KOCHI:
From a painful present riddled with physical uneasiness, patients and their families/relatives at the Government General Hospital here were taken a trip down memory lane, as ‘Yaadain’ music band rendered today songs from bygone years and recreated the charm of legendary tunes.
At the ‘Arts and Medicine’ show organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation, Nafla Sajid, Nabeela Hakeem, Shabeer Marakar, Najeeb M A and Abdul Salam (also a harmonist) proved their mastery in singing various genres of music. The Kochiite members of ‘Yaadain’, which specialises in Mehfil-styled performances, delivered not just popular ghazal-touch hits of musicians like Mohammad Rafi, M S Baburaj, Umbayee and Mehdi Hassan, but also that of V Dakshinamoorthy known for his Carnatic-based numbers.
Nafla, who impressed the crowd at the 241st edition of the all-Wednesday show, is a sitarist. Her sister, Nabeela, has been an established singer since the 1980s. Shabeer works as a marketing executive at a firm and has been an active presence in ganamela for 15 years. Najeeb, an employee at a Kochi mall, learnt harmonium from a key accompanist of (late) Umbayee, and has been singing for the past ten years. Salam, too, plays the harmonium with passion and has a passion for singing.
The singers had taken time out to rehearse, and repeatedly practised the songs they delivered on Wednesday. Nafla and Nabeela, hailing from a family that has roots in the field of music, had earlier performed at the 200th episode of ‘Art and Medicine’. Nabeela at a young age had performed with the Mehboob Memorial Orchestra.
The sisters, along with their uncle, playback singer Afzal, have to their credit a music album. Titled Ente Nadu, it became an instant hit among music lovers. “I am glad that I got the chance to compose the music for the album,” says Nafla. “Singing for the patients without any obligatory strings attached gives us inexplicable joy.”
At today’s show, Shabeer sang the evergreen Malayalam song ‘Anuraga Gaanam Pole’ with support from Nabeela and Shabeer. Nabeela then went on to deliver the S Janaki song ‘Vasantha Panchami Naalil’ from the 1964 movie Bhargaveenilayam, while Nafla shone with the Mohammad Rafi hit ‘Ehsan Tera Hoga Mujh Par’ from the 1961 Hindi Movie Junglee.
Salam, who was mostly on the harmonium, rounded up the concert by rendering ‘Kadale Neela Kadale’ from the 1977 movie Dweep. ‘Art and Medicine’ , is a joint initiative of the KBF in association with Mehboob Memorial Orchestra, which offers therapeutic music for the solace of patients. It has featured innumerous artists who have displayed their passion for music through legendary renditions.
