The audience wanted to hear R.D. Burman compositions from her and she responded with a compliment to the city. “Yeh aisi jagah hai jahan hum khareh hai, sab bahut surila hai.” For Akriti Kakar, who was performing at BK Block on Sunday, Calcutta is the city of melody.
Around 1,600 music lovers from adjacent blocks of Salt Lake and even from Nayapatty and Sukantanagar had gathered at BK Park. Those who could not get in watched from outside the fenced-off zone.
The singer who has become a well-known face here thanks to her turn as a judge on the Zee Bangla music reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’ Champs kept the audience entertained with a mix of old and new songs for over two hours.
The soiree was organised by BK Block Youth Forum, in association with Angel Education Society.
She started with Marjani marjani from Billu and in medley style linked it with her first-ever Bengali song from the film Paglu Premeri dhum jware duchokher ghum jhare. Her next piece was Lata Mangeshkar’s Lagja galey which she followed up with the equally evergreen Badey achchhey lagtey hai before switching to snatches of current hits like Bolna mahi bolna from Kapoor & Sons and coming back to Lagja galey to round up the medley cutting across ages.
In deference to audience wishes, she also sang several RD hits like Chura liya hain tumne, Baho mein chale ao and Jane jaan dhundta phir raha.
In between, she sang her own hits like Orey manwa rey from the Jeet-Shubhosree starrer Game and Khuda ya kaire from Billu.
She displyed her versatility by choosing an array of songs from different genres — from Sufi style songs like Sajna ve sajna and Mere piya ghar aaya lalnito, folk like the Hindi version of Tomay hridmajharey rakhibo to party anthems like Kala chasma and Ladki beautiful kar gayi chul, the last, incidentally, sung in the film Kapoor & Sons by her sister Sukriti.
By then, the park had turned to a dance floor. The children were the first to show their moves but gradually young boys and girls joined in. Even a few elderly women could not resist themselves. The party in the park continued until 10.30 pm.
