Hits of Hemant Kumar has audience in thrall

Nagpur: Melodies of legendary singer and musician Hemant Kumar, presented during ‘Na tum hamein jano’ organized by Sargam to mark his 98th birth anniversary, took the audience back to an era which has no parallel, at Madhuram Hall of Mor Hindi Bhavan, Sitabuldi, on Saturday.

The show began with Smita Deshmukh presenting ‘Dheere dheere machal ae dile bekarar’ from ‘Anupama’. Arvind Raje presented ‘Zara nazron se keh do’ which made everyone tap their feet. Nandu Andhare sang ‘Tum pukar lo’ from ‘Khamoshi’. One of the most loved compositions of Hemant Da — ‘Jaane woh kaise log the jinke pyar ko pyar mila’ from Guru Dutt’s ‘Pyasa’ — was presented by Samir Moroney.

MV Unnikrishnan, regarded as Nagpur’s Yesudas, beautifully presented ‘Na tum hamein jano’, the title song, much to the delight of the audience. Shrikant Paithankar sang ‘Hain apna dil toh awara’. A total of 25 songs were presented during the programme.

Shankar Mukherjee, who sang with Hemant Kumar and was close to him, was the chief guest. He presented a few lines from Hemant Da’s compositions and had the audience in thrall.

Pushpa Anand, who hosted the programme, shared information about the great singer’s works and kept the audience engaged.

Unnikrishnan, the brain behind the show, said, ‘Sargam’ provides a platform to talented singers irrespective of their professions.

The accompanying artistes were Pawan Manwatkar (keyboard), Prakash Chauhan (guitar), Krishna Gaikwad (dholak and tabla) and Nitin Vinchurkar (octopad).

(Reporting by Akshay Sharma)