Kailash Surendranath, the mind behind the unity in diversity song, said he will soon shoot the song with Tendulkar.
"Very soon we will see Sachin in the edited ersion of 'Phir Mile Sur'. He is keen to do the song. We had tried to get him as well as other cricketers earlier but they were busy playing back-to-back matches and, moreover, we were under pressure to release the song on Republic Day," Nath, who conceived and conceptualised the song along with his wife Arti, said.
The song, which is a modern follow up to the iconic unofficial national anthem of the 1980s "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara", has been shot with more than 60 personalities including film stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, sporting stars like Saina Nehwal, Vijender Singh and also several musicians, was released officially by Bachchan on January 26.
Nath hinted at the possibility of updating the new version from time to time with inclusion of more personalities.
Many have found 'Phir Mile...' lacking in spirit due to its presence of many film personalities. Its length (at 16 minutes) has also come in for criticism.
"If you compare both the songs, you will find that the proportion of film personalities is almost the same. Last time there were 26 artistes, of which 12 were from films. This time out of 60 personalities, we have 22 actors, while there are 13 musicians," Nath said.
He said, "Inclusion of film personalities instills a message of national unity as the film fraternity of the country has a strong presence in the minds of youth. When we were researching, Bollywood was on top of our minds".
'Phir Mile...' was shot in 60 days across 13 cities and also included 30 days of post-production work. However, non inclusion of Taj Mahal in it has also been noticed by many.
"Taj Mahal is beautiful, but our concept was more youth oriented. We wanted that the new song reflect the youth of the country so we experimented with new locations," Nath said.
Praising Bachchan for his cooperation and humility during the filming of the song, Nath said that apart from the creative team, he was the only person common to both versions.
"Bachchan's approach was very gracious. Last time when we approached him for 'Mile Sur', he did it by force. This time he was himself keen to be a part of it. He is perhaps the only actor who represents both the generations. Having him in the song added a unique touch to the whole concept," Nath, who had also directed the earlier version of the song, said.
On criticism that due was not given to Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad's Suresh Mullick, who had come up with the entire concept of the original 'Mile Sur', Nath said, "It is not necessary to give him credit. But I will say there is no harm in giving credit to the great man and may be the edited version could have his name in the credits."