 8.30 am at his residence and spoke to him for about an hour. He was extremely happy to see us and accepted the bouquet we had brought him with a smile and asked the assistant to place it somewhere nicely,” says National Awardwinning filmmaker Praveen Morchhale, who was an element of the group, including that the veteran appeared to be in good spirits. “He even remembered the towers of our institute and recalled the two tunes he had created for the building. I also showed him a video from last year’s convocation, when his song, “Mero Gaam Katha Parey”, was performed. He fortunately spoke of the nice outdated days.”

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Sivakumar Surampudi, one other IRMA alumnus, goes on to reveal that that the music of Shyam Benegal’s 1976 directorial, Manthan, composed by Bhatia, stays integral to the institute. “It features in the induction program for new batches on the campus. The song, “Mero Gaam Katha Parey”, is like an anthem for rural administration professionals, urging kids to work within the countryside,” he shares.