Celebrities, expatriate organisations add musical flavour to World Cup festivities

Celebrities, including actors and singers, expatriate organisations and individuals have come out with music videos to celebrate FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in a big way.Ace Indian actor Mohanlal recently launched a music video which he has referred to as ‘A tribute to Qatar World Cup 2022’. Mohanlal is not just featured in the video but he himself has sung the song in Malayalam with subtitles in English and Arabic. The song connects the World Cup Qatar 2022 with the passion of the people of Malappuram in Kerala for the beautiful game. The district’s unique tradition of seven-a-side football known as ‘Sevens’ is also a major theme in the song.Mohanlal flew in to Doha last week to release the song at a special function. Directed by renowned director, T K Rajiv Kumar and produced by Ashirvad Cinemas, the single has been an instant hit trending on YouTube with more than 1.1mn views in two days. With its catchy, toe-tapping music and seducing visuals, the song has already captured the attention of the football fans around the world.A popular Malayalam playback singer, Jassi Gift has rendered his distinct voice for a peppy number for the music video, ‘Nenchem Konde’ which the producers say, is Malayali’s World Cup tribute for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The album, made possible by a group of Qatar-based youngsters, is directed by Rameez Aziz and produced by Hadia M K. The song released recently through the YouTube channel, Soraparachail has already captured the imagination of football lovers in the country and beyond. Rendered by playback singer Anwar Sadath, a Malayalam song ‘Hakk Hakk Hayya’, on YouTube a few months back was the pioneer of the music videos with its melodious rhythm and merry tempo.The music video, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=papQ-GpLP1w, features Qatar’s preparations for the mega event and the iconic locations across Qatar with accompanying visuals of fans’ jubilation, memorable moments of previous World Cups as well as several other anecdotes of football. The album is produced by members of the Friends of Angamaly Qatar in co-operation with Argentina and Brazil fans and other expatriate collectives. The song is a fusion of Malayalam and Arabic music with the melody part in Malayalam style while the chorus part is in Arabic style.Quite recently, a group of music lovers in Qatar, out of passion for football and music has come out with a musical fusion in English and Arabic as a tribute to the World Cup. ‘Hayya Ma’ana-Let the Game Win’ is a fan song composed and sung by some of the Doha-based musicians and singers. The Arabic part of the song is penned by Qatar’s renowned poet, Khalifa Jamaan al-Suwaidi who has over 250 songs to his credit while the English version is written by Prashanth Mathew, who has written several songs in his native tongue, Malayalam.The Arabic part is sung by local singer, Nadir Abdul Salam and the lead singer of the album is Allen George Varghese, a Qatar-based musician and an audio engineer. The song is already a hit on social media channels and the catchy melodious number with its mellifluous rendering is set to enthrall music and football lovers.