Nayyar Sab and his music arguably have no greater devotee than Siraj Khan. Each year Khan sab arranges a musical evening featuring the songs of O.P Nayyar as a tribute  to the maestro. This year the tribute was help March 7 at the home of Jawed Wahid.

A take off on one of Nayyar's famous composition the event was titled "Yahi Woh Jagah Hai". Featuring singers Sudha Rao, Raghu, Krithika and Salman the audience was transported to a time when Nayyar was the reigning musical king of Bollywood.

O.P Nayyar once said, "What Siraj does not know about my music is not worth knowing" . Listening to Siraj's  commentary on Nayyar's music you can see why. Subtle details on the music along with the context in which the piece was created made for an interesting journey through Nayyar's world.

To do justice to Nayyar's compositions is not easy and musicians Raghu, Sudha, Krithika and Salman deserve great compliments for doing a marvelous job. Raghu rendered many of the Rafi numbers flawlessly while New England's own "Asha Bhosale" , Sudha Rao brought the Asha - OP classics to life

Raghu and Krithika and Sudha added a little twist to many songs to dramatize them and bring them to life. "Ai Dil Hai Mushkil" by Raghu and Krithika had Boston instead of Bombay at a few places.  Kajara Mohabbatwala, a duet with Krithika and Sudha was an absolute hit with Sudha rendering the Shamshad Begum part. They had the audience clapping and swaying through the entire piece.

Salman in his Nayyar look alike outfit rendered a highly dramatized version of "Jawanian Yeh Mast Mast" and received cheers from the audience for his performance.  They ended the night with a singing of "Preetam Aan Milo" by the entire assemble. Incidentally this was Nayyar first creation that he got a small amount of money for but gave him the confidence that he could become a composer.

 Wonderful snacks and Kashmiri Chai made the perfect addition to the mehfil.
A comment by Hanshim Khan sums up feeling of the audience beautifully

Huzoor-e-Wala,
 
All I can say is that aap ko Khuda mehfooz rakhey har bala se, so that you can initiate more such heartwarming mehfils.

--Hashim Khan
 

To all the musicians and to Khan saheb .. three cheers from Lokvani and we look forward to the next  Nayyar night
 

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