On the clear wintry evening of March 9, filmi music lovers reveled in a concert of music featuring the legendary father-son duo of S.D. and R.D Burman. The sold-out performance in the elegant ambience of the National Heritage Museum in Lexington proved a worthy tribute to the musical genius of the Burmans, whose output in the latter 20th century is now firmly a part of the canon of Indian film music.

Six quality singers of the Boston area wove a “geet mala”: Mohan Subramaniam, Shraddha Agrawal, Suzana Naik, Anuradha Palakurthi, Raghu Saranathan and Ujjwal Parikh. With the first haunting song featuring Mohan with “O jaane wale ho sake to laut ke aana” from Bandini, the 400+ audience was spell-bound. Then followed a skillfully arranged program spanning: soulful numbers like “Piya bina” from Abhimaan and “Bada natkhat hai” from Amar Prem; mischievous ones like “Raat akeli hai” or “Yeh dil na hota bechara”; classically grounded tunes like “Beeti na bitayi raina” or “Meethe bol bole”; and electrifying must-dance songs that had the audience rocking in the aisles with “Dum maro dum” and “Piya tu ab to aaja”.

Video stills throughout the evening amplified the magical mood for each song.. Jawed Wahid, working closely with Mohan, planned and executed the flawless audio-video engineering, which has sometimes been a bane for other local events.  Emcees were Harish Dang, Dr. Manju Sheth, Preetesh Shreevastava and Eshani Shah, who entertained with colorful vignettes linked to the songs and their movies.  The emcees along with Jharna Madan and a volunteer host committee worked behind the scene for weeks with producer Dr. Meera Subramaniam to make the evening an unqualified success.

The chief guest for the evening, Mr. Upendra Mishra, handed over the net proceeds from the show to two local charities, Saheli and IMANE Charitable Fund. The mission of Saheli ((literally female friend) is to empower South Asian women and families, providing services relating to domestic violence, legal representation, and more. IMANE sponsors charitable healthcare services in the region.

The evening was graced by the presence of the legendary singer Mukesh’s sister, Ms. Rajesh Saroop, who said this about the evening: “I feel highly honored to have been a part of this extraordinary `shaam-e-burman’. I cherished every moment. No stone was left unturned to make this a huge success. The loving tribute to the Burmans featured immaculate organization, highly melodious singing by outstanding singers, excellent song selection and sound management, a very moving slide show, and excellent compering.  My Blessings to all involved and hope you reach greater heights in years to come”.

In the audience were also the son and daughter-in-law, Pratip and Swati, of the renowned film director Hrishikesh Mukherjee. They offered: “Mohan and Meera Subramaniam, along with the singers and organizers, did an outstanding job! We hope they do more of these shows, give enjoyment to a lot of people and raise money for charity at the same time.” Tathaastu (Amen)!

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