Navrang Group Pays Tribute to Mohammed Rafi
Navrang Group organized a program to pay musical tribute to legendary singer Late Shri Mohammed Rafi Saheb on Jul 31st 2010, on his 30th death anniversary, at Berkmar High School Auditorium. The program was attended by about 200-250 fans of Rafi Saheb, and budding artists of Atlanta paid a rich tribute by presenting evergreen and hit songs of yesteryear.
Navrang group, part of Kutch Samaj of Atlanta, is a nonprofit begun in 2001 to work with various senior citizen groups and Bal Vihar for charity and fund raising events. The music, dance, and drama academy Nritya Natya Kala Bharati assisted by providing guidance and facilities to prepare and practice for the show. Many of the academy’s students were proud participants of this program.
Rafi Saheb sang over 26,000 songs for Indian film music and covered all types of moods: romance, ghazals, sad songs, masti and qawwali. Artists from Navrang Group and local talents presented a number of these songs: “Chand Mera Dil” (Hum Kisise Kum Nahin), “Pukarta Chala” (Mere Sanam) by Rajen Raval, “Tumne Mujhe Dekha” (Teesri Manzil) by Atanu Rudra, “Lakhon Hain Nigahon Mein” (Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon), “Ehsaan Tera Hoga” (An Evening in Paris) by Arun Saha.
Sunny Thakkar , Dilip Thakkar, Anand Mehta, and Udai Singh sang, respectively, “Teri Aankhon Ke Siva,” “Wada karle Sajna”; “Mere Hamdam Mere Dost,” “O Duniya Ke Rakhwale”; “Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar,” “Zindagi Bhar Nahin Bhoolegi”; “Tareef Karoon,” “Aaja Aaja Mein Hoon Pyar Tera,” and “Baar Baar Dekho.” Chandrika Narayan, Urmila Mota, and Apeksha provided harmony on several duet songs in the voices of legendary Lataji and Ashaji.
The Aasmaan Group of Georgia State University energized the environment with their bhangra dance, which was followed by break-time refreshments provided by Manoj and Gita Bhatia of Heritage Fusion.
A series of fast paced songs followed: the performance of Shri Udai Singh, who dressed like Shammi Kapoorji in Teesri Manzil and China Town, set the audience on fire; and Anand Mehta’s song from Amar Akbar Anthony, the famous qawwali “Parda Hai Parda, “ was a fitting finale to the very entertaining program.
Sound was managed by Sagar Thakkar, and masters of ceremony were Sunny Thakkar and Rajen Raval. Navrang Group sincerely thanks the people of Atlanta, local sponsors and visitors from neighboring states for attending and supporting the show.
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
