Amidst utter chaos and poor stage management, the organizers accorded ‘Ganamrutha Varshini’ award to legendary playback singer P. Suseela at the Government Music College grounds here on Tuesday.
For the Guinness Book of Records holder, who arrived at the venue along with former mayor Jandhyala Sankar, a big shock was in store as she was swarmed by her admirers menacingly.
The organizers, who ought to have pressed into service several volunteers, failed miserably to take care of the aging singer even while climbing the stage.
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On the stage, it was literally a free-for-all as the donors, dignitaries and admirers surrounded her by taking photographs from their mobiles and touching her feet.
Helpless
Bolisetty Radhakrishna, chief organiser of Somanadha Cultural Academy, looked helpless as he begged, shouted and even screamed at people to get down the stage. Hardly anyone listened to his plea.
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“This is not the way to honour a singer who brought smiles to us for so many decades. She will never to come to Vijayawada next time. This event will be known as the most ill-conceived one,” said H.V.R.S. Prasad of Sumadhura Kala Niketan.
As many people took to the stage even the star compere Turlapari Kutumbha Rao was nudged to a corner. “When you are felicitating a legend you should do your homework perfectly. The organisers should not let so many people on the stage,” said Uma Maheswara Rao of Swarabharathi.
The programme took off with a dance sequence by young danseuse Anusha and later singers like Ushanjali and Chandrasekhar rendered songs by Ghantasala and Suseela with poor ‘laya’ and less clarity in lyrics. Mimicry artiste Chandu’s parody on ANR and Ranganath didn't go down well with the audience.
Much to the surprise of everyone, the entire ground was filled with people who had come to have a glimpse of the “queen of melodies”.