There was much excitement in the air on the evening of Sunday, September 1, 2019 at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium, MA. The 2800 capacity majestic auditorium with ornate, high ceiling was packed with fans awaiting for popular Bollywood singer Shreya Ghoshal to begin her Bollywood songs concert. The show attracted music lovers from distant New England cities such as Stamford, CT and Manchester, NH in addition to local residents.

Shreya delighted Boston music lovers in a three hour long show accompanied by a talented ensemble consisting of male singer Tushar Joshi, four singers providing backup vocals and a live orchestra with string, wind and percussion instruments such as violins, cello, viola, flute, guitar, trumpet, trombone, Western drums, tabla and dholak. The creative display of lights was managed with tremendous expertise by Ashwin Suvarna and the sound management for the show was flawless.

At 7:20pm, after a warm welcome by emcee Shilpi, singer Tushar Joshi opened the show with the evergreen number “Mitwa Kahein Dhadkanein Tujhse Kya”  and followed it with an attractive waltz beat song “Khaamoshiyan teri meri”. Tushar’s fluid voice in the upper octaves inspired the audience to sing along with him.

A well-made teaser introduction video about Shreya Ghoshal’s life and musical journey was shown to the audience before her entry on the stage. Ghoshal then entered the stage in a flowing dark green and gold gown with open black tresses framing her glamorous face. Ghoshal’s elegant presence and stage appeal won the hearts of the audience instantly. “It feels so good to be back in Boston. I look forward to this evening” said Shreya Ghoshal to the audience before rendering her first song “Sun raha hai na tu, ro rahee hoon mai”. Excellent flute accompaniment by Rajeev Prasanna added to the song presentation.  In the next song “Chalo lekar tumko chalein hum un fizaaon mein” from the album “Jism”, Ghoshal steadily gained ground to show off her velvet smooth voice in its peak form.

Ghoshal’s extensive training in classical music and meticulous preparation for the concert served her well in delivering over twenty film songs in the Hindi language with great ease. The song selection included raga based slow tempo melodious classics such as “Humein Tumse pyar kitna yeh hum nahi jaante” with multiple violins accompanying her fabulously in a unique interpretation of the song. “Classics will never be obsolete and never be forgotten” said Ghoshal to the audience. A faster tempo song “Lagi na lagey” with tarana and sargam (solfege) once again established Shreya’s command over classical music.

Starting with the eighth song, “Munwa laage re saanware” along with Tushar Joshi, the show picked up great momentum in terms of audience involvement.  Many members gathered under the stage to pose for selfies with Shreya in the background. Long spells of impromptu dancing and shouting of “Shreya, Shreya” and “We love you Shreya” ringing through the auditorium touched the artist and helped her give her best to the audience.

Catchy, rhythmic songs such as “Tere mast mast do nain, mere dil ka le gaye chain” and the award winning “Ghoomar” song from Padmavat movie got the audience dancing in circular groups in the traditional Garba style of dancing. It was remarkable that Shreya Ghoshal did not need to look at lyrics to refresh her memory while singing more than 20 songs. Melodious voice, flawless pitch, terrific command on rhythm, subtle execution of vocal ornaments and an expansive vocal range were Shreya’s winning points.

A brief intermission allowed members of the audience to buy hot samosas and tea and mingle with each other in the lobby. A South Indian music fan who had driven down from Connecticut to see the show said “I do not understand Hindi but I love her voice. I hope she will sing a Malayalam or Tamil song in the second half of the show!”

Tushar Joshi opened the second half of the show with a solo and had members of the audience use flashlights on the phone to light up the auditorium. Shreya appeared in a soft peach pink colored sari and a silver sequined blouse. She referred to her biggest singing influence, the iconic playback singer Lata Mangeshkar as Ma Saraswati. In a medley that featured not just Lata numbers such as “Kya janoon sajan hoti hai gum ki shaam”  but also Asha Bhosle numbers such as “Piya too ub tho aa ja” she showed her versatility as an artist. “I think Shreya surpasses Lata Mangeshkar because Lata ji could sing only a limited variety of song types. Shreya can sing many different types of songs very well” said Mrs. Sharma, a concert attendee.

Shreya sang a few duets with Tushar Joshi and four young vocalists provided a chorus for some of their renditions. “Saas me teri saas mili tho” with Tushar Joshi was well received by the audience and in the song “Too he too mera seher hai” her perch on a high-pitched musical note got her great applause.. Rhythmic songs such as “Radha teri chunri, Radha tera chchalla”, “Chikni Chameli” had many members dancing on the floor and waving hands from the balcony sections of the auditorium. Throughout the show, the two singers Shreya and Tushar spoke to the audience and invited them to participate by singing and dancing to the music provided by a top-notch live orchestra.

Desai Entertainment, Balaji Entertainment, Sai Entertainment and Zee TV were some of the sponsors of this successful Bollywood songs show. Kudos to the organizers, performers, volunteers for staging the Shreya Ghoshal show and also to the audience for showing enthusiasm and encouraging the artists.

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