Hariharan on song
DEVAYANI MEDHEKAR
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Hariharan charmed the audience in Thiruvananthapuram with his golden voice.
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PHOTO: S. GOPAKUMAR
FLIGHTS OF MELODY: Hariharan's repertoire includes film songs, fusion, thumris, bhajans, geet and ghazals.
For Hariharan, singing is a way of life. Born into a family of music lovers and the son of renowned Carnatic vocalists, the late Ananthasubramani (H.A.S. Mani) from Thiruvananthapuram and Alamelu, Hariharan's foray into the music world was never a `chosen' profession.
Today, however, Hariharan is firmly entrenched in the music field singing for Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films. His music includes fusion music, Thumris, Bhajans, Geet and of course his forte - ghazals.
Inspired by Mehdi Hassan, he started training in Hindustani music under Padma Shri Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan. His concert `An Evening of Ghazals with Hariharan' was organised by UTI Bank (Priority Banking) at AKG Memorial Hall, in Thiruvananthapuram.
Ghazals according to Hariharan have `immense scope for innovation.' This was evident from his rendition of `Ye aine akele mein ye guftagu kya hai, Jo mein nahin hun to phir tere rubaru kya hay.'
Playing on the tambourine, he once again showed his mastery over innovation when he sang `Isi umeed pe Kaati hai zindagi maine,Woh kaash puchte mujhe ke arzoo kya hai.' By adding a mix of high notes mid-way, he skilfully thus fused the ghazal with jazz to create a global sound.
Hariharan described this style as `Urdu Blues' - "It has got Urdu but the style is blue." Indeed, a mellifluous fusion of the old world of Urdu poetry, Indian gayaki and contemporary music.
The bejewelled and pony-tailed singer set the mood for the evening along with his talented, versatile accompanists - Chintu Singh on the guitar, Shadab Roshan on the tabla, Ustad Liyakat Ali Khan on the sarangi and Altaq Hussain on the harmonium.
While `Kash aisa koi Manzer Hota, Mere Kandhe pe tera sar Hota' and `Jhumle, hus bol le, pyari agar hai zindagi, Saans ke bas ek Jhonke ka safar hai zindagi' were sung in the traditional style of rendition of ghazals, the mood shifted to his `Urdu Blues' followed by one of his earlier ghazals, `Ahede masti hai Log kahte hain, Meay barasati hain Log kahte hain.'
Singing with the master
The consummate entertainer enchanted the audience by asking them to sing with him a few snatches of swaras. The hall reverberated as the listeners pitched in to sing with him. Charming the audience with his mellifluous voice and mixof high and low notes in rhythmic patterns, he left the listeners asking for more.
Requests for `Sharab de, Sharab de and `Uyireh Uyireh' filled the auditorium.
Concluding the first half of the programme with `Tujhe kasam hey sakhiya Sharab la Sharab de' and `Krishna Nee Begane,' he gave the audience a break when most would not have minded sitting through another hour.
On his latest venture `Lahore ke rung, Hari ke sung' Hariharan mentioned that the album of 10 songs consisted of ghazals, thumris, geet, Punjabi folk songs and Sufi music, which he composed himself and recorded at Lahore.
`For you, from Me' is a contemporary ghazal collection in the same style as `Kaash.'
The second half of the concert began on soulful notes, `Marize ishq kya hai, jiya jiya na jiya ,' followed by a `Patta Patta Boota, haal hamara jaane hai' with the audience lending their voices too, to the song from `Yaaden' - `Nagme hain, Shikwe hain, Kisse hain, baate hain, Baate bhul Jaate hain,Yaadein ,yaad aati hain.'
He sang `Roja Jaaneman' and the concluding song `Uyireh Uyireh' on the request of the audience. His rendition of a number from `Tajmahal,' - `Mumtaz Tujhe Dekha , Jab Tajmahal dekha , Phir aaj ki aankhon se gujra hua kal dekha,' which he dedicated to the late Naushad, was par excellence.
The feeling of enchantment created by his soulful music touched the audience who responded with thunderous applause.
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