I had a major road accident last week and people advised me not to come for this show. But I told them Calcutta is my sasural and that if she calls me I must honour her request,” smiled Asha Bhosle as fans gathered at BF Park roared with cheers and applause.
The township has had its fare of Sonu Nigams and Shreya Ghoshals come perform in the recent past but Sunday night was like no other. It was the night that the legend was among us.
Over 5,000 people across ages, occupations and addresses came to the grand finale of Salt Lake Maitri Sangha’s Kali puja celebrations and were serenaded by Asha and several other stars.
The petite lady sang her greatest hits — Piya tu, Aaja aja, Yeh mera dil — with a youthful voice. The only sign she betrayed of her age was the chair that she held on to for support while crooning.
“When I went to seek my didi’s (Lata Mangeshkar) blessings before coming to Calcutta, she saw I was still recovering from the accident and wasn’t sure I should come either,” trailed Asha, before performing one of her sister’s Lag ja gale in her honour. “I’m 84 now and so the lyrics of this song — phir iss janam mein mulakat ho na ho — may hold a deeper meaning for me,” she said as the audience loudly expressed its disapproval. “But I’ll return if you keep loving me so,” she smiled.
50 retakes for Dimple
The show had a generous dose of stardust. Asha broke into the opening lines of Jaane do naa, as Dimple Kapadia, on whom the sultry song was picturised, walked up the stage to greet the unsuspecting audience.
“Namashkar! Ami apnader bhalobashi,” announced Dimple, adding that Calcutta was the city her younger daughter (Rinke Khanna) was married into. She also shared an anecdote that left the audience in titters. “When I returned to films after a 10-year break, I found myself on the sets of Saagar shooting the song Jaane do naa on my very first day. And Ashaji had sung it in such a sexy manner that I just couldn’t get my expressions right. Would you believe I needed 50 retakes for the song!”
Zeenat Aman was there too. “It’s your soulful voice that gave me my most popular songs and set my career on a roll, Ashaji,” smiled Zeenat, before she and Asha clinked two glasses with sticks to replicate the opening notes of one of their greatest hits together — Churaliya hai.
Legendary composer and Asha’s late husband R.D. Burman was very much in the air too. “Once Pancham (Burman’s nickname) da and I were sitting by the Ganges and the boatmen were singing something to the tune of “Jachchhire barite.” Panchamda sprang up and announced that he had come up with a melody. I was zapped as to how he could have conjured up a tune in such an unlikely setting but that was him,” smiled Asha before treating listeners to the romantic duet that had resulted — Do lavzon ki hai.
Big B’s voice
Sudesh Bhosle entertained the crowds with his mimicry and music. The voice of Amitabh Bachchan sang his hits like Inteha ho gayi, Dekha na hai re and Say shava shava. He sang Rajesh Khanna numbers like Yeh jo mohobbat hai and Humen aur jeeney ki and RD Burman songs like Mehbooba mehbooba and Dil lena khel hai.
Mekhala, the daughter-in-law of Asha’s sister Meena Mangeshkar, sang Mere khwabo mein aayein and singer Jolly Mukherjee sang numbers like Dum Maaro Dum with Asha.
There was an appearance by Amrita Rao (remember her in Main Hoon Na?) whose husband RJ Anmol was the emcee for the evening.
Tolly stars Mimi Chakraborty and Yash Dasgupta were there too along with a host of politicians and bureaucrats like minister Purnendu Basu, MP Dola Sen, deputy speaker of the state Assembly H.A. Safwi, Hidco chief Debashis Sen and municipal commissioner Pritha Sarkar. Welcoming them all were mayor and president of Salt Lake Maitri Sangha Sabyasachi Dutta and wife Indrani Dutta.
Badshah of bhangra
Daler Mehndi was also a major draw at the show and Asha introduced him to the audience as “one of the few performers who always sings in sur and lay.” Daler graciously thanked her for the compliment and belted out a slew of peppy numbers — Tunak tunak tun, Na na na re, bolo tara rara…
If Asha’s voice had the classes swooning, Daler had the masses abandoning their seats and turn the park into a dance floor. Besides bhangra, there were liberal doses of “snake dance” and random bhashan steps too.
“Of course I’m a fan of Daler Mehndi but tonight was special because of Asha,” said Cindy Chakrabarti, a DB Block resident who danced her heart out to Dum maaro dum along with her two-year-old grandson Ryan. “Oh! The number of times I’ve danced to that song in my teenage years! I didn’t come to judge or find faults with an 84-year-old’s voice today. Tonight was just about revisiting old memories.”
Unruly crowd
The stars shone on stage but the audience was rather indisciplined. Guests kept dragging their chairs out of the well thought-out seating arrangements and sat down wherever they pleased. This blocked passageways and created congestion.
Worse was when they ran up to the front, claiming to be clicking pictures, but then refused to move out. Others who were seated behind kept losing their cool, and after repeated requests to move out failed, they started threatening the culprits. “If you don’t move out now we’ll start throwing water bottles, chairs and hot tea on you,” they roared. One lady picked a fight with the bouncers. “Get electric dandas if you can’t control the crowd!” she scolded the big burly men.
Music vs football
The show clashed with the Brazil vs Germany Fifa under-17 World Cup game at Salt Lake stadium and for many it was tough choosing one over the other.
BF Block’s Debleena Sarkar came for Asha while husband Soham, a staunch supporter of Brazil, had gone to the stadium.
“I’m a bhangra fan and I like Asha Bhosle too so I came here with neighbours,” said Susmita Dutta, a senior citizen. “But there is no way I could have separated my husband from the TV set today. He’s home watching the game.”
The mayor himself confessed it was a tough decision to make. “I’m a football lover and a Brazil supporter. And if this concert wasn’t scheduled for today I would certainly have gone to the stadium to watch the action,” he smiled.
Pictures by Shubham Paul
