News India Live, Digital Desk: “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, To Sur Bane Hamara” – These are not just the lines of a song, but are a part of the soul of every Indian who grew up in the 90s. Piyush Pandey, the magician of advertisements who created this song, is not among us today, but the advertisements made by him and this song will always be alive in our memories. There is such an interesting story to this song, which probably very few people know. Do you know? That veteran Hindi cinema actor Naseeruddin Shah had flatly refused to be a part of this song that united the country? This was revealed by Piyush Pandey himself in his book ‘Pandemonium’. He told how almost every big star of that era was included in this national song, but Naseeruddin Shah did not agree to it. Why did Naseeruddin Shah refuse? Jab ‘Mile Sur Mera When the concept of ‘Tumhara’ was ready, the agency making it (Ogilvy & Mather) contacted big stars from every region of the country and in every language. From Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Sharmila Tagore to Kamal Haasan and Lata Mangeshkar, everyone happily agreed to be a part of this historic project. But when the team reached out to Naseeruddin Shah, they had a Got an unexpected answer. Naseeruddin Shah refused to work in this advertisement. What was the reason? Piyush Pandey told that Naseeruddin Shah felt that this was a “government propaganda”. He realized that this song was being made by the government to enhance its image and he did not want to become the face of any kind of government propaganda. At that time, many artists were a little skeptical about government projects. Was, and Naseeruddin Shah has always been very vocal about his art and principles. What did Piyush Pandey say? Piyush Pandey respected his thinking. He never created any controversy on this matter. He understood that every artist has his own vision and no one can be forced to be a part of any project. This incident shows that Piyush Pandey is not only a great creative director but also a He was also an excellent human being, who knew how to respect people’s thoughts. At the same time, this incident also reflects Naseeruddin Shah’s personality of sticking to his principles, even if the project was the country’s biggest ‘Unity Song’. Today, when Piyush Pandey is no more, these small stories shared by him make his memories even more special. ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ will always be a symbol of India’s unity, and These unheard stories behind the symbol make it even more memorable.