Be it a celebrity or a regular person, everyone has their own connection with Lord Ganesha and they celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi with great pomp and show. The Ganesh Utsav celebrations were initially started and polpularised by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak 125 years ago as a means to unite people in the pre-British period. The festival marks the birth of Lord Ganesha, and everyone has heard of and connects with chants such as ‘Ganpati bappa morya’, the mention of which immediately brings to mind the festivities surrounding the festival.
In India, huge pandals are created where the entire community collects to pay their respects to their revered God. The sweet ‘modak’, known for its plenty of varieties, can be found in people’s homes, much to the joy of sweet-loving Indians. It is celebrated in different style all around the country, wherein the music in songs and dhol play a major part.
In Bollywood, the stalwarts of Indian cinema — Sanjeev Kumar and Jeetendra — had performed for the song Murti Ganesh Ki in their blockbuster movie Takkar.
Following their path have been superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan who have given chartbuster songs like Morya Re from Don and Deva Shri Ganesha from Agneepath respectively.
And the latest hit was the Sada Dil Vi Tu; song from the movie ABCD. This song was not part of the Ganesh Chaturthi sequence in the film, but is on the list because the entire festival was recreated on stage during the finale performance of the underdog group, led by Prabhu Deva.
Popular Tamil movie stars have also depicted Lord Ganesha in their movies. Thala Ajith Kumar’s Pillayarpatti from Vaanmathi, Maga Ganapathy from Amarkalam and Veera Vinayaga from Vedalam were standalone hits among them.
Addressing this, filmmaker Saran who directed the Maga Ganapathy song from the movie Amarkalam says, “Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival of colours, so we wanted to reflect the celebrations happening in our society.”
“The wider acceptance by the fans is because Lord Ganesha is a huge favourite among all — even small children like him,” he adds.
Thalapathy Vijay has also given a mass number Hey Rama Rama in his movie Villu.
“Ganesh Chaturthi is a colossal festival; it is visually stunning when we see the idols immersing in the water. It definitely has a mass appeal and thus gives joy and happiness to all,” says Sreedhar Pillai, film analyst.
Apart from these, there are several other songs which represent the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in movies. Film songs reflecting society and religion are regularly aired, but continuous blockbusters are rare. Ganesh Chaturthi is one such celebration that excites the masses. It is more of a people’s festival.
