Musical tribute honours Pahalgam terror victims

On April 22, Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, a 26-year-old Indian Navy officer from Karnal, Haryana, was shot dead by terrorists while he was enjoying his first trip with his wife to Pahalgam. He was among at least 26 people who were left dead in the Pahalgam terror attack – one of the deadliest in Jammu and Kashmir. For actor and danseuse Chandana Ananthakrishna, who was a newlywed at the time, the story resonated deeply. Her song 'In His Name' is a poignant musical tribute to the victims of the Pahalgam attack, she tells us. Telling us about how the song came about, Chandana tells us that in the run-up to Independence Day, she felt a strong urge to express her patriotism through music. She shared the idea with friends Mayur Ambekallu and Thejas Kiran, and together they began shaping a tribute that would honour the nation while telling a deeply human story. She tells us that the song “turned out so beautifully that we decided it deserved a music video”.‘WE HAVE GIVEN THE STORY A SOUTH-INDIAN CONNECTION’“As Kannadigas, we set the story in Bengaluru, reimagining a newlywed couple setting off on their honeymoon only to face a heartbreaking twist. Actor Nidarshan plays Vinay opposite me as Himanshi. “We filmed the wedding scenes at a local resort, but for the shootout sequence, we chose the landscapes of Ooty. I remember breaking down and crying uncontrollably while performing that scene — it felt so real and moved me to my core. This project is more than just a song — it’s a dedication to all innocent victims of terrorism,” she says.