As a result of the two-and-a-half hours spent at The Music Academy, yours truly is now ferreting out old tapes from her parents' collection. That rain soaked evening had something for everyone — it didn't matter which decade you were born in. ‘The Trendsetters-A Bollywood Musical Journey,' put together by Niche Entertainment from Pune had singers crooning hits from 1960 to 2010. Organised by Backstage, the charity show was in aid of Satya Surabhi Trust and Duchess Helping Hands' Project 12_21.
The concert began with songs from the black and white era, with movie clips featuring Dilip Kumar, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Meena Kumari, Balraj Sahani, slowly being replaced by colour. As Madhubala appeared on the big screen in ‘Jab Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya', Swarada Gokhale-Godbole materialised on stage lending her voice to the clip. The next clip had Rajendra Kumar serenading his lady love with ‘Baharon Phool Barsao', with singer Hrishikesh Ranade, lending his voice to the actor. The programme was not just about music but also had little nuggets of information about music directors, movies, actors, actresses and singers. Did you know Rajendra Kumar was known as “Jubilee Kumar” because most of his films celebrated silver jubilee? Finally there was the unmistakeable hollering of ‘Yahoo', and as Shammi Kapoor tumbled down a snowy slope, the audience let out shouts of delight.
Milind Oak, who conceived the show and compered it, said the sizzling Seventies saw the Indian film industry produce the maximum number of films. Next it was time for showman Raj Kapoor and his unforgettable hits such as ‘Jaane kahan gaye woh din' (sung by Jitendra Abhyankar) and “Jhoot Bole Kauwa Kaate”(by Priyanka Barve). Finally, Gabbar Singh emerged, looking on as Helen shimmied to ‘Mehbooba Mehbooba' from “Sholay”.
The singers infused appropriate emotion into their renditions that matched perfectly with the actors lip-synching on screen. They even tried matching their outfits so it wasn't a surprise when one of them appeared on stage in a saffron robe with garlands to sing ‘Dum Maro Dum'. Then there was a Rajesh Khanna clone, in a topi and mustard blazer singing ‘Mere Sapno Ki Rani'.
Next up was the 1980s — the age of disco fever with party staples such as ‘Aa Dekhe Zara', ‘Aap Jaisa Koi, and ‘Ek Hasina Thi'. It progressed to the merry ‘Lakdi ki Kaathi' and ‘Ek Do Teen' with Madhuri Dixit gracefully swaying her hips. The decade was complete with a drool-worthy Aamir Khan strumming his guitar to ‘Papa Kehte Hai'.
Music from the 1990s took over with ‘Kuch Na Kaho' followed by ‘Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhen', and ‘Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jaana Sanam'. As songs from the new millennium resounded through the auditorium, some reminisced about happy memories, some fought back tears, but most clapped, swayed and sang along.
