Singing diva Shreya Ghoshal captured the hearts of music lovers with her melodious voice and excellent showmanship last week in Auckland.
The music concert held at the Telstra Clear Pacific Events Centre on August 20 was packed to capacity and if the audience longed for more, they were not to be blamed.
Her impeccable repertoire and interaction with the audience made the event one of the best that New Zealand had seen in recent years.
Song after song, Shreya proved why she is one of the most sought-after playback singers in the Indian film industry.
Her ability to live up to people’s expectations was beyond reproach.
Setting the pace for the evening’s melody with Chalo Tumko Lekar Chale (from the film ‘Jism’), she went on to render Vada Raha Pyar Se (‘Khakee’) and Agar Tum Mil Jao (‘Zeher’) with cries of encore resounding the auditorium.
Even as a section of the audience demanded her to sing Jadu Hai Nasha Hai (which was in fact the theme of the evening’s programme organised by ABC Entertainment & Perfect Harmony Productions (P) Ltd), Shreya carried on with her selection of songs, each of which drew a wide applause.
However, as she rendered the number (the theme of ‘Jism’), her fans went into raptures, justifying the Best Female Playback Singer Award that she received from Filmfare in 2004 and other industry awards.
Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai (‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), Dil Kho Gaya (‘Singh is King’), Thode Badmash Ho Tum 
(‘Saawariya’), Piyu Bole Piya (‘Parinita’) Pal Pal Har Pal (‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’) and Yeh Ishq Hai (‘Jab We Met’) were among the songs that people kept humming long after the event.
In deference to public desire, she rendered songs from Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada and Marathi films.
Shiv Prasad, another talented singer demonstrated why he won the Sa Re Ga Ma music contest run by Zee TV. His rendition of Zoom Barabar Zoom, Mast Kalandar and Bachna Hai Haseeno were among the songs that were delightful.
The mimicry interlude of Nitin Bhandarkar brought memories of Dev Anand, Manoj Kumar Sanjay Datt and Jackie Shroff.
Photo : Shreya Ghoshal at the Auckland concert on August 20, 2010
Picture by Narendra Bedekar
