A R Rahman to perform at the Attari-Wagah border in Punjab today

Rahman’s compositions in the film, which is slated for release on June 12, are already finding much attention on social media. Ali announced that this is also Rahman’s first trip to Punjab. While Raina and Wagh will be present, the singers from the film, including Mohit Chauhan, Nilanjana Ghosh Dastidar, and Pooja Tiwari, among others, are likely to perform at the event.

The concert is scheduled to take place during the Beating Retreat ceremony, which the security forces from both sides of the India-Pakistan border have followed since 1959. The ceremony has been considerably scaled down in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack last year. It is now a closed-door ritual, with BSF jawans not shaking hands with Pakistani Rangers.

While there have been a slew of music and dance performances at the Indo-Pak border in the past, one of the most memorable and emotionally charged concerts still remains by Mallika-e-ghazal Begum Akhtar. During this performance, which took place during a cross-border Independence Day event, people gathered from both sides while Akhtar performed in the centre. She famously sang her popular thumri, Hamari atariya pe aao re saavariya. Aware that the performance was amid the deep political tensions of the time in the aftermath of a bloody Partition, she improvised on a verse and sang, Aao sajan tum hamare dware, saara jhagda khatam huyi jaaye (Come to my doorstep, o beloved, that will be the end of all our quarrels). It was a plea for peace that is still cited in cultural circles on both sides of the border.