Kishore Kumar the legend that ruled Bollywood for decades has arguably some of the most famous evergreen numbers that continue to remain unforgettable to this day. Singers Parag Joshi, Raghu Saranathan, Jayant Bawalkar, Suzana Naik, Sudha Subbaraman and Valentino Almeida succeeded in doing great justice  to  Kishore Kumar numbers.

The musicians owed a lot of the wonderful accompaniment provided by Nikhil Pendarkar, Alden D’Souza, Manish Kurup,  Angshuman Parashar, Shridhar Ganapuram and Bharat Lagu and the sound engineering provided by Jawed Wahid. 

Preetesh Shrivastav and Jharna Madan’s comedic interlude added a wonderful touch to the event.

The Boston area is blessed with fine musical talent. The singers and musicians should be commended to be so giving of their time to support charitable causes like QUEST. 

Kudos to Rang Manch for pulling of a delightful Yeh Shaam Mastani event while raising funds for education.

RangManch Team

On Saturday, October 8, Bostonians enjoyed a memorable tribute to the versatile legend, Kishore Kumar, presented by RangManch, to raise funds for QUEST - an organization dedicated to providing quality elementary education.  Performed by the live band Aaroh with 6 musicians and 6 singers, the evening was surely one to remember with the garland of songs presented to celebrate the singer who enacted every note of music.

Songs ranging from soft, melodious, romantic and pensive to sensational, toe-tapping and dramatic came alive on Saturday, bringing oodles of nostalgia to the listeners in the audience.

Presented by :

RangManch, Boston - Madhavi Phadke, Vaishali Sabnis and Ashwini Chitnavis

Singers - Raghu Saranathan, Parag Joshi, Jayant Bhawalkar, Suzana Naik and Sudha Subbaraman

Guest Singer- Valentino Almeida

Orchestra- Nikhil Pendharkar, Manish Kurup, Shridhar Ganapuram, Bharat Lagu, Angshuman Parashar, Alden D’Souza

MCs - Preetesh Shrivastava, Jharna Madan

Sound Engineer - Jawed Wahid

Lights - Alden Marchand

Kishore Da's ability to "perform" music accounted for his mystique.  As the premise of this show was to display a variety of songs - his antics and prankster ways were showcased in a host of songs, his inimitable yodelling in the toe-tapping 'Chala Jaata hoon', his silly ways in the grand 'Arrey Rafta Rafta', craziness in 'Cheel Cheel Kaua', the sensitive vocals in Romantic chartbusters like 'Dil Kya Kare from Julie', 'Aap ki Aankhon mein", " Tu tu hai wohi" and wistful melodies like O Majhi Re, Phir wohi raat hai, Mera jeevan kora kaagaz.

Raghu Saranathan displayed his soft and controlled vocals as he crooned with ease over lilting and wistful melodies like O Hansini, Dil Kya kare, O Majhi re and Phir wohi raat hai.  The highlight of Dil kya kare was the amazing background music produced by the Aaroh musicians on stage and the congo sounds played by Shridhar Ganapuram. Truly, What a music composition by Rajesh Roshan Ji & what romance/longing in Kishore Kumar''s voice !!

Those who attended Yeh Shaam Mastani-1 would have witnessed some fantastic yodelling from Jayant Bhawalkar. Jayant displayed the chulbula, peppy side of Kishoreda with his vibrant vocals topped with some delightful yodelling, in songs like Chala Jaata hoon, Bhanware ki Gunjan  and O Saathi Chal.

Parag Joshi's style displayed a variety of Kishore Da's songs like the tearful "Manzilein" based on Raag Todi- a total uncharacteristic composition of Bappi Lahiri, the vibrant "Mere Saamne waali khidki mein', and the laugh riot "Cheel Cheel kaua"

Ultimate comedy act by Parag Joshi in his enactment of song "Cheel Cheel kaua" - This was his own comic  performance sequel to the dual-voiced hit "Aake Seedhi Lagi" from the movie "Half Ticket". In this, Parag donned a half pant, hat and spectacles, sporting a total kiddish look!  Do check out videos of these songs for a laugh riot.

Valentino Almeida was the featured Guest artist for the show. It's said, "Our sweetest songs are those that tell us of saddest thoughts." Valentino performed a soulful rendition of the sad song "Mera Jeevan kora kaagaz" while being accompanied by the musicians on a very introspective journey of music.  Keys by Nikhil Pendharkar and Alden D'Souza demonstrated the musical details, while the slow Rupak taal played by Bharat Lagu on tabla made the listener ponder.

Arey Rafta Rafta with a total change of pace was the most masti-bhara song of the evening - where Valentino accompanied by Isha Phadke had the audience swaying with their fun expressions. 

The duets selected showcased Kishore Da's vast repertoire of numbers with Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar. The rainy, romantic "Bheegi Bheegi Raton mein", The swinging romantic number "Tu Tu hai wohi", Melodious Yaman classic "Aap ki aankhon mein", soft, romantic "Saagar Kinare", the flamboyant "Intehaan ho gayi", the dramatic "Ek Haseena Thi", and the peppy "O Saathi Chal"

It is quite amazing to note the tonal resemblance of Suzanna Naik's stylish, sensational vocals to Asha Bhonsle Ji herself, while Sudha Subbaraman displayed a modulated, open-throated, classical voice in the style of Lata Mangeshkar.

The show anchors Preetesh Srivastava and Jharna Madan regaled the audience with a comic enactment of Kishore Kumar appearing from the heavens to entertain the audience with his amazing voice.  The flow and sequencing was done very smoothly.

Musical highlights:

The bass guitar by Angshuman and melody by Manish Kurup set the pace for the romantic song "Tu Tu hai wohi" with the sounds of saxophone, violin, flute being incorporated impeccably on the keys by Nikhil and Alden. The percussions varied from drums to bongo between Shridhar and Bharat - the perfect percussionists from the team.

The duet "Intehaan ho gayi" was perhaps one of the showstopper performances for the evening.

Starting with a Hawaiian style guitar proceeding to the baritone vocals at a slow pace, with the constant backdrop violin sounds played on keys.  The stark change in pace from slow to intermittent staccato with female vocals had the audience asking for an encore of the song!!  The impromptu Drums/Tabla jugalbandi was a treat.  No wonder Kishore Kumar was nominated the best male playback singer for this song.

The show culminated with a medley of fast-paced Pop-jazz numbers like Saara Zamaana, Bachna ae haseenon, Ye Jawaani hai deewani etc. with music played continuously by Nikhil on Keys, Alden on Keys, Shridhar on drums/octopad, Bharat on Tabla/dholak, Manish on lead guitar and Anshuman on bass.  The singers Valentino, Raghu, Parag and Jayant had the audience cheering and tapping with their flamboyant presentation of these RD Burman-Kishore Da hit numbers.

RangManch would like to thank our sponsors Koh I Noor Collections by Lata Rao and Unnati’s Cafe, media partners Boston Desi Connection(BDC-TV) by Razia Boston, Sunayana Kachroo and

TV Asia(Eshani Shah) and our ticketing partner Lokvani by Anil Saigal and Ranjani Saigal.  We thank our volunteers Rekha Palriwala, Asha Manish, Sandhya Shridhar, Debbie Goswami Parashar, Kalyani Pendharkar, Sonali Gupte, Eshani Shah, Manish Phadke, Ajit Sabnis, Nilesh Salvi.  Thanks to Jawed Wahid for sound management and Alden Marchand for lighting.  Last but not least we thank our wonderful audience for supporting us and supporting the great cause QUEST by appreciating the show with lots of enthusiasm, cheerfulness and enjoying it to the fullest.