SHANKAR JAIKISHAN CONCERT

By Devendra V Shastry
11 July’09 evening.
Jam-packed Dinanath Mangeshkar Auditorium, Mumbai.Outside - heavy clouds but no rain. Inside the auditorium - heavy rain! No… nothing was wrong! The auditorium is well maintained. It was in fact the rain of Shankar-Jaikishan melodies. And the audience, right from teenagers to senior citizens were completely drenched in the melodies.

Thanks to the SJ forum member – Mr. Maruti Rao, who had informed about the concert well in advance and the members to attend were M/S Maruti Rao, Rajagopal, Sunil Pal, Kamat (Mr.Maruti’s friend) and yours truly.

The programme started at around 8.45pm. Mr. Prashant Rao was the compere. Though comperes have good sense of humour, his was outstanding. And he narrated some story or other related to the songs (& SJ) before inviting the singers on the stage.

The first song was SJs first known composition – Jiya Beqaraar Hai (Barsaat) sung by (???). Sorry, I can’t recollect the names of most of the artists who performed in the concert. If any of the attendees, remembers, please post the names.
Next was the turn of the Talat number - ‘Aye mere dil kahin aur chal’ (Daag) followed by ‘Ye mera diwanapan hai’ (Yahudi). This was followed by ‘Ajib daastaan hai ye’ (Dil Apna Prit Parayi). And when the compere announced about the name of the movie – Dil Ek Mandir & the singer Rafi Saheb, everyone in the audience literally sighed heavily. And yes, their expectations were well fulfilled when ‘Yaad na jaaye…’ was sung beautifully.

After this, it was the turn of few duets – ‘Dil Ki Nazar Se’ (Anadi), ‘Yaad kiya dil ne kahaan ho tum…’ (Patita), ‘Dhire-dhire chal chand gagan mein’ (Love Marriage), ‘Aaja sanam madhur chandni mein hum’ (Chori-Chori) .
These were followed by the solo song ‘Sur Na Saje’ (Basant Bahar). It was sung so beautifully that on the ‘once-more’ request from the audience, the last antara was sung again. After that it was ‘Tera mera pyar amar’ (Asli-Naqli) by the singer who had made stage appearance after a long gap. But she was outstanding. Then again there was a duet ‘Ye aankhein uf yumma’ (Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai) followed by ‘Nakhrewali’ ( New Delhi ) after which there was the semi-classical duet ‘Ajahu na aaye baalama’ (Saanjh Aur Sawera). By all means a very difficult composition to sing, But the male singer, in particular, did fantastic job. After this, it was the turn of the magical ‘Ramaiyya vastaavaiya’ (Shri 420). And as the brief interval was announced, we were amazed that almost 2 hours had passed!!!

Due to very feeble sound of accordion, the songs ‘Aye mere dil’, ‘Dil ki nazar se’, ‘Aja sanam’, ‘Nakhrewali’, in particular, could not be enjoyed fully. During the interval, yours truly requested the sound in-charge to increase the sound of accordion. He gracefully agreed.

Part-2 started with ‘Kaun hai jo sapnon mein aya’ (Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan). After that it was the magical ‘ Kisi ki muskuraahaton pe ho nisaar’ (Anadi). Now the accordion was well audible. This was followed by ‘Ruk ja raat thahar ja re chanda’ (Dil Ek Mandir).


After these solos, again it was a duet ‘O shama mujhe phoonk de’ (Aashiq) followed by ‘Chalat musafir moh liya re’ (Teesri Kasam). The dholak accompaniment was outstanding. Next was ‘Har dil jo pyaar karega’ (Sangam) and the accordion produced mesmerizing effect. Then there were two dance numbers – ‘Badan pe sitare’ (Prince) and ‘Aaj kal tere mere pyaar ke charche’ (Brahmachari) . After these it was the duet ‘Dil ki girah khol do’ (Raat Aur Din) followed by ‘Tere bina aag ye chandni’ & ‘Ghar aya mera pardesi’ (Awara). The instrumentalists did outstanding job with this extremely complicated song, considering limited instruments available.

And to end the concert, it was yet again mind blowing accordion, on this occasion with ‘Jeena yahaan marna yahaan’ (Mera Naam Joker). And by the time audience reluctantly started leaving the auditorium with the haunting effect of 'Jeena yahaan marna yahaan...', still thirsty for more, it was 0015 hrs.

D.V.Shastry
PS : Pictures courtesy Musicolor