Livewire Asha croons to full house

PUNE, Dec 13: As the strains of shehnai heralded the final day of the Sawai Gandharv Sangeet Mahotsav, with 6,500 odd people sitting in r...

PUNE, Dec 13: As the strains of shehnai heralded the final day of the Sawai Gandharv Sangeet Mahotsav, with 6,500 odd people sitting in rapt attention at the Ganesh Kala Krida Mandir, three km away, at the SSPMS grounds, it was livewire Asha Bhosale, who had hundreds of youngsters, out of the 25,000 strong crowd, hip-swinging to her pop numbers!

The event was Das Hazaar Aath Sau Ashaon Ke Pal, an exclusive all-India concert for Child Relief and You CRY. The sparkling and relentless Asha Bhosale, only five years away from completing 70 of her life8217;s innings but 50 years younger in her child-like enthusiasm and energy held the audience in sheer ecstasy for a good three hours.

With a mega stage setting of 40 feet by 60 feet and two lakh watts of sound, Asha spun the magic of her old and new numbers with such ease and vigour, that she was constantly reciprocated with claps, cheers and whistles.

Taking a clue from the live Michael Jackson show held in Mumbai last year, Asha who enthusiastically lives with the changing times, confessed that sophisticated technology indeed makes a marked impact on a live show. And so it was an unforgettable experience for Puneites as Asha compered for herself and sang as well amidst the razzle-dazzle of light and sound.

She began with numbers that had made Zeenat Aman famous. Like Chura liya hai, Oh mere Sona and of course Dam maro dam. But Asha was yet to warm up and so was the crowd who was still finding a place to sit, particularly in the VIP section, where chairs were in scarcity and people aplenty.

Wearing a shimmering white sequined gown over a saree, she interspersed her singing with her true-life experiences. One of them was indeed hilarious and gave an insight to her personality. This inimitable singer imitated her predecessors like Noor Jahan, Shamsad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar and Elvis Presley and then explained that she mixed the voices of all these great ones into one and what was born was Asha Bhosale8217;s voice! continued on Babul Supriyo, a new comer into the field of playback singing from Calcutta gave her the much-deserved respite and captivated the audience with his impressive voice. Then Asha came back for her second round. She had changed into an orange saree with sparkling gold embroidery. Then on, it was the spellbinding Asha that we have always known. Jhoomka gira re, Tanha, tanha, Damadam mast kalandar Runa Laila8217;s hit number, Kali ghata chayee amongst others had the crowd swaying and dancing to her tunes.

The highlight of her show was the medley of her evergreen numbers which included Ude jab, jab julfe teri, Bhavra bada nadaan hei, Yeh hai reshmi, Aayeye Meherban. The delighted crowd comprising the young and the old alike quite literally freaked out. Particularly on her superhit pop number 8211; Janam samjha karo that has brought her international accolades.

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Babul enthralled the audience with popular numbers like Mein koyi aisa geet gaun, Ye khoya, khoya rehta hai, My name is Babulal Supriyo instead of Anthony Gonsalves, Sapne mein milti hai, Dekha na, hai re socha na amongst various others. A dance troupe also accompanied Asha during the rendition of her pop numbers and she sometimes danced along with them with quiet dignity. The show culminated with a couple of pop songs, quite exuberating Asha Bhonsle8217;s theme of life 8211; living life like youngsters do!