“Geeton ka safar” in the music lover’s city!
(Left) Hrishikesh Ranade. (Photo: PixelCollection)
What a wonderful and melodious event was “Geeton ka safar” on Saturday, April 8, 2017, organized by Eshana Enterprise in Atlanta, GA! I had the wonderful opportunity to attend this show while on my business trip here. The hall was packed with music lovers like me—which surprised me as there were three other competing musical shows in Atlanta in the same weekend, one of which was at the same time as this event. Atlanta definitely seems like a music lover’s city.
“Geeton Ka Safar” (a musical journey) was a program led by two renowned singers, Radha Mangeshkar and Hrishikesh Ranade. Radha, an accomplished singer and composer, started her musical journey at the very young age of 7. She has been performing bhavsargam and has also performed in numerous shows such as Shivkalyan Raja, Nakshatran Che Dene, Akshay Gane Abhanga Gane, Dil Ki Nazar Se, and Didi ani Mi. Radha is the daughter of famous singer/music composer Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar and niece of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, and there is no question of her musical talent, voice, and experience.
Hrishikesh Ranade is an Indian playback singer in the Marathi film industry and winner of the Idea Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Maharashtracha Aajcha Awaaz Award. His father Pramod Ranade is also a well-known Marathi singer. Hrishikesh took his initial training from Pandit Vijay Koparkar and Shekhar Kumbhojkar. He has sung for various films such as Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai, Tuzya Mazya Sansarala Aani Kay Hava, Kadhi Tu, and many more.
Radha and Hrishikesh started this musical journey with old melodies of Lata and Mukesh. Songs such as “Kahin Door Jab Din” from the well-known movie Anand and “Woh Chand Khila” reminded everyone of Raj Kapoor/Nutan in movie Anari. “Lag Jaa Gale” by Radha reminded the audience of Sadhana and Manoj Kumar, and the original sung by Lata in the movie Woh Kaun Thi.
Hrishikesh wonderfully sang a medley of songs out of which one of the most memorable transitions was from “Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai” to “Kehna Hai Aaj Tumse,” a superhit classic reminiscent of Sunil Dutt, Saira Banu, and Kishore Kumar from the hit movie Padosan.
Hrishikesh changed the tone from romantic to a lively theme with the 1977 movie Hum Kisise Kum Naheen – “Bachana aye Hasino." Any musician would appreciate the skill level of Hrishikesh who successfully drove the audience through this beautiful journey.
(Left) Vikram Bhatt on percussion for Radha Mangeshkar and Hrishikesh Ranade. (Photo: PixelCollection)
Credit for this musical night equally goes to the trio of musicians Kedar Paranjape, Vivek Paranjape, and Vikram Bhatt who actually did the job of an orchestra of perhaps 50+ musicians. Vivek Paranjape has accompanied Lata and Kishore Kumar on various international tours and continues to visit USA with other musicians. Kedar worked with Vivek on several tunes, using keyboards to sound exactly like sitar, guitar, flute, and many more.
Radha’s “Tujse Naaraz Nahi” sounded so beautiful that the audience almost thought they were in a Lata concert. She picked a unique theme for her songs: “ghost theme.” She proved that there is so much melody in these songs, especially “Aaja Re Pardesi Main” from famous movie Madhumati in which Dilip Kumar searches for Vyjayantimala Bali.
Hrishikesh then took the audience to melodious songs of the newer generation such as “Abhi Mujh mein kahin” sung by Sonu Nigam from the movie Agneepath, to his own song from a super hit Marathi movie Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai which reminded audience of the stunning pair Swapnil Joshi and Mukta Barve. Radha sang “Mehndi Rang Lagyo” from a Gujarati movie and also sang some songs in Punjabi.
(Left) Radha Mangeshkar. (Photo: PixelCollection)
The duo then moved on to a few ghazals and then to some great songs such as “Inhi Logon Ne” from Pakeeza to“Pinjarey Wali Muniya” by Hrishikesh. Towards the end of this phenomenal show the audience was clapping and dancing with every beat played and every note sung.
What can be more colorful than a musical journey that takes you through all the emotions of sadness, happiness, curiosity, romance, and that too in different languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, and Punjabi. This was simply an amazing show that left the audience wanting more. No one realized where the 3.5 hours of beautiful music had vanished to.
A special thanks to all the volunteers, organizers, Arati Reddy of Eshana Enterprise, Mustafa Ajmeri, National Promoter’s Mohit Chitnis and Five Dimensions, Divinity Audio Visuals for sound, and PixelCollection for photography. A truly memorable event for many attendees!
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