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| A singer croons timeless songs of OP Nayyar at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati |
Bhubaneswar, June 6: O.P. Nayyar fans in the city got a sonorous treat when popular Odia singers relived the immortal golden hits at a musical evening in Rabindra Mandap.
Nayyar’s illustrious career of more than 40 years has yielded hundreds of hit songs and the organisers of the event — The Evergreen — a cultural group, chose some of Nayyar’s best to grace the occasion.
The evening started with slow, soulful and romantic songs such as Tu hai mera prem devta sang by singers Sunil and Abhisekh. This song from the film Kalpana was a huge hit during the 1960s and the singing duo did justice to the song originally sung by Manna Dey and Md. Rafi.
Classical vocalist Sangeeta Gosain’s mellifluous voice touched a high in Chain se humko kabhie. The song was the last one that Asha Bhosle had sung for the legendary music director from the film Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye.
The moving music of the song blended with Gosain’s voice was a treat for the listeners.
Singer Devdas, popularly known as the Mukesh of Odisha, sang the famous Chal akela song from the film Sambandh. It is said that the song is inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s well-known patriotic song Ekla cholo re. Later in the evening, more intoxicating Nayyar songs enchanted the listeners.
As singers Pammi and Sharmila sang Isharoon isharoon mein from the Sharmila Tagore-Shammi Kapoor hit Kashmir Ki Kali, the crowd burst into loud applause.
More Asha Bhosle-Md. Rafi-O.P. Nayyar hits such as Aao huzoor tumko, maang ke saath tumhara, Mera naam chin chin chu were in the pipeline.
All the singers including Adyasa Das, Kumar Bishnu, Barada Prasad did a wonderful job at recreating the magical Nayyar moments.
What made the evening more intriguing were the interesting titbits about Nayyar that the compère shared with the audience. While many of the music director’s fans know Md. Rafi as one of Nayyar’s favourite singer, not many knew about the two-year rift between the two. The compère also shared about Nayyar’s sad life during his last days. The evening concluded with a peppy song Aankhon hi aankhon mein.
“All of Nayyar’s songs are replete with soul and melody. Even if the films flopped, Nayyar’s songs were always musical chart toppers. His songs are so modern that even today the younger generations can connect to them,” said a Nayyar fan Abhisekh Misra.
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