Live Concerts

I have been to a few- Shankar Mahadevan, Sudesh Bhosle, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar-RD Burman-Asha Bhosle, Pandit Ravishankar, Pankaj Udhas (aka Punk Rock of India- just a joke), Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ghulam Ali+Mehdi Hasan, and a couple of them dedicated to people no more- SD Burman, and Mohammed Rafi, for instance.

I enjoyed all of them, because hearing music live, specially from the artist himself, is a different feeling, and he/she brings some story about the music or songs to the event.

Live Shows- Music

I remember the following concerts vividly-

Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle and RD Burman. Three of my favourites live at Brabourne stadium, Mumbai, around 1985. It was great fun, with Kishore and RD fooling around in between some marvelous songs.

Hariprasad Chaurasia did a SPIC-MACAY show at IIM Bangalore when I was a student. I remember being amazed by the size of his flute!

Ghulam Ali and Mehi Hasan live in Atlanta..this was a rare treat, to have two maestros of ghazal on the same stage. Their styles were contrasting, with Ghulam Ali more conscious of the public, and talking to us often, and Mehdi Hasan was a lot more serious.

Shiv Kumar Sharma and Zakir Husain together in Atlanta. Their jugalbandi was divine, with the Santoor and Tabla sounding out-of-the-world.

Pankaj Udhas singing his melodious ghazala, again at Atlanta, USA.

Shankar Mahadevan recently did a show at Pune just after he had acted in and composed for the Marathi film Katyaar Kaljaat Ghusli. A great show, with lots of tracks composed by him with Ehsaan and Loy. Dil Chahta Hai was the standout film album for me, along with the Marathi film.

Sudesh Bhosle doing a Kishore Kumar special in Mumbai a couple of years ago. Outstanding mimic, he sounded exactly like the original.

S.D. Burman special, done recently by a group from Pune, which recounted most of his hit songs. He is a favourite music director, and I first became aware of him through the music of Aradhana around 1970- both Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar owe him one for that album.

Shankar Mahadevan and More

Saw Shankar Mahadevan live at Pune last night. The show was titled "From Katyar to Kajra Re." My favourites from the show are Kajra re, and the title song from Dil Chahta Hai, and all the Marathi numbers he sang, especially the ones from the film Katyar Kaaljat Ghusli (Marathi), a musical adaptation of a famous play. He starred in it as the protagonist also. One of the best films of recent times. Subodh Bhave who produced that film, was the compere, crisp and competent.

He was good in the classical numbers, and had excellent jugalbandis with the Sitar player and with the audience. There were a couple of other singers, Mahesh Kale and two female budding artists. The special effects were good, enhancing the visual experience. I did not like the bhajan/abhang (Indrayani kaathi, devachi Alandi) that he sang, maybe because Bhimsen Joshi and Kumar Gandharva have sung the same at a superior level.

All said, a great experience, though the handling of the crowd by the volunteers at the entry points to the back rows left a lot to be said about managing events. But that was forgotten once the magic began.

Met Ratnashree Tripathi, a former student who works for Jetsynthesys, a digital firm in Pune. Was meeting her after a few years, so we covered a lot of ground, including many writers from IMT Nagpur, and writing and reading in general. 

Katyaar Kaaljaat Ghusli-Film Review

This is a Marathi film based on a renowned play by the same name, which translates roughly into -"The dagger pierces the heart."

It is probably the best film I have seen this year. Subtitled too, so non-Marathi speakers can enjoy it. The story, acting, music, production, and photography leave you spellbound. The main roles of the court musicians are played by Shankar Mahadevan and Sachin, who we remember from a few Hindi films. Both are awesome, and these may well be roles of a lifetime for them. Amruta Khanvilkar as Zareena and Mrunmayee Deshpande as Uma, the daughters of the protagonists, excel in their respective roles. The director, Subodh Bhave also plays an important role.

The music and singing is also a hero in the film, and keeps you captivated. Shankar-Ehsaan Loy and Jitendra Abhisheki have scored the numerous songs. The story has some similarities to the rivalry between Salieri and Mozart in Amadeus, but lots of new dimensions.

To anyone who loves music, this film is a treat. Brilliant piece of film-making. Go watch it.