Thespian call

Any Indian film 'superstar' worth his salt would acknowledge this pioneer of mass adulation. Screaming girls,fainting at his sight,swooning over his photos...

Indian cinema icon Rajesh Khanna will be showered with a nostalgic tribute at this audio-visual musical night

Any Indian film ‘superstar’ worth his salt would acknowledge this pioneer of mass adulation. Screaming girls,fainting at his sight,swooning over his photos; men making vain attempts at copying his hairdo and gait,huge billboards,dominated by that boyish face with the head cocked sideways and flashing that innocent smile,serenading all who pass. Rajesh Khanna’s larger than life image swept the entire theatre-going populace. Even to this day,he remains the epitome of the quintessential cinematic demigod. In tribute to this stalwart,Pune-based Velvette Ropes has organised a unique musical night. The event aims to bring about a fond audio-visual retrospective of the highlights of Khanna’s 45-year career. The unique thing about the event is that we will have videos of his movies playing in the background,while a live band will croon his famous songs. So,the videos will actually lip-sync to the live show. It’s in dedication to the achievements of this superstar, says Behroze Dastoor,co-founder of Velvette Ropes.

A group of seasoned singers and musicians will perform at the show and bring alive the magic of Khanna’s songs. Vivek Paranjpe,who will be handling the musical show,says,The musical presentation will showcase songs both catchy and slow,soft songs – that defined the era when Khanna was at the peak of his popularity. In all,we will be performing some 24 songs,10 of which will feature the video lip-sync. The four main singers – Makarand Patankar,Prashant Naseri,Ali Hussain and Medha Paranjape are Pune residents. It was a challenge to attempt to match and adjust our music and singing to the videos of that age. The old films had a different tempo altogether. I am sure it is going to be a fun evening, gushes Paranjpe.

Velvette Ropes is a musical company that has been conceptualised and bred by its two founders,Behroze Dastoor and Phiroze Savak. They organise events that conjure up the music of an age when electronica was unheard of and lyrics and harmony mattered more than gimmickry. We had a tribute in honour of the famous singer Engelbert Humperdinck in May this year and it was a major hit with the audience. We also had an audio-visual show dedicated to the Kapoor clan. And with this latest tribute to Rajesh Khanna,an abiding icon will be musically celebrated.

(The show will be held at the Yeshwantrao Chavan Auditorium today at 9.30 pm)

Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories