Aap Ka Manoranjan (ethnic TV show hosted by Arsh Mehrotra) presented a super show at the John Hancock Hall featuring the famous playback singer, Hariharan. Hariharan, a name familiar to most music lovers whose repertoire includes soulful ghazals, Hindi and Tamil film tunes, contemporary fusion music and semi-classical melodies is currently touring the US with a series of performances. His first performance was held at the John Hancock Hall on June 19th. This program was co-sponsored by Alankar decorators, Bombay Club, Dr. S. Chaterjee, The Law offices of Peter Allen and Kaypee Jewellers.

I was really looking forward to attending a live performance by this very versatile artiste whose talent has reached out to millions of listeners around the world and whose projects, both pop and film-based are most stimulating and entertaining. Occasional thunderstorms dotted the Boston skyline as the evening rolled in and the John Hancock Hall slowly filled with eager listeners.

Hariharan walked on the stage to a round of applause after being introduced by Arsh Mehrotra of Aap Ka Manoranjan. With his characteristic ponytail, glittering earrings and kurta, he looked crisp and fresh which belied his long international flight from india the previous night and a nagging cold. The stage was set up with Harmoniums, tabla, a lead guitar and a strumming guitar.

Hariharan started with a ghazal from his album "Kaash", "Kaash aisa manzil Hota" and the hall was filled with the mellifluous sounds of his voice. This was followed by a ghazal penned by Muzaffar Warsi, "Jhoom le has bol le" which he preceded by a beautiful alaap. He emphasised the beautiful lyrics of this ghazal with obvious enjoyment.

The next song was of a different tempo with a middle-eastern melody and rhythm to it with the guitar and percussion altering the very sound and feel in the hall. Rajeev Mahavir, the percussionist, switched to a hollow drum called "Batayun" (invented by Ustad Zakir Hussain). Hariharan performed this song with total involvement in the rolls and swishes which transported us into a desert night with a full moon overhead. This was certainly my favorite song of the evening!!

This was followed by a few ghazals including "Maikade band kare lakh Zamanewale, shahar mein kam nahin aankhon se pilanewale" and the evergreen " Husn walon ka khuda lagta hai". He switched tracks to perform the hit film Roja's title song "Roja Jaaneman" (music: AR Rahman) and the song "Yeh lamhe yeh palchin" from the movie "Lamhe" (music Shiv-Hari) which appealed to the audience and prompted multiple requests. This was followed by a tamil song "Yedho oru paatu" and the popular "Jhonka hava ka aaj bhi" from "Hum dil de chuke sanam".

A word about the musicians accompanying Hariharan. These were an excellent group of talented performers; Rajeev Mahavir on the tabla, Pradeep Pandit on the harmonium, Chintu Vazeer on the strumming guitar and Narendra Salaskar on the lead guitar. The coordination and chemistry between the instrumentalists and Hariharan was something to behold, from improvisation to solo interludes, they worked together seamlessly.

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