‘Naushad - Ek Yaad’ takes people down memory lane

Nagpur: Pioneer and one of the greatest music directors of the film industry Naushad was remembered on his death anniversary by city music lovers, on Sunday. The Harmony Events presented a unique evening saturated with the mellow tunes of songs by the musical stalwart in a concert titled ‘Naushad - Ek Yaad’, at Bhat Hall, Reshimbagh.
Son of Naushad, Raju Naushad, and daughter of lyricist Mazrooh Sultanpuri, Saba Sultanpuri shared their memories with the gathering. The husband-wife duo of Raju and Saba captivated the listeners with fascinating anecdotes behind the list of 25 songs that were rendered by singers of the music group — Jyotiraman Ayyar, Akanksha Nagarkar, Manisha Nishchal, Gauri Shinde and Arvind Patil. Rajesh Samarth conducted the programme.
Ayyar set the tone for the evening with ‘O door ke musafir’ originally sung by legendary singers Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi, followed by ‘Aaj ki raat mere dil ki salami lele’.
Divulging the history of Lata Mangeshkar’s discovery by Naushad, Raju said, “It is a least known fact that Lata Mangeshkar’s first song to be recorded was ‘Uthaye jaa unke sitam’. My father heard her melodious voice and gave her the opportunity to sing songs picturized on actress Nargis Dutt. This was how she forayed into singing in the movies.”
Considered as the first superstar of the film industry KL Saigal’s song ‘Jab dil hi toot gaya’ from the movie ‘Shahjehan’ was presented by Patil. Speaking about Saigal and the hit song, Saba said, “This was Saigal’s favourite song and he is often associated with it. He had willed that this song be played at his funeral and so it was.”
‘Awaaz de kaha hai’, ‘Jawaan hai mohabbat’, ‘Phir teri kahani yaad aayi’, ‘Koi sagar dil ko’, ‘Aaj puraani raho se’, ‘Teri mehfil mein kismat’, ‘Man tadpat Hari darshan ko’, ‘Mehboob mere mehboob mere’, ‘Ek din bik jayega’ and ‘Mera pyaar bhi tu’ among other songs enthralled the audience.
The singers were accompanied by Mahendra Dhole on the keyboard, Shrikant Suryavanshi on the tabla and dholak, Arvind Upadhyay on the saxophone, Vikram Joshi on the cymbals, Amar Shende on violin, Akshay Harle on octopod, Prasanna Wankhede and Rigved Pande on guitar and Rajesh Dhamankar on congo.