Sonia, Aishwarya: Common tune

New Delhi, Dec. 8: Sonia Gandhi may or may not have watched the Bachchan-starrer Bunty Aur Babli, but one of the countless 10 Janpath loyalists has decided to flag off her 60th birthday celebrations tomorrow at the Congress headquarters with an improvisation of the Kajrare number from the film.

At 1 pm, 24 Akbar Road is expected to come alive to the sound of lyrics thought up by a former MP from Tamil Nadu, Anbarasu, and his son Arul, a legislator, and “transplanted” in Hindi by Gopal Sharma.

The words have been set to the tune of the number that had Aishwarya Rai jiving with Amitabh and Abhishek, by another Tamil Nadu duo, T.L. Maharajan Balu and Balu.

A cassette, Bula Rahee Hai Sonia and dedicated to the “late, lamented, beloved Rajiv Gandhi”, with seven songs will be released at the auspicious hour by Motilal Vora. Veerappa Moily, Janardhan Dwivedi, Rita Bahuguna and V. Narayanaswamy will be present.

A “dance performance” is listed, but a member winced when asked if the audience would be treated to an item number a la Aishwarya. The refrain in the Kajrare takeoff goes “Badhai ho Badhai” (Congratulations).

But Bula Rahee Hai Sonia is not the only connection, if only tangential, with the Bachchan-Samajwadi “parivar”. One number takes off on Mulayam Singh Yadav to the tune of Mera Joota hai Japani from the Raj Kapoor film Shree 420. The cassette will be used in the Uttar Pradesh elections.

Sonia is not expected to visit the AICC headquarters. But the doors of 10 Janpath will be thrown open to visitors from across the country, including members of the Seva Dal and other front outfits.

Since Sonia’s birthday coincides with the 60th anniversary of the convening of the Constituent Assembly, in a “lest we forget” gesture, the Congress has organised a function in the evening. It will be addressed by former Supreme Court chief justice A.M. Ahmadi, finance minister P. Chidambaram and science and technology minister Kapil Sibal.