BHUBANESWAR:When Kishore Sodha keyed his trumpet at Utkal Mandap on Sunday, Bhubaneswarites were transported to the enigmatic world of Pancham Da’s evergreen classics. And, why not? The ace musician had worked close with the maverick composer, Rahul Dev Burman ( Pancham Da) from the 60s and 70s. Along with his brother Raj Sodha, known for his melodious handling of the saxophone, other musicians from Burman’s original team descended upon the city to get the audience grooving to the tunes of the garage rock ‘Dum Maro Dum’, ‘Yeh jo Mohabaat Hai’ and other iconic compositions, that had set a benchmark for Bollywood music over the years, at the event organised by ‘The New Indian Express.’
The evening set off on a sombre note as the artistes and audience maintained silence for a while to seek peace for late Bollywood diva, Sridevi. But, gradually the melodious and peppy numbers from Pancham Da’s treasure trove helped everyone to bear with the inevitable loss and experience something magical for the night. The mood in the evening was set to tune by the Sodha brothers with their mellifluous rendering in instruments true to Pancham Da’s genre. They were simply brilliant in their saxophones. Bollywood singer and reality show fame Ujjaini Mukherjee gave a soothing start to the musical journey by lending her voice to ‘Mera Kuch Saman’, the 1987 popular song from Gulzaar’s ‘Ijaazat.’ For the next couple of hours, Ujjaini mesmerised the audience with Asha Bhosle’s hits with Pancham Da.
Famed percussionist and rhythm arranger Nitin Shankar let the audience feel how Pancham Da created music out of everything around. He took up an empty glass bottle to let the music rolling for ‘Mehbooba...Mehbooba’. “In 1993, Pancham Da was in Bhubaneswar for his second last show. I still remember how he left his first class compartment and kept joining his musicians in the second class for instant jams, chit-chats and game of cards,” Shankar recollected.
The packed audience was not only taken back to the lilting and energetic music of Pancham but were also made to relive every moment of the past as the singers and accompanists brought the best to the crowd in Bhubaneswar. “It was a rare event in Bhubaneswar. We have hardly witnessed anything of this sort in the city. We could spot no difference between the songs performed here and the originals,” said Munna Dwivedi, a musician by passion.The evening also witnessed captivating performance by singer Saptak Bhattacharya. “Pancham Da is larger than life,” he said after treating the audience with Kishore Kumar hits.