Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Kohal's performance in 2009

Looks like people at Kohal are getting pepped up more with each year. Like the previous year 2009 is also having two performances by Kohal during the Durga Puja. Last year we're invited to perform at the NCBS. This year apart from our usual venue at Koramangala (25th Sept), we're also invited at the North Bangalore Cultural Samiti on Navami (27th Sept). Apart from from this Kohal has also performed in Koramangala for a Rabindra Jayanti & Bengali New Year on 9th May.

Anandaroop, not present in 2008, is again back with his awesome collection of Hemanta's songs. He has been singing so many of Hemanta's legendary signature songs, like Runner (রানার), Gaanyer Bodhu (গাঁয়ের বধু), Abak Prithibi (অবাক পৃথিবী), Palkir Gaan (পাল্কীর গান) etc for so long that it never appears us that those are some of the toughest songs and very few people try to render those in any function. But we've been always having some of these songs in all our shows.

This year happens to be the 20th year of Hemanta's demise and incidentally 26th September is the day when he had departed twenty years back. That's why we're rendering our tribute to Hemanta on 25th and 27th September through a special section dedicated to him.

We've got Dwitiya and Saptarshi this year to render some new age Bengali songs from Mohiner Ghoraguli (মহীনের ঘোড়াগুলি) and Suman. Saptarshi has also provided vocal support in many songs apart from playing rhythm in most of the songs.

We also have Puneet and Malvika with their characteristic selections of melodious old and Hindi songs. Strikingly Puneet Joshi, though not a Bengali speaking, can render a Bengali RD Burman number, Bolo Ki Achhe Go (বল কি আছে গো) with great finesse. Puneet is just awesome in the nostalgic RD-Kishore songs and he never can escape from singing O Hansini where ever he goes.

Since the performance on Rabindra Jayanti Swarup has been playing Tabla with us.

Kanishka, Ranjita, Ahwani, Priyam and myself Sudipto are there as usual.

The repository of songs this year is perhaps the most interesting and diverse. We have Rabindra Sangeet (রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত), old Bengali and Hindi songs from the Golden Age as well as a good selection of new age Bengali and Hindi songs featuring some of the excellent compositions of the recent times. Our philosophy is that music has no language and genre. Any thing that we like, that people would love, is a good music. That's why we're never restricted to any particular type of music irrespective of where we perform. We try to cater to a very wide range of genres so that anyone in audience would get something of his her choice to cherish. Whatever we do we generally always have a few of Tagore's songs and a few of Hemanta, Salil Chowdhury, Lata, Kishore, RD, Rafi and Rehman. This year we're also having numbers from Mohiner Ghoraguli, a new Bengali band called Shoror, Suman, Dev D (an awesome debut by the Amit Trivedi), a composition by Ustad Zakir Hussain, a medley of Sufi-Baul-folk songs and many others. Some of the songs we're doing this time are
  • The very rarely heard later stanzas of a Rabindra Sangeet, whose first stanza is our National Anthem - we're starting our program with this
  • Amar Nishitho Rater Badol Dhara (আমার নিশীথ রাতের বাদল ধারা), a Rabindra Sangeet presented as an instrumental in violin and piano
  • Tomake Chai (তোমাকে চাই), the song with which Suman had changed the landscape of Bengali songs in the last decade
  • Rehman's Rubaroo & Genda Ful
  • Dhol Yara - from Dev D
  • Kya Tumne Hai Sun Liya - a composition by Zakir Hussain for the movie Saaz
  • Dil Ne Tum Ko - from Jhankaar Beats
  • Surer Ei Jhorna (সুরের এই ঝরণা) - a masterpiece of Salil Chowdhury with awesome harmony
  • Anjan Dutta's Marry Ann
  • Saiyonee - a medley of the original song along with an Arabic song and a Lalan Fakir's Baul song
  • A medley of Bengali folk songs

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