Gig review/ Pratibha Singh Baghel
BY NARENDRA KUSNUR
Jazbaat/ Pratibha Singh Baghel
Genre: Ghazals, Sufi, Hindi film
Event by: W&M, Vivikta
Details: Nehru Centre, September 5
Rating: **** 1/2
(Photograph taken by: Mehul Mehta)
Despite the festival traffic and rainy spells, it was heartening to see a near-packed house at singer Pratibha Singh Baghel's concert Jazbaat at Nehru Centre, Worli, on Friday. What was even more welcome that many knew the songs, and stayed till the end, asking for more.
For two and a half hours without an intermission, Pratibha had the audience humming along to a carefully chosen selection of ghazals, geet, film classics and Sufiana numbers. The accompanying band was tight, and the interaction between songs alternated anecdotes and descriptions with impromptu humour.
Though this blogger has seen Pratibha perform a few numbers at the annual Khazana festival, and followed her numerous recordings and videos, this was the first full-length concert he attended of hers. Naturally, one had this faint curiosity about whether she would fulfil expectations, considering she's performed with large orchestras abroad and even graced the Royal Albert Hall in London.
A few songs into the concert, which followed a brief introduction, and all doubts were laid to rest. The singing was consistent and the choice of songs was remarkable. What one admired was she mentioned the names of composer and poets, including lesser-known writers. Considering many other singers only mention famous names to earn brownie points, this was definitely a good precedent.
Pratibha began with the Nasir Kazmi-penned 'Dil Dhadakne Ka Sabab', which has earlier had separate recordings by Ghulam Ali, Asha Bhosle and Pankaj Udhas. This was followed by the Begum Akhtar gem 'Mere Humnafas Mere Humnava', penned by the legendary Shakeel Badayuni. She sang only two shers, and that was something she did on many songs to accommodate as many as she could till the 10 pm deadline.
Mehdi Hassan's 'Mujhe Tum Nazar Se' (written by Masroor Anwar) and Ghulam Ali's 'Chupke Chupke Raat Din' (Hasrat Mohani) followed. Having caught everyone's attention with vintage fare, the singer moved to originals and more recent songs, maintaining a balance between old and new. The entire set list is published at the end, but the medleys of Jagjit Singh and Lata Mangeshkar were among the highlights. As she hadn't included 'Koi Fariyaad' (from the film Tum Bin) in the Jagjit medley, many in the audience made requests, and she clubbed that song with the brilliant Arth number 'Koi Yeh Kaise Bataaye'.
Other immaculate pieces included a short rendition of Ghulam Ali's 'Apni Tasveer' (written by Shehzad Ahmed Shehzad), the traditional 'Hamri Atariya' and her originals 'Ae ri sakhi jiya haar rakhi', composed by Salim-Sulaiman and written by Siddharth-Garima, and 'Bole Naina', composed by Deepak Pandit and written by Gulzar. The last piece was sung as a tribute to tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, who played on the original. Hariharan's 'Kaash Aisa Koi Manzar Hota', written by Tahir Faraaz, was given an uptempo feel and concluded with a tabla-vocals sawaal-jawaab.
Film flavours were provided through covers of 'Dil Cheez Kya Hai' (Umrao Jaan), 'Hamein Tumse Pyar Kitna' (Kudrat), 'Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar' (Hum Dono), 'Bahut Pyaar Karte Hain' (Saajan) and 'Meri dholna sun' (Bhool Bhulaiya), the last one filled with intricate classical nuances. A couple of lines from the Pathaan hit 'Besharam Rang' were sung in ghazal style, providing a surprise.
The band played as per the song's requirements, and once could sense a more prominent use of bass (Rohit Dev) compared to many ghazal shows. The use of Arshad Khan's esraj instead of the sarangi was an interesting decision. Guitarist Sanjoy Das, keyboardist Atul Raninga, harmonium player Akhlaq Husain Varsi, percussionist Swaranjay Dhumal and the marvellous tabla player Prashant Sonagra completed the line-up. There was no bansuri, and one felt it would have sounded good on some tracks
Obviously, it would be difficult to fit in everything in 150 minutes and one missed songs like Lata's 'Agar Mujhse Mohabbat Hai', Noor Jehan's 'Neeyat-e-Shauq' or Asha's 'Salona Sa Sajan', which she sings at many shows, or her lesser-heard Gulzar original 'Raat Ko Jaane Kya Hota Hai'. She also didn't sing Farida Khanum's 'Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo', but that has become predictable at most shows (with nobody, nobody mentioning the poet Faiyyaz Hashmi).
For the larger audience, Pratibha had to end with two overplayed hits though - and they came in the form of 'Chaap Tilak' and 'Damadam Mast Qalandar'. Of course, many people would have gone out humming these songs, probably carrying them home as earworms. It was definitely a melody-filled evening, and the biggest takeaway was that ghazals can still draw packed, knowledgeable and satisfied crowds, with singers even coming from the younger generation.
SET LIST
Dil dhadakne ka sabab aa gaya hai
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