“ Dil abhi bhara nahi ” (the heart is not full yet) was probably how the audience felt when Cochin Azad concluded his performance of legendary Mohammed Rafi songs with the song Parda Hai Parda song from the box-office hit Amar Akbar Antony .
The audience at the JtPac auditorium on Saturday clapped and swayed along with the rhythmic melodies during the Mohammed Rafi night as Azad sang with the emotions and nuances that are particular to Rafi songs.
The pathos-filled songs O duniya ke rakhwale from Baiju Banwara and Gum utane ke liye with the high-pitched opening lines Phalak mein jitney sitaren hain … from the film Mere Huzoor , struck a nostalgic chord with the audience.
Azad and co-singers Chitra Arun and Rehna Riyas, took the audience through the melody of songs like Chaudhvi ka chand , Yeh mera prem patra , Tere mere sapne , Chahoonga mein tujhe , Dil ke jharoke mein tujhko bithakar , Jo wada kiya , Wada karle saajana , Sau saal pehele , Deewana hua badal , Baharon phool barsao , Kaun hai jo sapon mein aaya , Abhi na jao chod kar , to name a few and some rhythmic hits like Aaj Kal tere mere pyar ke charche , Badan pe sitare and the unbeatable Taarif karoon kya uski .
Azad, who usually sticks to the exact rendering of songs by Rafi, took the liberty of some improvisation on a few lines in a couple of songs and the audience readily lapped it up. It jelled with the mood of the song and the audience probably related it to the way how Rafi would have done it during his live shows. The songs from the two-and-a-half hour show lingered on in the mind probably because Azad's rendering came straight from the heart.
