One was yin, the other yang. If one was soothing, melodious and understated, the other was powerful, moving and potent. With two different styles of singing, youngsters Somerita Mallik and Bhuwin Khursija set the place ablaze with their soulful music. The agreeable evening saw Somerita Mallik take the stage for the first half of the evening with her melodies from Bengal. Bhuwin Khursija took over in the second half with his soulful ghazals and sufiyana. As a part of the weekly musical event conducted by The Gallery Café, this recent event ensured that music lovers were treated to an eclectic range of songs ranging from classical tunes to ditties from folk music.

Somerita, who played first, enthralled one and all with the lovely lilting music from the land of hilsa, Tagore and rosogulla. The 26-year old who has been singing since she was three years old rendered melodies from Rabindra sangeet, Nazrulgeeti and Bengali folk songs. A great admirer of Nazrul Islam (revolutionary musician and the National poet of Bangladesh) the young singer is one of the most popular singers of Nazrulgeeti in Bengal.

In Hyderabad, she sang Nazrul Islam’s most popular number Rum jhum jhum jhum to much applause. Her mellifluous rendition of Rabindra sangeet through numbers Sokhi vabona and Aay tobe sohochori was without a fault and ensured that those present could feel the rich emotion tapering the lyrics. A couple of folk songs followed and Leelabali leelabali which speaks of the preparation which goes into a marriage stayed with those present.

Ending her performance on a lighter note with the popular foot tapping number Ami Miss Calcutta (by Arali Mukherjee), Somerita gave Hyderabad a master class in Bengali music. To prove that music truly transcends boundaries, even people who couldn’t understand the language could relate to the beauty of music unfolding in front of them.

The triad

Twenty seven-year old Bhuwin Khursija was up next and dazzled everyone with his distinct style and amazing depth in voice. The young singer who works as a designer with Microsoft says that his music allows him to concentrate on his work and sung pieces from the music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mehdi Hassan and Ghulam Ali. Having learnt the music of these maestros at a young age, thanks to his father who was a huge fan, Bhuwin usually sticks to the music of the triad and says that he likes their music because it dabbles the extremes, that of great joy or great grief.

Bhuwin Khursija  

Bhuwin who combines his skilful singing by playing the guitar and foot drum astounded those present with his phenomenal voice and ability to hold the high notes dexterously. Starting off with a tumri which combined the classics Naina more, Mann atkeya, Ik raadha ik meera, Aap baithe hain balin pe meri and Dillagi, the self-taught musician never hit a wrong note and was a joy to listen to.

His other renditions of popular songs like Tere ishaq nachaya, Sanu ek pal chain na aave and Tohse naina laga ensured that those present sung along with him. Definitely someone to watch out for, Bhuwin’s music, its powerful tone and tenor ended the night on a memorable high.