Latest news with #ColonelBogeyMarch
Time of India
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
RRU helps set tune in martial music's Indian homecoming
1 2 3 Ahmedabad: The next time you see the armed forces on a parade ground, chances are high that you might hear 'Kadam Kadam Badhaye Ja,' the anthem of the Indian National Army, instead of 'Colonel Bogey March' from 1914. Marking a cultural shift, the armed forces bands in 2022 embraced 'Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo' during the Beating Retreat ceremony at Kartavya Path instead of the traditional 'Abide with Me'. Aiming to take the initiative further is the newly inaugurated School of NCC and Police Martial Music Band (SNPMMB) at Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU). At the RRU school, officials aim to train the state police and central armed police forces (CAPFs) in newly created Indian tunes and compose new ones to 'Indianize martial music. ' This is the first such school in a university setting in the country. Until now, bands in uniformed services were traditionally trained at special colleges and training schools. Senior RRU officials say the inspiration is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to make the music of India 'not merely entertainment, but a vehicle for expression, connection, and identity'. The initiatives started in 2016 with the use of Indian tunes on major occasions, they added. Major (Retd) Ashok Kumar, principal of the school and former director of music at the Joint Services Training Institute, AEC Training College & Centre, Pachmarhi — which trains musicians for the armed forces — says that military bands are traditionally taught tunes that have been part of military tradition for over a century. "We have over 200 such tunes which are used for different functions and ceremonies. In the past decade or so, Indian experts have been creating several notations and tunes that are rooted in our culture. Our aim would be to both create new tunes for the bands of CAPF and police forces and to teach the newly created Indian tunes to these bands," says Major Kumar. Some examples of such tunes include 'Veer Bharat' and 'Amar Senani', composed by Indian military musicians. These are now played regularly at various state and armed forces events. 'INS Vikrant,' 'Veer Bharat,' 'Desh Pukare,' 'Vayu Shakti,' 'Hindustan,' and 'Priyadarshini' are some more examples that reflect a rich Indian voice. Renjith G, senior instructor at SNPMMB, says the school is attempting to go a step further and create Indian raga and taal-based music in a global musical language. "Our initiative is to create original Indian tunes rooted in the country's rich musical heritage and legacy," he adds. Dr Gaurav Singh Kushwah, in-charge director of the school, calls Indianizing martial music tradition in India a major initiative. "Our aim is to teach Indian tunes primarily to CAPF and state police bands. We aim to provide trained musicians to security forces who will learn the Indian tunes and notations," he says. The first batch of 40 musicians from Rajasthan Police Central Band is already being trained at the university. RRU officials say that the courses are designed both for in-service musicians and aspiring candidates at multiple levels – from diploma to PhD. Students will be taught Indian and Western musical systems, orchestration, band drill protocols, ceremonial etiquette, and theoretical training. The first initiative for the overhaul will be the formation of the National Music Classification Forum that will attempt to find Indian alternatives for Western bugle calls like Reveille, Last Post, and Retreat.
The Independent
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Breakfast Club stars reunite for the first time in 40 years
All five stars of John Hughes ' The Breakfast Club have reunited for the first time in the four decades since the film's 1985 release. Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy all took to the stage at Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo to discuss the coming of age drama. The cast walked onto the stage to the 'Colonel Bogey March' – the same song their characters whistled in detention at Shermer High School. Speaking to entertainment journalist Josh Horowitz, Ringwald, who played rich girl Claire Standish in the film said: 'I feel very emotional and moved to have us all together.' Ringwald revealed that, while the rest of the group had previously reunited, the panel marked the first time Estevez had joined them: 'We don't have to use the cardboard cutout anymore because he's here,' she joked. 'I feel really moved that we're all together.' Estevez quipped back: 'I felt that I needed to do it myself,' adding this reunion felt 'special' as the expo took place in Chicago, where The Breakfast Club was filmed. Elsewhere in the interview, Ringwald and Hall addressed whether they auditioned for their Breakfast Club roles, as they had both previously starred in Hughes' Sixteen Candles in 1984. 'John just called up and said, 'I want you to come in.' He didn't have a script. He didn't give me a script,' Hall explained. 'Originally, [Hughes] was gonna do The Breakfast Club before he did Sixteen Candles,' Ringwald added. 'And then he wrote Sixteen Candles … and turned it into the studio and they said, 'Oh, we wanna do that one first.'' Meanwhile, Sheedy, who starred as outsider Allison Reynolds in the film, opened up about the cast's relationship on set and how their friendship grew throughout production. 'I was really happy when we were making this movie, we all really … I don't know if you can tell but we all really do love each other. It was a dream,' she said. 'A joyful experience.' Back in 2018, Ringwald wrote an essay for The New Yorker about rewatching the movies she made with Hughes (which also included Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink) through a post-#MeToo lens. Elements of The Breakfast Club made her particularly uneasy, specifically a scene played for laughs in which it is implied her character, Claire, is groped beneath her skirt. Speaking to The Independent, Sheedy said she still loves Hughes' films but agreed that parts of the film have aged poorly. One element of the film Sheedy said she always disliked was her character's end-of-film makeover. It saw Claire transform Allison's appearance, covering her in blush and eye-shadow and giving her a pink dress and headband to wear. 'You know you really do look a lot better without all that black s**t on your eyes,' Claire tells her. Only after Allison has changed herself does a boy decide to kiss her. 'I never liked the makeover,' Sheedy reflected. 'Listen, it was Hollywood in the Eighties. They wanted to take the ugly duckling and make her into a swan. 'As far as I was concerned, that wasn't what I was doing with that character, but that was what they wanted.'
