>From vvenkate Sat Sep 23 18:08:30 1995 Subject: Lata Live '95 : Another Impression To: rec-music-indian-misc@cs.utexas.edu Date: Sat, 23 Sep 1995 18:08:30 -0700 (PDT) Lata Live '95 (Washington DC) : Another Impression -------------------------------------------------- A followup to Chetan Vinchhi's review of the Lata concert in Washington D.C. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The place: Chetan's White Saturn. The music: Lata Mangeshkar singing for Madan Mohan Kohli. A prelude to the concert. As Lata sang in her pristine voice "Sapnon Mein Agar Mere Tum Aao Toh So Jaaoon", I braced myself to face the fact that Lata did not command the same control over her voice today. It would be foolish of me to expect that, she has been singing for 53 years now. The Constitution Hall in Washington was buzzing with eager whispers of Hindi music lovers and Hindi movie lovers alike, for people had flocked not just to hear Lata Mangeshkar sing, but also to behold in person one of the most charming women to ever grace the Hindi movie screen - Waheeda Rehman. Since Chetan has already given a minute by minute account of the Lata part of the concert, I will dwell on some other aspects. S.P.Balasubramaniam. A born entertainer. A singer who deserves to be placed up there with the likes of Mohd. Rafi and Kishore Kumar, were it not for the low visibility that South Indian music gets in the national arena. He was introduced as the "latest" rage. Hello?!! Latest???? Hardly!!!!!! Did these people do their homework before undertaking the task of introducing the best male playback singer in the country today? Does the Hindi audience really think S.P.B. gained visibility when he sang "Tere Mere Beech Mein Kaisa Hai Yeh Bandhan Anjaana" in "Ek Dujhe Ke Liye", went into oblivion, made a comeback with "Jiyen Toh Jiyen Kaise Bin Aapke" in "Saajan" and attained stardom after he sang "Didi Tera Devar Deewana" in "Hum Aapke Hain Koun"??? Despite the fact that I did not recognize some of the new songs that S.P.B. sang, I revelled in his voice, his control, the joy on his rotund face as he sang. In contrast, Lata was very stoic throughout the concert and did not establish eye contact with the audience even once. The audience went berserk when S.P.B. dextrously switched from Hindi verses to Tamil verses as he sang the title song of "Roja" - "Kaadhal Rojaave"/"Roja Jaaneman". The performance was impeccable, it felt as though I was sitting back at home listening to my cassette. As this beautiful performance ended the audience was filled with cries of "S.P.B.! Thamizh paattu!!" Had this been his show, he would have gladly obliged, but his humility and the immense respect he has for Lata Mangeshkar showed when he refused to take the center stage and turned down his fans to sing his next Hindi song "Mere Rang Mein Rangne Waali, Pari Ho Ya Ho" from "Maine Pyaar Kiya" in which he very cutely added a couple of lines to pacify his disappointed fans "Music has no language...". His flair for improvisation shone through. Usha Mangeshkar was barely tolerable, to put it mildly. My ears were begging for relief by the time she finished singing her solo which I have never heard before, "...maike chali", fast-paced, folksy, screechy - especially so when she sang it! Why would she choose such a song?? Beats me! She screeched her way through her other solo "Agar Tum Na Hote" too. She joined Lata and Sudesh Bhonsle again for the golden oldie "Lara Lappa Lara Lappa Lai Rakhda", truly an evergreen song, with a catchy tune and fresh lyrics. Needless to say, this was one of the songs that I enjoyed most in the show. I differ with Chetan about his views on Sudesh Bhonsle, I personally feel he did a decent job with some of the songs, like "Doli Mein BiThaaike" from "Amar Prem" originally sung by S.D.Burman. S.D.Burman's voice is quite unique and probably the most difficult to imitate but Sudesh came close. He also added a little mirth to an otherwise stoic show. And the audience loved him. I wondered what made the audience go nuts over Sudesh Bhonsle when there was Lata and S.P.B. present on the stage. Probably every show needs a joker who gets the most `audible' response. As the show ended Waheeda Rehman captured my heart again with her humility. Lata Mangeshkar called out the names of all the artists to thank them personally for coming on the show and they filed on to the stage one by one to join her. And till the end, Waheeda's name was not called. Finally she gracefully walked onto the stage by herself and Lata smiled apologetically and thanked Waheeda Rehman. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vandana Venkatesan.