Path: Lehigh.EDU!Lehigh.EDU!sm0e
From: sm0e@Lehigh.EDU (SAMIUDDIN MOHAMMED)
Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.misc
Subject: The Bhupendra-Mitali concert
Date: 21 Apr 1996 08:12:50 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University
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                     ****  The Bhupendra-Mitali Concert *****
                       Packard Auditorium, Lehigh University
                                   April 20, 1996


Thanks to Neeraj Malhotra and Anup Pandey's recommendations, I decided to go
for the Bhupenra-Mitali concert. It turned out to be at a place closer than my
initial 5 miles estimate as it was held on the Lehigh campus itself. And as if
that weren't good enough the Lehigh ISA decided to foot the bill for us poor
grad students and we got to attend it for free.

The only bad thing about the 3-4 hr concert was that it started about an hr
and a half late. As Renu would say, "Hum desi nahin sudhrenge" :-) Anway, the
concert started around 8 PM with Bhupendra introducing his troup: Asif Akkashi
on the tabla, Rasheed Khan on the electric banjo, Raashid Khan on the electric
violin and Dinesh Kumar on the flute. I was rather surprised by the choice of
instruments as this was supposed to be a predominantly GHazal nite. But the
artists really performed well. Each interlude was on a single instrument with
the others joining in towards the end. The violin and flute pieces were
excellent. Rasheed Khan played the banjo very well too, but unfortunately,
that instrument isn't among my favourites. The sound was a bit loud at times,
but both Bhupendra and Mitali promptly asked the sound engineer to lower it
each time. The atmosphere was very casual with neither of the singers showing
any high and mighty attitude. As Neeraj had pointed out to me, they were quite
unassuming in their behaviour.

The event kicked off with duet by the two:

"Raahon pe nazar rakhna, honTon pe dua rakhna
 Aa jaae koi shaed, darwaaza khula rakhna..."

I found this sher to be quite paidal, but my misgivings about the evening were
dispelled when Mitali sang the next sher which was quite good:

"Ek boond bhi ashkon ki daaman na bhigo paae
 GHam uski amaanat hai, palkon pe saja rakhna..."

I couldn't catch the maqta very well, but I think it included the word
"KHateel" and it might therefore have been a KHateel Shifai composition. The
next GHazal by Mitali was also by the same shaer "Tum poochho aur main na
bataun aise to haalaat nahin..." The ashaar weren't extraordinary and my
attention span is tested quite severely when the first line is repeated thrice
:-) It's kinda disappointing when after so many repetitions the second line
falls short of your expectations.

The third GHazal was also sung pretty well by the duo:

"Ek ishq ka GHam aafat, aur uspe ye dil aafat
 Ya GHam na diya hota, ya dil na diya hota..."

A genuine complaint, me thought :-)

"Garmi-e-hasrat-e-naakaam se jal jaata hai..." was the next GHazal which had a
very nice tune. It somehow reminded me of the Begum Akhtar classic "Ai
mohabbat tere anjaam pe rona aaya..." None of the ashaar however was good
enough to be etched in my memory, but I wouldn't mind getting a copy of this
ghazal for it's tune. Mitali followed this up with "Meri sab koshishen naakaam
thhi usko manane ki..." which I didn't particularly like.

It was now time for them to get the public involved, and Bhupendra pulled out
the trick which usually works: a sharabi geet! It went something like "Hum bhi
pien, tum bhi pio..." He did succeed in getting the mehfil involved, but I
wish he would leave such songs to the likes of Pankaj Udhas et al.

Farmaaish time had dawned and I blessed the soul that requested for the first
filmi GHazal, my very fav. Bappi Da tune:

"Kisi nazar ko tera intezar aaj bhi hai
 Kahan ho tum ke ye dil bequaraar aaj bhi hai..." from Aitbaar.

I distinctly remember Neha posting the lyrics of this song earlier on RMIM and
wonder why the ISB police hasn't picked it up yet (I couldn't find it on
Ravi's new additions site either). Anyway, coming back to the GHazal,
Bhupendra sang it really well as he did in the original and I waited with
bated breath for the Asha portion to see how Mitali would cope with it. More
on this later. I couldn't discern any change in Bhupendra's voice from that in
his old songs, although he sang this song in a slightly different tune than
the actual, as most singers do in live performances. However, he did a much
better job at copying the original than KK did with "Man re tu kaahe na dheer
dhare..." (Sorry Pradeep, cudn't resist this :-)  I know, I know KK "improved
on the original" Yeah right!)

It was time for a break and everyone enjoyed two samosas and a pepsi in an
auditorium where no food was allowed :-)

Part two of the evening was more enjoyable from my point of view as they sang
film songs on farmaaish. Bhupendra started off with "Gulzar Sahab ka ek
naGHma"

"Dil DHoonDta hai, phir wohi fursat ke raat din...." Dinesh Kumar did darn
well on the flute in the interludes. The song was very well sung and I enjoyed
something that I never thought I would, esp. immediately after winter: The
reference to "Barfili sardion me kisi bhi pahaaR pe..." :-) I spent the last
four months of barfili sardi on a pahaaR cursing old man winter.

