Kamal Ghorui
New Delhi: As Republic Day celebrations drew to a close with the Beating Retreat ceremony, Vijay Chowk reverberated with three of composer AR Rahman’s iconic songs – Oscar-winning ‘Jai ho’, ‘Bharat humko jaan se pyaara hai’ and ‘Ma tujhe salaam’.Earlier this month, when asked about his absence from Hindi-film music during an interview with BBC Asian Network, Rahman said, “It might be a communal thing also… but it is not in my face”. He later said that intentions could be “misundersood sometimes” and that he was grateful to the country.While the Central Armed Police Forces band performed “Jai Ho”, the Indian Navy band played ‘Bharat humko…’. The song ‘Aarambh hai prachand’ from the movie Gulaal was played by the Indian Army band. Vande Mataram on its 150th anniversary and Operation Sindoor were featured prominently during the ceremony on Thursday evening, which was presided over by President Droupadi Murmu, who arrived in the ceremonial buggy. Vice-President CP Radhakrishnan, PM Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and the three service chiefs were also present.The bands stood various formations that included ‘Amar Jawan’: a tribute to Indian Army bravehearts, ‘Deva Vyuha: a battle formation referred to in Mahabharata battle formation against Bhishm Pitamah and ‘Ardhachandra Vyuha’: a half-moon battle formation.LED screens placed at the venue also showed a video clip of a BrahMos missile hitting a target; instruments of several band members were wrapped with LEDs on which the logo of Op Sindoor shone. Images of Rafale, Tejas, Su-30, BrahMos, S-400 air defence system, Netra, Prachand and C-130 also played on the screens.Later, the PM shared the glimpses from Beating Retreat 2026, saying that “performances by the various bands were memorable”.In a series of posts on X, Modi said: “Air Force Band was exceptional… They performed ‘Brave Warrior’, ‘Twilight’, ‘Alert (Post Horn Gallop)’ and ‘Flying Star’ impeccably. The Sindoor formation was brilliant!”On the naval band, he posted, “Simply outstanding! The Naval Band’s performances included ‘Namaste’, ‘Sagar Pawan’, ‘Matribhumi’, ‘Tejasvi’ and ‘Jai Bharati’. The Matsya Yantra formation was flawless.”
