A Tribute to Madan Mohan - Concert
Satish Kalra
great concert by Dr. Alka Deo Marulkar, accompanied by Jaywant Utpat on
Tabla/Dholak/Handsonic, Arvind Bhand on Harmonium and Prashant Gijare on
Synthesizer. The show was slated to be a tribute to Madan Mohan, and that
indeed it was, since almost all the songs presented were his compositions.
{Back in August 2001 also, she had presented a similar concert, accompanied
by Sanjeev Ramabhadran for the vocals.} [I had also attended one of her
concerts back in the mid-80s held in Norristown, PA, and wanted to repeat
the experience.]
The concert was organized by the Marathi Vishwa (Cultural Center) in
Laurence Harbour, NJ. The 'emcee' made all the announcements and tidbits in
Marathi, and since I don't know the language, was not able to understand
whatever she said in betwixt the songs. Whatever I gathered was from asking
other attendees - the only words I really understood were "samarth gaayak
Sanjeev Ramabhadran", which was obviously her referring to the 2001 concert.
Here is a report on the concert and the songs presented, in Dr. Alka Deo's
unique, sonorous voice.
She opened up the program with "jab jab tumhein bhulaayaa tum aur yaad
aaye", and moving on to "bahaarein hamko dhuundengiin na jaane ham kahaan
honge.."; she was speaking on behalf of the composer with these two songs.
So appropriate. Thereafter, it was one song after another: 'zaraa sii
aahaT hotii hai to..'; 'kadar jaane naa..'; 'jaanaa thaa hamse duur..';
'sapane mein sajan se do baatein..'; wo chup rahein to..'; 'yuun hasaraton
ke daag...'; agar mujhase muhabbat hai..'; 'wo jo milate the kabhii'; 'ham
pyaar mein jalane waalon ko..'; 'main to tum sang...'; 'wo bhuulii
daastaan..'; 'unako ye shikayat hai..'. After reeling off these back to
back, she presented a medley of a few songs, originally by male singers
under the MD's baton - 'bhuulii huii yaado...', 'merii yaad mein tum na
aansuu bahaanaa..', 'kaun aayaa mere man ke dwaare..', 'tumhaarii zulf ke
saaye mein shaam kar luungaa..', and 'phir wohi shaam wahii gam...'. The
keyboard/synthesizer player, Prashant Gijare sang the 'jhalak' of "har
koyii chaahataa hai ik muThhii aasmaan.." to represent Kishore Kumar.
Just prior to the break, she spoke about Madan Mohan being an 'unlucky'
music composer, but also said that while most songs are associated with
their stars/film situations, etc., we are lucky to be able to enjoy Madan
Mohan's compositions without such detractions. She also spoke about why she
personally prefers to sing his ocmpositions. {My personal thoughts on Madan
Mohan's "bad luck" in Hindi film music and its 'probable' reasons will be
put forth in a separate post.}
The program continued after the intermission with 'sabaa se ye kah do..';
and 'lag jaa gale..'. A medley, representing various composers' style
followed - "dukhiyaare nainaa..." was announced to be representative of
Anil-da's style; 'hamein ho gayaa tumse pyaar' that of Noorjehan; and 'shokh
anzar kii bijaliyaan..' as that of O.P. Nayyar. {I personally disagree with
the last representation.} 'jogiyaa...kahaan jaane lagaa hai munh pher ke'
(sung with incorrect lyrics for the mukhadaa) was pointed out as being
similar in raaga/tune to 'chhotaa sa baalamaa...'. 'Jhalaks' of "tujhe
kjyaa sunaauun main dilrubaa.."; "hamse aayaa na gayaa..."; "hamaar kahaa
maano raajaajii.." completed the medley and then began the final round of
some more full length songs. "rasm-e-ulfat", 'maaii rii main kaase
kahuun..."; "chain nahiin aaye..."; "lagan tose laagii balamaa.."; "hai isii
mein pyaar kii aabaruu"; {Dr. Alka here recounted Naushad's appreciation
with his famous comments of "merii saarii mausiiqii ek taraf, tumhaarii ye
ek ghazal ek taraf..." at this juncture}; and "tere bin saawan kaise biitaa"
made up the segment.
