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Funkada's nostalgic evening of "Bhule Basre Songs"
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The Indian film music of 1950s to 1970s has such magical power that even today the songs of that era are hummed and appreciated. The programs devoted to those days still attract people of all age groups. One such show was organized by the Funkada USA on September 21, 2013 at the Mehran Restaurant, Newark, CA.
The hall was overflowing with the audience of all ages for the musical evening dubbed as "Bhule Basre Songs."
Multi-talented Singer Jalil Shaikh proficiently performed the role of MC. He spiced his announcements with fascinating jokes.
This was the third program of Funkada USA devoted to the golden era of film industry. The first event, held in November 2012, was dedicated to the songs of Majroh Sultanpuri. The second event held in April 2013, focused on the songs of musician Shanker Jaikishan.
Nearly 25 lilting songs from such hit films as Biju Bawra, Deedaar and many more held the audience in rapt attention and spellbound for over two hours. Many melodious songs like O Dunya Ke Rakhwale, presented by Abdulrazzak Adenwala, received standing ovation from the gathering.
The Funakada USA program organizer Abdulrazzak Adenwala had chosen around two dozen songs, from the popular Indian movies from 1946 to 1959, for the musical evening.
The musical evening began with exhilarating renditions on the Sitar by Dr. Waheed Siddiqee, a prominent personality of the Bay Area. Dr. Siddiqee amused the audience with three old songs which drew wide applause. It is said that instrumental music has a profound effect on our lives. It can make us feel happy, calm or relaxed. For Plato music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination
and life to everything. I believe it was mostly true about Dr. Siddiqee's stimulating presentations on the sitar which became known in the western world through the work of Ravi Shankar beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
After Dr. Siddiqee's enlivening presentations Aziza Rahman and Abdulrazzak Adenwala set the tone of the evening with their exotic presentation of Anmol Ghari's 1946 song, Aawaaz De KahaN Hey.
Shireen Attarwala was next to thrill the audience with Biju Bawra's popular song, Bachpan Kee Mohabbat Ko Dil Se Na Juda Karna.
The Funkada singers who captivated the audience with their melodious voices also included Jalil Shaikh, Mohammad Saleem, Ranjeet Singh and Zafar Siddiqi.
There were 11 duet songs while at least 13 solo songs.
As the hours passed, an almost intoxicated state filled the audience as the singers presented old songs which refreshed the old nostalgic memories of many listeners. Interestingly, nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety. Nostalgia is said to make people more generous to strangers and more tolerant of outsiders. To borrow Constantine Sedikides, “Nostalgia makes us a bit more human.” The Southampton University Psychology professor considers the first great nostalgist to be Odysseus, the Greek hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus used memories of his family and home to get through hard times.
An interesting feature of Funkada USA musical evening was the audience participation period when guests are invited to show their singing skills.
Two singers from the audience, Javed Ijaz and Mobeen Khalil drew wide applause by singing popular old songs. Both of these singers presented Pakistani songs.
The program concluded with Ranjeet Singh's presentation of popular Sufi song, Dama Dam Mast Qalandar.
Mohammed Saleem and Ranjeet Singh were sound engineers who skillfully controlled the sound system.
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