The wonderful duet from Parichay "Beeti na bitaai raina..." was next. Again I
wondered how Mitali would cope with Lata's portion of the song. To my pleasant
surprise she sang very well if one were to ignore the deliberate change in
tune in live performances. I felt that she did a much better job at this than in
the Aitbaar song. Although she sang "Ye pyaar jiske lie humne chhoRdi
duniya.." pretty well too, I think that the emotions which Asha could express
in the song are very difficult to duplicate. Does this mean that it's easier
to copy Lata than Asha ? I wouldn't conclude that, but in the songs mentioned
above, it did seem that way. BTW, in the Parichay song, should it be "jhooTH
se kaali laage, laage kaali ratiyaan..." or "choT se kaali laage, laage kali
ratiyaan..." ? I always thought that it was the latter, although Mitali sang
it as jhooTH.

Next came the famous "bartan" song from Gharonda :-)

"Ek akela is shehar me..." followed by "Naam gum jaaega..." where again Mitali
did a wonderful job. She then sang what I thought was the most beautiful
GHazal of the day:

"Ulfat ki naee manzil ko chala yun baahen Daale baahon me
 Dil toRnewaale dekhke chal, hum bhi to paRe hain raahon me..."

She mentioned that it was originally sung by Iqbal Bano. Does anyone have more
info. on this singer and more importantly about the shaer of the ghazal ? It
had some nice ashaar:

"Hum bhi hai wohi, tum bhi ho wohi, ye apni apni quismat hai
 Tum khel rahe ho KHushion se, hum Doob gae hain aahon me..."

I think Mitali has a nice voice quite suitable for GHazals, and she sang this
particular GHazal remarkably well.

At this time, I turned in my own request to Bhupendra. He however, wanted to
sing his first film song which he, quite naturally likes a lot:

"Hoke majboor mujhe usne bhulaaya hoga
 Zehar chupke se dawa jaanke khaaya hoga..."

I reclined on my chair looking forward to all the four stanzas of this Kaifi
masterpiece. But, much to my disappointment, he stopped after the first two
:-( He didn't sing the Talat (and my fav.) and Manna Dey stanzas. Perhaps, it
was due to lack of time.

There were a couple of requests for a Gujarati and a Punjabi song which he
obliged immediately. He brought the crowd to its feet with the fast paced
Punjabi number. A couple of ordinary GHazals then followed. Some senti chap
then had the urge to request that Jagjit Singh tear-jerker which I just can't
stand "Woh kaaGHaz ki kashti woh baarish ka paani...." It's too damn senti and
I don't like it at all. (My apologies to the Jaggu Bhai fans). Anyway, Mitali
obliged while I fretted and fumed as my request had been royally ignored :-(

A romantic duet "Chalo achha hua tum mil gae..." then followed, and just when
I was about to give up hope, there came my farmaaish:

"Karoge yaad to har baat yaad aaegi
 Guzarte waqt ki har mauj THehar jaaegi..."

There is something about filmi tunes which attracts me. I've heard so many
non-filmi GHazals but have seldom been enthralled by the tunes as I have been
with the filmi ones, although the lyrics of the former are often better.
This song was certainly the pick among Bhupendra's numbers. His voice sounded
as fresh as ever. There was hardly any accompanying music, and his voice
seemed completely in command. The concert is worth attending for this
particular song alone! But again, he cut off my fav. stanza:

Gali ke moR pe soona sa koi darwaaza
Tarasti aankhon se rasta kisi ka dekhega
Nigaah door talak jaake lauT aaegi
Karoge yaad to har baat yaad aaegi

The concert ended with an appropriate GHazal by the duo

Shama jalaae rakhna, jab tak main na aaun

Ye waqt-e-imtehaan hai, sabr-o-quaraar-e-dil ka
Aansu chhupae rakhna, jab tak main na aun

Zinda dilon se duniya zinda rahi hai
Mehfil sajaae rakhna, jab tak main na aaun


All in all, the concert is certainly worth attending. Both of them are very
down to earth people. I was pleasantly surprised to see Bhupendra personally
help his troup pack up the instruments and ready to talk to everyone.

They will be having three more concerts in America and Canada. The first one
is in Connecticut (don't know the exact place) and the others in Calgary
(Cananda) and Fresno (California). If you have the opportunity to attend any
one of them, don't miss it. The money and the time will be well spent.

Sami Mohammed (A Naushad fan)

PS: Bhupendra was kind enough to answer a few of my questions after the
concert... will post the details soon.

*******************************************************************************
Lines for the day:

Mere na-muraad junoon ka hai ilaaj koi to maut hai
Jo dawa ke naam pe zehar de, usi chaaragar ki talaash hai

Sahir in "Na to kaarwan ki talaash hai, na to humsafar ki talaash hai...."
*******************************************************************************