Posted:
Dhanak behind London's dreary rains
By AMIRA ZAIDI
Last Sunday, London's Royal Albert Hall pulsated with an array of artistes from Pakistan brought together by two event managers from Karachi — Mohsin Sayeed and Hadiya Khan — for the show Dhanak.
The show was hosted by the glamorous Sophie from India clad in a bright red lehnga and choli. The welcome speech was by the chief patron of the Hub School, for which this event had been organized, following which was another address by the previous Ambassador of Pakistan and the man behind the show, Abdul Qadir Jaffer.
Sophie then welcomed the seventh descendent of the Patiala gharana, Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, who came on stage and performed a solo alaap followed by lines from Baksh de. It was a beautiful preview into what the evening held in store. Pakistani classical dancer Fasih ur Rehman followed next with an outstanding performance, walking onto the stage with his back to the audience and facing the beam of light while slowly raising his hands to produce an ethereal effect. He performed salami with the support of live music by a Pakistani team of four on flute, tabla, harmonium and vocals by Basharat. The entire demonstration was brief and traditional.
While the stage was still dark, one saw Abida Parveen's team settling themselves on the 'takht' as she slowly waved to the audience in the dark. She began with 'Ali Maula' singing into dual microphones, which added to her command over the entire hall and the crowds began chanting 'Ali Ali dum Ali' along with her
Sophie then introduced the audience to the living legend of Pakistan's sufi music. While the stage was still dark, one saw Abida Parveen's team settling themselves on the takht as she slowly waved to the audience in the dark. She began with Ali Maula singing into dual microphones, which added to her command over the entire hall and the crowds began chanting Ali Ali dum Ali along with her. Then came Ranjha Ranjha, followed by the all-time favourite Jub Se Tunay Mujhay Deewana Bana Rakha Hhaye and then Tere Ishq Nachaya. The stage backdrop was scattered with tiny lights below the screen projectors and as she sang, it seemed she was blending into glittering stars. By the time Abida reached Yaar di Gadholi, people started dancing in front of the stage, some in the Sindhi-jhoomar style and some in their Punjabi-bhangra. As the lights focused on the audience, one could see currency notes flying in the air like confetti. Nearing the end of the piece, the entire hall stood up applauding to bid her farewell.
A twenty-minute break followed this mesmerising moment, and then Fasih was up on the stage again with another captivating performance, this time wearing ghungroos. He improvised with the tablawala, which the audience caught onto much later, but it looked, sounded and felt beautiful as the backdrop lights chased each other upwards. Once the performance was over, Sophie reappeared, this time in a scanty red sari that glittered from afar. She introduced the much-awaited Fuzon, staging a unique blend of East and West in one of their best live performances ever, amplified by bassist Russell and drummer Louis John Pinto aka Gumby.
They took a slow start with the first song Baatein, with an unusual audio score: the music was very strong, very rock and very powerful. Shafqat's vocals, on the other hand, were as soothing and dulcet as his first alaap of the evening. But the outcome was spellbinding, amalgamating both the contradictory elements perfectly.
They sang Jhoom Jhoom Badal and then finally Tere Bina, where Shallum and Immu joined in to give a superb harmony. To pick some rhythm, they went onto Deewanay turning the elegant Royal Albert Hall into a London party venue while Shafqat's gleeful fans took his sunglasses.
The audience's anxieties were put to rest with Khamaj and then the ballad Ankhon ke Sagar. Strangely after this, however, Shafqat made another take off with Ankhiyan where he introduced the band members in turn.
Sophie then announced that it was time to move onto India and introduced two new artistes: the Indian Idol Monali Thakur and Meenal who came to render their song performances. Following this was perhaps the best performance of the evening by Sonu Nigam and his entire orchestra. The quality and detail of music were at an entirely different platform. He stayed for a good hour, singing one hit after another, to which the entire audience sang and ended up dancing. When he sang Just Chill Chill, even elderly ladies were up on their feet; while the purely vocal Mein Hoon Na was simply enchanting. The orchestra had their hands up in the air doing the wave to which the audience joined in. He ended with Bijuriya, making the evening lose control.
Finally, Sophie called all artistes on stage where Fuzon appeared transformed from their dark clothes into jeans and white shirts. Shallum sported a pony-tail this time while Immu did his thumbs up sign again, which had become the clich of the evening. Sonu Nigam surely knew how to conduct a performance and concluded the evening by touching Abida Parveen's feet.
