Singers Susmita Das and (above) Sohini Mishra pay musical tribute to legendary composer Madan Mohan at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, March 19: Music lovers of the city were once again reminded that contemporary raunchy and peppy tracks can hardly take away the sheen of soulful melodies of yesteryear.

The timeless songs, scored by legendary music director Madan Mohan, reverberated in the Rabindra Mandap auditorium at a musical concert held last evening. The event was organised by cultural organisation The Evergreen in association with the state culture department.

The event began with the mellifluous Sohini Mishra crooning Naino mein badra chhaye, originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar for the film Mera Saya. Mishra, who has become a household name after doing well in a singing reality show, next sang Ruke ruke se kadam from the critically acclaimed film Mausam.

She was followed by Mumbai-based singer Sunil Parida, who sang the heart-warming romantic track Tum jo mil gaye ho from the film Haanste Zakham. Anindita Das then took the stage to lend her voice to Shokh nazar ki bijliyan, originally sung by Asha Bhosle, for the film Woh Kaun Thi. In her sonorous voice, Adyasa Das sang Hai isi mein pyar ki aabroo, the immensely popular song from the film Anpadh. Socialite and entrepreneur Rashmi Mohapatra also known for her singing talent sang Yun hasraton ke daag from the flick Adalat.

The gala nite saw many duet numbers as well. Sunil and Sohini paired up and crooned Ae humsafar bata de. Another singer Sidhartha Mishra paired up with Rashmi and Anindita and added to the strings of songs. Gulshan Nadeem, the anchor, not only kept sharing interesting anecdotes from the illustrious life of Madan Mohan, but also sang a few tracks.

Earlier, the organisation had paid rich tributes to well-known music composers such as O.P. Nayyar and Hemanta Kumar. “It is very important that the present generation is aware of such legendary figures of the music industry. Every year, we take the best Odia singers and try to host a show that would be remembered by the listeners for a long time,” said Kamala Kanta Mohanty, chairman of the organisation.

The audience, especially the avid followers of the music director whose songs ruled the roost in the 1950s and 1960s, had a gala time.