Coronavirus: Kamal Haasan responds to Kerala Police's anthem, calls it "excellent"

Kerala Police has won praise from actor-politician Kamal Haasan for a music video - conceptualised, sung and directed by cops - about their work battling against the novel coronavirus outbreak in the state. The video features several top-ranking officials, including Loknath Behra, the Director-General of Police.

"We won't bend our knees... (and) we won't be defeated by the COVID-19 (virus)," says one line of the song, which is sung by a cop.

"Excellent..." Kamal Haasan was quoted by the police, whom he described as "centurions", on their Facebook page, adding: "I congratulate the higher echelons of the police department for coming up with a sensitive and thoughtful idea".

"The front-line warriors are doctors, police and sanitary workers. It is essential to cheer these centurions up with an anthem for Kerala Police. I am glad even the singing talent was a policeman in uniform. My salute," Kamal Haasan said.

The three-and-a-half-minute video opens with an aerial shot of the city of Kochi and images of city landmarks before focusing on a squad of 29 uniformed cops wearing gloves and face masks while marching down the street. There are four patrol vehicles rolling behind them.

"Excellent....to cheer these centurions with an anthem for Kerala Police. I am glad even the singing talent was a policeman in uniform. I congratulate the higher echelons of the police department for coming up with a sensitive and thoughtful idea. My salute"

- KAMAL HASSAN pic.twitter.com/8lTloXxxA6 — Kerala Police (@TheKeralaPolice) April 12, 2020

The song plays out in the background to images of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan holding discussions with senior police officers. The video then takes a dramatic turn - images of natural disasters like wildfires and tornadoes are shown as the police drive home their point.

"We're getting together. The Kerala Police (were) the saviours of the land during the great flood and the pestilence," a rough translation of a brief note in Malayalam on their Facebook page reads.

The current "pestilence" threatening Kerala is a novel coronavirus - named because it is a virus not previously identified in humans - that has infected 374 people and killed two.

Across India nearly 8.500 cases and 273 deaths have been recorded. Kerala, which reported India's first three COVID-19 cases, has won praise for its handling of the crisis.

Until April 2 only Maharashtra (335 cases) had more COVID-19 patients than Kerala (276). Since then the increase in the number of fresh cases has been among the lowest in the country, with only 98 reported in 10 days, including the only two detected on Sunday.

The country is currently under a 21-day lockdown ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the virus. The lockdown, scheduled to end on Tuesday, is likely to be extended by two weeks, the Prime Minister indicated on Saturday after a four-hour video call with 13 chief ministers.