Last Sunday, London's Royal Albert Hall pulsated with an array of artistes from Pakistan brought together by two event managers from Karachi — Mohsin Sayeed and Hadiya Khan — for the show Dhanak.
The show was hosted by the glamorous Sophie from India clad in a bright red lehnga and choli. The welcome speech was by the chief patron of the Hub School, for which this event had been organized, following which was another address by the previous Ambassador of Pakistan and the man behind the show, Abdul Qadir Jaffer.
Sophie then welcomed the seventh descendent of the Patiala gharana, Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, who came on stage and performed a solo alaap followed by lines from Baksh de. It was a beautiful preview into what the evening held in store. Pakistani classical dancer Fasih ur Rehman followed next with an outstanding performance, walking onto the stage with his back to the audience and facing the beam of light while slowly raising his hands to produce an ethereal effect. He performed salami with the support of live music by a Pakistani team of four on flute, tabla, harmonium and vocals by Basharat. The entire demonstration was brief and traditional.
While the stage was still dark, one saw Abida Parveen's team settling themselves on the 'takht' as she slowly waved to the audience in the dark. She began with 'Ali Maula' singing into dual microphones, which added to her command over the entire hall and the crowds began chanting 'Ali Ali dum Ali' along with her
Sophie then introduced the audience to the living legend of Pakistan's sufi music. While the stage was still dark, one saw Abida Parveen's team settling themselves on the takht as she slowly waved to the audience in the dark. She began with Ali Maula singing into dual microphones, which added to her command over the entire hall and the crowds began chanting Ali Ali dum Ali along with her. Then came Ranjha Ranjha, followed by the all-time favourite Jub Se Tunay Mujhay Deewana Bana Rakha Hhaye and then Tere Ishq Nachaya. The stage backdrop was scattered with tiny lights below the screen projectors and as she sang, it seemed she was blending into glittering stars. By the time Abida reached Yaar di Gadholi, people started dancing in front of the stage, some in the Sindhi-jhoomar style and some in their Punjabi-bhangra. As the lights focused on the audience, one could see currency notes flying in the air like confetti. Nearing the end of the piece, the entire hall stood up applauding to bid her farewell.
A twenty-minute break followed this mesmerising moment, and then Fasih was up on the stage again with another captivating performance, this time wearing ghungroos. He improvised with the tablawala, which the audience caught onto much later, but it looked, sounded and felt beautiful as the backdrop lights chased each other upwards. Once the performance was over, Sophie reappeared, this time in a scanty red sari that glittered from afar. She introduced the much-awaited Fuzon, staging a unique blend of East and West in one of their best live performances ever, amplified by bassist Russell and drummer Louis John Pinto aka Gumby.
They took a slow start with the first song Baatein, with an unusual audio score: the music was very strong, very rock and very powerful. Shafqat's vocals, on the other hand, were as soothing and dulcet as his first alaap of the evening. But the outcome was spellbinding, amalgamating both the contradictory elements perfectly.
They sang Jhoom Jhoom Badal and then finally Tere Bina, where Shallum and Immu joined in to give a superb harmony. To pick some rhythm, they went onto Deewanay turning the elegant Royal Albert Hall into a London party venue while Shafqat's gleeful fans took his sunglasses.
The audience's anxieties were put to rest with Khamaj and then the ballad Ankhon ke Sagar. Strangely after this, however, Shafqat made another take off with Ankhiyan where he introduced the band members in turn.
Sophie then announced that it was time to move onto India and introduced two new artistes: the Indian Idol Monali Thakur and Meenal who came to render their song performances. Following this was perhaps the best performance of the evening by Sonu Nigam and his entire orchestra. The quality and detail of music were at an entirely different platform. He stayed for a good hour, singing one hit after another, to which the entire audience sang and ended up dancing. When he sang Just Chill Chill, even elderly ladies were up on their feet; while the purely vocal Mein Hoon Na was simply enchanting. The orchestra had their hands up in the air doing the wave to which the audience joined in. He ended with Bijuriya, making the evening lose control.
Finally, Sophie called all artistes on stage where Fuzon appeared transformed from their dark clothes into jeans and white shirts. Shallum sported a pony-tail this time while Immu did his thumbs up sign again, which had become the clich of the evening. Sonu Nigam surely knew how to conduct a performance and concluded the evening by touching Abida Parveen's feet.
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
