Canadian cinema honour for singer Mahendra Kapoor

It was an evening at the Pearson Convention Center where the renowned singer captivated the Indo Canadian audience with his melodious voice and popular songs. Interspersing a sense of humour with his songs, the maestro sang all time favourites to the delight of the hundreds of people present who clapped, cheered, shouted encore, sang along and even danced along with Kapoor’s songs.

‘‘He’s a legend and I wanted to hear him,’’ says Minnie Malhotra from Mississauga who was humming to the beats of the songs that Kapoor sang. ‘‘Lata Mangeshkar is the legend for India,’’ she said, but he is the legend for us Punjabis, as Kapoor sang Dev Shiva Man Mohe from the popular film Nanak Naam Jahaz hai. It’s a shabadh from Gurbani, she explained.

The show began two hours late as the accompanying musicians’ flight was held up by snowstorms, but people waited patiently, listening to Toronto singers and other fillers. Once the musical troupe arrived, the 75-year old Kapoor walked on to the stage with difficulty, but once he began to sing, his voice rang out, as powerful as ever and as musical. He started by belting out patriotic Indian songs including ‘jab zero diya mere bharat ne’ and ‘Hai preet jahan ki reet sada’ from actor/producer Manoj Kumar’s film Purab aur Paschim.

“His body is old, but his soul is young and that’s why he’s singing”, said Malhotra as she sat with bated breath listening to all her favourite songs being sung by Kapoor. Singing many hit songs of yesteryears, including those for B.R.Films including Gumrah and Hamraaz, Kapoor stirred many memories. “Listening to him is like taking a walk down memory lane”, said Kiran Khullar from Etobicoke.