LEXINGTON, MA—Mujhe Rang De, a musical program to give a tribute to Asha Bhosle and raise fund for Asha for Education foundation, on Saturday was packed with an incredible selection of 32 songs sung by local singers—ranging from Chhod do aanchal (Paying Guest, 1957) to Inn aankhon ki masti mein and Dil cheez kya hai (Umrao Jaan, 1981).
The full house, however, was mesmerized by two songs that were delivered almost perfectly: one by Sharayana Sarkar: Jhoomka gira re Bareili ke baazar mein from Mera Saaya and the other by Suzana Naik: Raat akeli hai from Jewel Thief. Sankar Gangaikondan was perfect in his rendition of Mohamad Rafi’s voice in Isharon isharon mein dil lene wale from Kashmir ki Kali.
“It was an evening showcasing the amazing versatility and talent of Ashaji and a celebration of her singing career,” Meena Sundaram, producer of the program and one the singers of the evening, told INDIA New England News. “We tried to incorporate old favorites and rocking numbers, teasing and charming tunes and sensuous cabaret numbers in the span of a few hours with a team of local artistes and a live band.”
The organizers also tried to do something new with emcees. It was not just emcees coming on the stage and reading a script. The trio of emcees of Ajay Jain, Jharana Madan and Sonal Yadav tried to act on the stage as well and did their best to bring some humor on the stage. The live band also added a lot of depth to the program.
Ms. Sundaram said that organizers received positive comments from the attendees on the song selection, the performers, the band, emcees, technical team and supporting team. The program was held on Saturday, April 7, 2018, at Lexington Heritage Museum in Lexington, MA.
“It was a challenge for us to choose the songs for the show and we managed to do a record 32 songs in one evening,” said Ms. Sundaram “Despite this, our audience stayed till the end and said the show was crisp and the pace was very good. This is due to excellent coordination among our team members particularly the band who did a phenomenal job. I would like to thank all our guests for coming and to our sponsors and our community for their support.”
The organizers also put together a nice mix of male and female singers and some new and old faces from the Boston Bollywood singing team.
Singers of the evening included Sankar Gangaikondan, Meenakshi Kulshreshtha, Vijay Kumar, Suzana Naik , Reshma Nair, Hemant Patkar, Umesh Rao, Shantanu Sen, Pankaj Shah, Shekhar Shastri, Sharanya Sarkar Verma and Meena Sundaram.
The band members were:
Nikhil Pendharkar and Vibhas Paranjpe: Keyboards; Manish Kurup: Lead Guitar; Angshuman Parashar: Bass Guitar; Shridhar Ganapuram: Drums/ Octapads/ Congas; Ashish Panse: Octapads; Bharat Lagu: Tabla/ Dholak/ Percussion.
Sound by Jawed Wahid; AV: Anish Khanzode: AV; Stage crew: Maithili Rao, Ravi Nimmagadda; Backstage support: Rekha Palriwala, Mamatha Punjala, Bindu Gupta; Food: Masala Art. Photography: Meyyappan Kolam Media Creations and Anand Parikh.
Local singers sang the following songs:
Aaiye Meherbaan /Aaj ki Raat:
Ye hai reshmi
Isharon Isharon mein
Chhod do aanchal
Kali ghata chhaye/Bhanwara bada naadan hai
Ye raatein ye mausam
Dhadakne lagi dil ki taaron ki duniya
Aaja aaja main hoon pyaar tera
O Haseena zulfonwali
Gunguna rahe hain
Haal kaisa hai janaab ka
Yehi who jagah hai/ Jab chali thandi hawa
Aage bhi jaane na tu
Jhoomka gira re
Ude jab jab zulfein teri
Aao na gale lagao na
Raat akeli hai
Pyaar karne wale
Chura liya hai
Meri Soni meri tamanna
Nahin Nahin
Jaane jaan
In aankhon ki/Dil cheez kya hai
Ek main aur ek tu
O saathi chal
Zara sa jhoom loon main
Chain se humko kabhi/Mera kuch samaan
Jaanejaan-Nisha/Ye mera dil yaar ka
Piya tu/Duniya mein
Abhi na jao chhodkar
Rang de.
