On Saturday, the 8th of December, the residents of the Greater Boston Area were treated to a scintillating soirée suffused with sound, rhythm, and melody thanks to Surmayee Shaam, a Bollywood concert presented by the immensely gifted Sudha Subbaraman. Indeed, Surmayee Shaam lived up to its name casting a spell on the rapt audience during the enchanting evening hours! 

Sudha and her team of talented musicians and singers regaled us with a wide variety of songs in their repertoire, ranging from golden oldies to contemporary numbers embellished with innovative touches. Sudha’s objective was threefold: to create connections between yesteryear and contemporary Bollywood numbers by bringing out fresh arrangements to existing melodies, to accentuate the melody of Raag within songs and lastly, to let every artist in the accomplished and well- trained team shine in his or her area of expertise.

Instead of one MC, several youngsters trained by Paresh Motiwala anchored the show introducing the performers and the songs. Not only did this give the youth a chance to get on stage, it also lent a lot of freshness and verve to the show and was a welcome departure from the standard procedure.

Sudha, resplendent in a floral-print black saree in keeping with the Bollywood retro feel, opened the show singing K. L. Saigal’s ‘Main kya jaanu kya jaadu hai’, with the musicians playing in harmony on the pentatonic notes of the composition. She did full justice to this oldie taking the audience down memory lane with her mellifluous voice. Next, Raghu Saranathan, the male lead, sang the 1961 Rafi classic, ‘Main zindagi ka saath’ from the movie Hum Dono in his powerful voice. This was followed by the popular SD Burman and RD Burman duets ‘Beeti na bitaayi raina’ and ‘Rimjhim gire saawan’, rendered by Sudha and Raghu with a few innovative touches in the arrangement by the musicians while staying faithful to the melody and soul of the song. 

Next Sudha, in her energetic voice, performed a fun upbeat song of Lata Mangeshkar, ‘Ab ke sajan saawan mein ‘, with completely rearranged music played by Jishnu on the violin, Sudeip on the guitar, Vinphin on the octapad and Muheet Bharti on the acoustic guitar.  Muheet Bharti, a student at Berklee School of Music, artfully displayed his skills in arrangement in the re-makes of some of these songs. Raghu then sang the Suresh Wadkar classic ‘Surmayee shaam is tarah’, in his melodious voice, which was also presented with some re-arrangements. Muheet exhibited his versatile talent by performing the Mehdi Hassan ghazal, ‘Mujhe tum nazar se’, with a contemporary arrangement designed by him again with Sagar Tayde on the melodica and Vinphin on the cajon. Kudos to these youngsters who showed amazing mastery of their individual instrumental skills!

The spotlight then turned to two high school kids, Sachi Badola and Advait Nene. Sachi performed a stirring melody “Moh moh ke dhaage” from the movie “Dum Lagaa ke Haisha”, with pitch-perfect soulful singing. Muheet followed with the lovely Arijit Singh classic “Aayat” from “Baajirao Mastani” in his alluring voice.

Sudha exhibited her rich vocal prowess with Shreya Ghoshal’s semiclassical dance number ‘Mohe rang do laal’ from the movie Bajirao Mastani based on tunes meandering around ragas like Purvi Kalyan and Puriya Dhanashri, with ragamalika elements of Yaman Kalyan and Hamir. Pandit Birju Maharaj's dance bols were rendered by Advait Nene. Sudeip Ghosh played the Puriya Dhanashri chords on guitar giving it a sarod-like feel. Sagar Tayde played interludes on the harmonium while Rajesh PaiJi gave tabla support. 

Popular songs like ‘Bol na halke’ and ‘Ghoomar’, sung with full instrumental support by Sudha and her co-singers drew in loud cheers from the audience. The musicians performed an impromptu all-instrumental medley with songs based on Kaapi/Piloo raag and the peppy medley received a thunderous applause.

This show was a fundraiser in support of a non-profit organization called Bal Duniya, a 501c(3) organization based in Boston run by local school-going kids, with a mission to help underprivileged kids around the world. The beneficiary for this concert is Aditya Jyot Foundation for Twinkling Little Eyes (AJFTLE), a not-for-profit organization, based in Mumbai.  Kala Ramesh presented a brief slideshow on Aditya Jyot Foundation and its mission.

In the second half of the show, Sudha dressed in a dazzling blue and orange lehenga ensemble, moved the audience with a Coke Studio composition by Shantanu Moitra,  ‘Lagi lagi, lagan chitchor’, a keertan about the moon, (originally sung by Kaushiki Chakraborty) rendered with some Hamsadhvani fusion alaaps and taans. Sudha, Sachi and Advait continued to weave their magic with a medley of nostalgic songs based on Raag Bhimpalasi – ‘Kuch dil ne kaha’, ‘Khilte hain gul yahan’ and ‘Kismat se tum hum ko mile ho’, all rendered with impeccable ease and grace. Muheet performed the Arijit Singh popular melody "Phir le aaya dil" with a lot of emotional finesse while playing the piano in a completely contemporary arrangement designed by him with Vinphin accompanying him on the cajon.

The kid MCs trained by Paresh Motiwala engaged the audience with some fun interactive banter. A couple of old-to-new mashups showing a seamless connection in beats and melody were then presented by Sudha and Raghu: ‘Sanwaar loon’, ‘Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar’, ‘Aaja ke intezaar mein’, ‘Dil ki nazar’ and ‘Main agar kahoon’. This was a delightful treasure-trove of well-known Bollywood hits sung  soulfully by the duo.

Anandini Sekhar on keys set the backdrop for most of the songs with her perfect timing and gave excellent vocal support on harmonies and chorus.

The evening concluded with a peppy song sung by Sudha from Mere Sanam, ‘Jaaiye aap kahaan jaayenge, ye nazar laut ke phir aayegi.’ The highly energetic audience gave a standing ovation and asked for encores. The lyrics proved to be apt- ‘door tak aapke peeche peeche, meri aawaaz chali jaayegi.’. Yes, the mesmerizing music will be enthroned in our hearts forever. Sudha, hum phir laut ke aayenge, aapki shehad jaisi awaaz hume kheench laayegi. What a fitting end to a memorable evening!

Concert details:

Organized by Sudha Subbaraman and RangManch, Boston

Singers: Sudha Kumar(Sudha Subbaraman), Raghu Saranathan, Muheet Bharti, Sagar Tayde, Anandini Sekhar, Sachi Badola and Advait Nene??

Musicians: Sagar Tayde, Anandini Sekhar, Jishnu Menon, Muheet Bharti, Vinphin Kundukulam, Rajesh Pai, Sudeip Ghosh, Prayuth Naduthota, Michael Harrist?

Emcees: Kids trained by Paresh Motiwala (Circles of Growth)?

Sound: Jawed Wahid and team

Decor: TaranaOM Creations, Aneesha Karody

Photography: Jayant Bhawalkar

Videography: Santosh SOFT FOTO