Mohan Subramaniam who is often referred to as “Mukesh of New England", along with Anuradha Palakurti, Shraddha Agarwal, Suzanna Naik, Ujjwal Parikh and little Selina Banerjee took us down memory lane as they presented some of the most memorable hits of Mukesh.

Embellished with live dance and beautiful visuals the event was unique in that it was able to recreate the magic of Mukesh numbers. “A Bollywood song is a complicated package.  The visuals, the acting, the storyline and the music contribute to the success of the song and hence an effective presentation needs to recreate as much of the package as possible”, said Mohan Subramaniam who worked tirelessly to bring excellent tracks and film visuals for the artists to be able to present almost a live experience of watching the film.

The effect was fabulous. With Jawed Wahid’s technical expertise and the fabulous talent of the singers, the complicated artistic effort paid off and the audience was left to relish the Suhana experience.  "Suhana Safar" featured songs and audio visuals from a range of Mukesh hits from films such as "Awara," "Sangam," "Milan," "Madhumati" and "Anand".

Each artist was fabulous. O Mere Sanam by Shraddha and Mohan, Dum Dum Diga Diga by Ujjwal, Kabhi Kabhi by Anuradha and Mohan,  Ek Payar Ka Nagma by Suzanna and Ujjwal and Mohan’s Jaane Kahan Gayi Woh Din were amongst my favorites of the evening.  Little Selina Banerjee delighted everyone with her presentation of Le Chal Mere. Muneeza Nusratullah’s dance to Hum Tum Chori se was very graceful and yet a lovely touch to the presentation. Amongst the songs with the visual backdrop, Ram Kare Aisa Ho Jaya sung by Mohan Subramaniam was so effective that it gave us goosebumps.   

The program added yet another dimension by having multiple master of ceremonies including Harish Dang, Dr. Manju Sheth, Preetesh Shrivastav, Ranjani Saigal, Siraj Khan (who gave the title Suhana Safar to the show), Eshani Shah, Ali Rizvi, Dr. Kumkum Mallik, Jharna Madan, Swati Subramanium and Gauri Chandana to introduce the different songs. This effort was well-coordinated and added great variety, as each individual brought their own unique style to the introduction.

The audience were also treated to a real life Bollywood-like romance tale that happened over 28 years ago where Mohan Subramaniam, like a Bollywood-like hero helped an unknown Tamil person he had met at an airport quickly avert an arranged marriage and unite him with the love of his life, who happened to be Gujarathi.  The story revealed the romantic side of Mohan which perhaps helps him bring a touch of great authenticity of many of his numbers.

The event owed its success to the great team of organizers including Dr. Meera Subramanium, Harish Dang, Dr. Manju Sheth, Preetesh Shrivastav, Siraj Khan and Eshani Shah deserve great credit for pulling off such a fabulous show who worked hard to make sure that every detail was attended to.

Harish Dang, who knows Mukesh and his family very well for many years, personally invited  Dr. Dayal, Mukesh's nephew  to the event. “I was moved to tears many times during the presentation. It was most beautiful,” said Dr. Dayal.

The event was a fine treat for the audience. The best part was that the collections from the event were used to support two very important organizations – Saheli and the O.P Nayyar Memorial Trust.  The New England area is blessed to have such talented artists in our midst and we look forward to the next Suhana Safar soon!

|