The rendition of Hazrat Amir Khusro’s ‘Eri sakhi mohe piya ghar aaye bhaag lage usey aangan ko...’ (O friend, homecoming of my beloved has made this courtyard so perfectly blessed) set the ambience for the musical evening programme held here on Saturday to commemorate the first death anniversary of singer Umbayi.
The select audience of music lovers, who gathered at the Cherussery Auditorium on the Kannur University’s administrative campus here in the evening, was captivated by the majestic Sufi kalam in raag Desh, the first of the songs rendered by Rakhi Chatterjee, Kolkata-based singer.
The ghazal night was also the inaugural event of the monthly cultural programmes planned by the district administration in association with the Information and Public Relations Department and the District Tourism Promotion Council.
In the course of the musical event, she sang another song in raag Desh — the nostalgic Malayalam number ‘Oru pushpam mathramen poomkulayil nirtham nhaan...’ .
A classical vocalist trained in Hindustani music and composer, Ms. Chatterjee sang the songs of masters like Mehdi Hassan, Farhat Shahzad, Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udhas and also rendered some of her own numbers and immortal film songs.
Among the songs that enthralled the audience were ‘Othupalleelannu nammal poyidunna kaalam...’ , a favourite song in Umbayi’s ghazal concerts, and enduring popular ghazals ‘Pyar bhare do sharmeele nain...’ , ‘Rafta rafta wo meri hasti ka saman...’ and ‘Chupke chupke raat din...’ .
“I try to follow masters and my compositions are based on Hindustani raag,” said Ms. Chatterjee during an interaction before the programme.
It was very easy to apply raag on ghazal, she said, adding that she was influenced by Mehdi Hassan during her childhood. “Music can consume your negativity,” she said.
Ms. Chatterjee said her first guru was her grandfather Biswanath Chatterjee. Recalling her earlier ghazal programmes at Tirur and Kozhikode, she said the people in the State were very fond of ghazals.
The commemorative programme was inaugurated by writer T. Padmanabhan. District Collector T.V. Subhash was also present. Mr. Subhash said Ms. Chatterjee had missed a few opportunities to sing with Umbayi. But she had the opportunity to work with the orchestra of Umbayi, he added.