The final song for the evening was appropriately, like in the beginning,
"mujhe yaad karane waale tere saath saath huun main..". How true, for Madan
Mohan's music will always be with us.
Happy Listenings.
Satish Kalra
PS: Dr. Alka holds a Ph.D. in Music and teaches at the Goa University.
Sanjeev Ramabhadran
Slight correction to this bit of info - she's Director of Indian Classical
Music at the well-known Goa Kala Academy.
Glad you enjoyed the concert! Hers is certainly a truly unique and
thoughtful perspective on a great composer.
Cheers,
Sanjeev
Satish Kalra
news:x2Q7b.46667$Dg7....@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...
> > PS: Dr. Alka holds a Ph.D. in Music and teaches at the Goa University.
>
> Slight correction to this bit of info - she's Director of Indian Classical
> Music at the well-known Goa Kala Academy.
Thanks for the correction. I can't even hide behind my lack of knowing the
Marathi language. :-)
Happy Listenings.
Satish Kalra
Arun Iyengar
news:Cht7b.9353$w41....@nwrdny02.gnilink.net...
> On Sunday, Sept. 7, 2003, I had the opportunity and pleasure to attend a
> great concert by Dr. Alka Deo Marulkar, accompanied by Jaywant Utpat on
> Tabla/Dholak/Handsonic, Arvind Bhand on Harmonium and Prashant Gijare on
> Synthesizer.
Satishji, you have listed the songs sung, her comments etc but you haven't
talked about how each of the songs were sung. Any comments there? Did you
like or dislike her renditions? I recall some comment a while ago that she
adds some of her own nuances to these songs and doesn't try to reproduce the
song exactly as the original. It would really be interesting to read an
analysis about this aspect of her singing. Usually you applaud singers on
how faithfully they reproduce the original but rarely for adding their own
little variations. I missed her 2001 concert and would certainly like to
attend her next concert in the tri-state area.
A
---
(Remove 999 to reply)
Satish Kalra
news:gak9b.4112$U41....@nwrdny01.gnilink.net...
> "Satish Kalra" <Satish...@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:Cht7b.9353$w41....@nwrdny02.gnilink.net...
> > On Sunday, Sept. 7, 2003, I had the opportunity and pleasure to attend a
> > great concert by Dr. Alka Deo Marulkar, accompanied by Jaywant Utpat on
> > Tabla/Dholak/Handsonic, Arvind Bhand on Harmonium and Prashant Gijare on
> > Synthesizer.
>
>
> Satishji, you have listed the songs sung, her comments etc but you haven't
> talked about how each of the songs were sung. Any comments there? Did you
> like or dislike her renditions?
She sang very well. Her voice is not the same as it was more than 15 years
ago when I first heard her. But, she stiall retained the voice control,
sur, and best of all, the 'breathing' stamina which enabled her to sing
longish lines without pausing problems. Occasionally, there was a miscue on
the lyrics' words for one or two songs when she tried to sing them without
the 'index cards'. But each time, she would come back and sing the full,
correct lyrics. IMO, this added to the beauty of the live concert.
At no time does she try to sing a-la-Lata style, and that is what I find
best.
I recall some comment a while ago that she
> adds some of her own nuances to these songs and doesn't try to reproduce
the
> song exactly as the original. It would really be interesting to read an
> analysis about this aspect of her singing.
Yes. A couple of times, she did that, but mostly in the 'aalaaps' only -
there too, she added her aalaap to the actual one, thus not taking the
latter away.
Let me make a comment about Jaywant Utpat, who accompanied her on the Tabla.
He is an accomplished Tabla player, and on a few occasions, displayed his
expertise, with the Harmonium player, during the musical interludes. Very
entertaining.
Usually you applaud singers on
> how faithfully they reproduce the original but rarely for adding their own
> little variations. I missed her 2001 concert and would certainly like to
> attend her next concert in the tri-state area.
Happy Listenings.
Satish Kalra