Memories and melodies of Mohammed Rafi to stir you

Ratna Venkat – 

Hindi Cinema’s golden era of music and dance will return as ‘Old is Gold VIII’ gets on stage at Dorothy Winstone Centre, Auckland Girls’ Grammar School on Saturday, February 6, 2016.

The event will commence at 7 pm.

While ‘Old is Gold’ is in its eight edition, the Programme will be the 12^th for Producer-Director-Presenter Amit Sengupta under the ‘Mohammed Rafi Academy of Music,’ of which he is Director and Principal.

The popular ‘Old is Gold’ series pays homage to yesteryears’ Hindi Cinema’s singers, music composers and lyricists.

Unique Note

However, the forthcoming show will be a ‘Mohammed Rafi Special’, and instead of featuring only male vocalists in the programme, Mr Sengupta aims to give a unique interpretation to the programme by promoting female vocalists to sing some of Rafi’s evergreen songs.

“I believe this will be a good experimentation and challenge their capability to sing the songs of Rafi Saheb,” he said.

Mr Sengupta established the ‘Old is Gold’ series in 2006, and has since then provided a platform for established and new artistes to display their skills in vocal and instrumental music, in addition to honing their talents.

Package Deal

The inclusion of traditional Indian dance for the first time at ‘Old is Gold VI’ (held on September 7, 2013), made the Show a ‘package deal’ for its concert goers, many of who said that they enjoyed the fusion of various Indian art forms, including vocal and instrumental music, and semi-classical and folk dances.

Tabla Maestro Avirbhav Verma, who was a guest artiste at the ‘Old is Gold VI’ event, will be making his appearance again in the forthcoming programme, captivating the audience with the magic of his Tabla in addition to collaborating with local artistes.

“Avirbhav’s presence will add an inimitable flavour to the Show and I am positive that his participation for the second time in ‘Old is Gold’ will be an added attraction and witness a capacity audience,” Mr Sengupta said.

Other Shows

Besides the ‘Old is Gold’ series, Mohammed Rafi Academy of Music has staged ‘SD Burman Centenary and Tribute to Naushad’ (September 23, 2006), and ‘Ek Shyam Majrooh Ke Naam’ (May 19, 2007). ‘Ek Shyam Rafi Ke Naam’ and ‘Rafi Ke Yaadein’ both in 2003, were solo programmes rendered by Mr Sengupta before he founded his Academy.

Editor’s Note: Indian Newslink has been promoting all the shows of Amit Sengupta since 2003.

‘Old is Gold VIII (Mohammed Rafi Special) will account for 15 singers, three dancers and ten musicians.

The live Orchestra will include Amit Sengupta (Harmonium), Avirbhav Verma (Tabla), Hemant Thaker (Keyboard), Johnny (Rhythm Guitar), Joscel Alexander (Acoustic Drums), Joseph Alexander (Electronic Drums & Octopad), Monitosh Thaker (Lead Guitar), Prashant Kumar (Tabla & Percussion), Ravi Shah (Lead Guitar) and Shivam Padayachi (Bass Guitar).

Encouraging artistes

Mr Sengupta is noted for giving newcomers an opportunity to perform on stage, ensuring that the younger generation especially do not forget Hindi Cinema’s roots of Indian classical music.

“Senior citizens, elders and youngsters appreciate old Hindi songs and we can see today how individuals in their pre-teens, teens and in their twenties enjoy learning and singing these songs in their own styles. Old songs will remain immortal thanks to the passion of people of all ages and the patronage of commercial entities,” he said.