Venkat Raman
One of the greatest attributes of Sachin Dev Burman was his ability to choose the ‘right voice’ and the right instruments to capture the mood the songs that he composed and their match with the film sequence.
From path-breaking club songs ‘Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui in’ (Baazi, 1951) to the best adaptation of the Bengali Kirtan in Hindi ‘Aaj Sajan Mohe Ang Lagaa Lo’ (Pyaasa, 1957), he used the dulcet voice of Geeta Dutt to traverse the entire spectrum of film music.
Melody and harmony are the notes of his songs, including the passionate romantic beckoning of Hemant Kumar’s ‘Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni Phir Kahaan’ (Jaal, 1952), the fun and frothy Kishore Kumar in ‘Mere Sapnon Ki Rani Kab Aayegi Tu’ (Aradhana, 1969), the soulful rendition of Lata Mangeshkar in ‘Piya Tose Naina Laage Re’ (Guide, 1965).
It is heartening that many of the songs of SD Burman will be performed by local singers and instrumentalists at a show scheduled to be held next fortnight.
Suneheri Yaadein for Hohepa
Called ‘Suneheri Yaadein,’ the event will be held on Saturday, May 26, 2018 from 630 pm at Dorothy Winston Centre, Auckland Girls Grammar School located at Howe Street in Auckland Central. Tickets, priced at $20 per person are now on sale.
Here is a profile of the instrumentalists, who have been practicing with intensity to render their best possible support.
Cloyd D’Mello
While his stage experience dates back 11 years, Cloyd D’Mello has been a performer with well-known Indian bands like ‘Velocity,’ ‘Spectrum’ and ‘Next Generation,’ since he migrated to New Zealand in 2013. By profession, Cloyd is a Kindergarten Teacher and has been working in Auckland for the past five years.
Hemant Thaker
Apart from being a core performer for Indian community events like Diwali Festival, Navratri, Senior Citizen Groups and various charity and fundraising programmes, Hemant Thaker has captured the wider attention of New Zealand businesses at the Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards since it was established in 2008.
He has supported several renowned singers including Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Amit Kumar, Sir Jerry Amaldev, Abhas Joshi and Neerja Pandit.
Joseph Alexander (Alex)
A versatile drummer with varied rhythms, Joseph Alexander (Alex) has an impressive record of performances for more than 20 years as an acoustic drum player with Mumbai’s popular Western Bands such as ‘7th Galaxy’ & ‘Crimson Rage.’
Alex has been playing electronic drums and Octapad in Auckland since 2007 and is an integral part of a majority of multicultural musical shows. He leads, ‘Velocity,’ a high-energy band of professional instrumentalists.
Kuntal Trivedi
We have followed his professional progress of Kuntal Trivedi for more than 15 years. He is at once a good photographer, drama artiste, stage manager and most important of all, a caring husband and father.
An engineer by qualification, Kuntal has unquenchable thirst for theatre, which has seen him perform in powerful roles in Gujarati comedies and pathos. He owns and manages ‘Kimaya Creations’ providing professional services in photography, cinematography and commercials.
Kaustubh Pethe
As a Flight Planner, organisers and guests can expect, ‘Suneheri Yaadein’ to be well crafted and steered by Kaustubh Pethe in his role as the Master of Ceremonies.
With his strong theatre and performance background and experience in Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati Theatre in Mumbai, he can also be expected to be a master in time management. His performances with thespians such as Paresh Raval and Vikram Gokhale would have given him a good insight into keeping audiences at their best.
Navneel Prasad
Navneel Prasad has been a Tabla player since his formative years, trained by his father. He also plays the Dholak and has accompanied many various artistes and musicians from overseas.
Navneel has appeared in several including Hindi film musicals, Ghazal Mehfils, Classical and Devotional programmes and has participated in events held in Fiji and Australia.
Ravi Shah
Ravi Shah has been a guitarist since his early years.
Mostly self-taught and thanks to like-minded friends, he became a professional player sooner than he thought he would and today enjoys playing all genre of music from Rock and Pop to Hindi film songs.
Sanjay Badakere
Sanjay Badakere is another friend who has been with Indian Newslink since he arrived in New Zealand more than 14 years ago. An accountant by profession, he is known for choosing his customers and keeping them ‘clean and disciplined.’ Those traits are carried to the choice of all songs that are performed at the programmes organised by Swar Sadhana Academy of Indian Music.
“The credit for the success of ‘Suneheri Yaadein’ from its inception goes to Sanjay. He has been a great source of strength to me and my two daughters,” his wife Sandhya said.
Shivan Padayachi
A guitarist who loves to tune to melody, Shivan Padayachi has been on the entertainment scene for several years. He also appeared with our ‘Gurus of Groove,’ a band that has been performing exclusively for the Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards since 2018.
Swanand Sanjeev Chitnis
A passionate Lead Guitarist for AABHAAS (India) and Soul Dhun (New Zealand), Swanand Sanjeev Chitnis will play Rhythm at ‘Suneheri Yaadein’ on May 26, 2018.
“I have played at various college events in India but my finest achievement was winning at the ‘Guitar Wars Competition at IIT, Powai in 2013, the biggest college event in Asia. It is gratifying that ‘AABHAAS’ has more than 10,000 subscribers on YouTube Channel and more than two Million views on their Videos,” he said.
