One of the most prolific voices in the country today, Rekha Bhardwaj’s unique voice has the capability to light out any song — be it ghazal, folk music, a piece tracing its origin to classical music or even the standard of success in Bollywood — an item number. Her deep and low pitched voice has been behind some of the most soulful numbers of the past decade and this acclaimed singer was in Hyderabad, for ‘Cinema Soul’ a fitting finale to the The Hindu November Fest 2018, ensuring that the festival ended on a high note.
The singer’s repertoire is anything but conventional, and it is because of her phenomenal talent that she has succeeded in carving a niche for herself through these varied numbers. Rekha started the concert Azzizon ki Toli (so named by lyricist Gulzar, she shared) with a light, playful number Hello Hello from the recently released Pataaka .
She regaled the packed house with renditions of her many hits which followed in quick succession – right from her superhit melody Kabira from Yeh Jawani Hain Diwani to the soulful Phir le aaya in Barfi to delightful Genda Phool in Delhi 6 . The audience responded instantly to the magic of melodies unfurling in front on them and started requesting their own favourite Rekha Bhardwaj numbers to which the singer responded gracefully and singing, if not an entire number then a couple of lines to satisfy the yearning of the crowds.
The audience responded without any prompting – singing along, clapping and cheering the singer on, more proof of the connect Rekha has with her audiences. The next set of songs in the two hour concert, included the semi-classical gem Ab mujhe koi from Ishqiya , Tere ishq main and Judaai apart from the fast paced Ek Dooni Do from Rangoon and the song which she confessed, changed her career, Namak ishq ka from Omkara .
The accomplished artist ensured that it wasn’t only the music that regaled the audiences– she narrated nuggets from the movies, shared anecdotes about her friends (calling out her friend and Kathak dancer Mangala Bhatt who was in the audience) and broke into dervish whirling she had learnt in 2002.
Rekha’s singular voice and her wide range ensured that the concert wasn’t monotonous. Drawing on her tremendous training in various styles from rustic to semi-classical, the singer was hardly ever out of tune and being a veteran of the stage, she expertly paced the evening even telling the audiences that she would sing certain requests (the faster numbers) only at the end.
In the fantastic team that assisted her, Sourav Joshi on the electric guitar was the perfect foil to Rekha’s powerful vocals. His enthusiasm, pitch perfect voice and evident love for performing ensured that this pairing was flawless. Ending the concert with two fast paced numbers Darling from Saath Khoon Maaf and the popular Damadam Mast Kalandar , it was a musical soiree to remember for long.
