Key Points

First released in 1999 with a futuristic touch, the project was revived in 2020 and has since returned with a new season every year.

Brothers Salim and Sulaiman have unveiled a stellar line-up for Bhoomi 2025: a Gujarati Krishna pop track with Parthiv Gohil; a classical pop number with Shankar Mahadevan; a romantic ballad with Shaan; a high-energy dance track featuring Sonu Nigam and Paradox; a soulful love song with Papon and Shreya Ghoshal; a Kashmiri composition with Noor Mohammad; a Punjabi banger with OAFF, Burrah, Krish Mondal and Sudan; an Uttarakhandi song with Pawandeep Rajan and Hansika Pareek; an evocative ghazal with Hariharan and Prithvi Gandharv; and a powerful ballad with Arijit Singh.

For Sulaiman Merchant, curating Bhoomi has always been about following instinct and curiosity rather than staying in one lane.

"We have always tried to do different things, to explore genres and discover new artists. When we started off, it was just folk and devotional music; then we moved into pop. We've tried hip hop, we've tried EDM, and now it's a great mix of it all. Next year, we would love to do Malayalam, Tamil again, Odissi music, and go to the far east in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland," expressed Sulaiman in a statement.

For Salim, this mix isn't about ticking boxes, but about treating every artist as an equal contributor to the song's soul. "I don't distinguish between legends and newcomers. We're all students of music," he shared, adding, "And, I think it's just my taste, a reflection of my personality, I like tradition, I like now, and I like to fuse both."

This season will take Bhoomi's song count close to sixty. Along the way, it has delivered several chartbusters like Chhaila, Mayavi, Jaan Le Gayi, and Haq Ali, among many others. It has also revived traditions like the 400-year-old bandish from the Mughal era Ja Ja Re Apni Mandirva, and turned Sukhwinder Singh's powerful rendering of Chidiya Da Chamba, a poignant song rooted in the tradition of the bride's farewell into a stirring orchestral folk epic.

The Gujarati pop track featuring Parthiv Gohil was released about a week ago, while the remaining songs are scheduled to be unveiled gradually over the course of this year.

- ANI