Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
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Joy, sheer joy!
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Jagjit Singh and Hans Raj Hans performed in Delhi the other day.
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When an artist manages to lift his skill to the realm of perfection, one can be sure that he has attained communion with a higher power. Listening to ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh this past week in concert at Uppal’s Orchid, where he had come for
the launch of a new range of products from Marc Sanitation of which he is the brand ambassador, one surely got that feeling.
The man is so much in control of his vocal faculties that he is able to infuse his audience with a sense of anticipation every time he sings a ghazal, which one might be listening for the umpteenth time. The variation in rendition, and the experiment of presenting a couplet differently, every time, have contributed in raising Singh to stratospheric heights. As he presented an eclectic mix of immortal songs, including the dulcet and utterly romantic “Hoshwalon ko Khabar Kya” from the film Sarfarosh to Ghalib’s ode to despair and optimism “Hazaron Khwaaeishein Aisi” the audience was spellbound, and asked for more. The piece-de-resistance of the evening was Jagjit’s interpretation of the folk song “Babul Mora” which, several decades ago, had catapulted a young, not-so-well known couple by the name of Chitra and Jagjit Singh onto the highway of superstardom.
Today, the magic has not only endured, but increased, while still retaining its freshness. The evening was made all the more memorable as Jagjit Singh introduced on stage the mercurial Punjabi folk and Sufi singer, Hans Raj Hans. And the man with flowing locks and deep baritone delighted the audience with his assorted choice of numbers, which started with a quawwali of Garib Nawaz, Moin-Ud-Din Chishti and included compositions that talked about clouds, thunder, lighting and matters of the heart. Hans exposed another side of his already strong repertoire when he sang ghazals, a genre he does not perform too often in. The ghazals of Khamar Barabanki and Ahmed Faraz were followed by what has become his forte, inimitable Punjabi numbers including “Nit khaire kare”.
APS MALHOTRA
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
