Odissi dancer Madhavi Mudgal and (above) singer Hariharan perform at Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 6: Odissi exponent Madhavi Mudgal and singer Hariharan performed at the inaugural evening of the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Award Festival, which began on Wednesday at Rabindra Mandap in the city.

Organised in honour of doyen of Odissi Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, the 18th edition of the festival featured the two noted artistes, who captured the attention of the houseful audience.

In spite of being unwell, Madhavi gave the perfect start to the evening with a Jagannath Ashtakam, Jagannatha swami nayana pathagami, written by Shankaracharya and composed by veteran musician Sunanda Patnaik.

She paid obeisance to Guru Mohapatra’s image on the stage, by setting up a spiritual ambience. She expressed a devotee’s emotions through her dance recital. Her second repertoire was another abhinaya on a monsoon-based love poem written by celebrated poet Upendra Bhanja.

From a woman reminiscing happy times with her beloved to a sceptical one, doubting her lover, Madhavi depicted the suffering of a lovelorn woman waiting for her partner with swift transformation of moods.

She also presented a pallavi, or a rhythmic sequence, composed of a series of artistic steps.

Madhavi concluded her performance with three Gita Govinda ashtapadis. The first of the series illustrated the varying tempers of Radha, with Radhika being a remarkable romantic abhinaya.

Kuru yadu nandana, her last recital, also showcased a range of subtle expressions of the love-struck Radha and Krishna.

Accompanying her were Gandhi Mallik on pakhawaj, Srinivas Satpathy on flute, R. Mohammed on sitar and Manikuntala Bhowmick and Purnanda Majhi on vocals.

When Hariharan came on stage, he was greeted with a loud round of applause. The musician was here about two months ago for a performance.

Starting with a Kaushik dhuni that was performed during Madhavi’s last rendition, the veteran singer regaled the audience for almost three hours. The classical, ghazal and fusion exponent enchanted the audience with famous ghazals such as Aandhian aati thi lekin kabhi aisa na hua, Kaash aisa koi manzar hota, Aks chehre pe aftaab ka hai, Pata pata boota boota and the all-time classic Ranjish hi sahi, which the singer dedicated to the legendary Mehdi Hasan.

On repeated requests from the crowd, Hariharan also regaled them with Hindi film songs such as Tu hi re, Yaadein and Jhonka hawa ka.

With a brilliant team of accompanists — Pradeep Pandit on harmonium, Sharada Bharatiya on tabla and Zohaib Hussain on keyboard — the singer even gave the audience a taste of Urdu blues, merging ghazal with Western style of singing and Qawwali which made the crowd break into cheers.

“It was a fascinating concert of dance and music. Such classic performances make the festival a much-awaited event,” said Madhab Mandal, a young viewer. The festival, organised by Srjan with support from Odisha Tourism and Culture, will continue till September 9.