CHENNAI: Want to feast your ears and tap your feet to some evergreen hits from old and contemporary Hindi films? Here’s your ticket to a musical evening — but for a cause! The fairy God Mother Charitable Trust, an NGO lead by former singer Roopa Menon along with music conductor Raffi’s ‘Friends Orchestra’ is curating ‘Gaane Jaane Maane’, a musical event this weekend.
City Express catches up with Roopa and Raffi to find more…
The charitable trust has been educating underprivileged children of classes 3 to 12 for the past eight years and also supports collegiate education. “This event is for educating the girl child and literacy. The NGO has been supporting and working with families with low income. But, in the last few years, we have been getting more application for scholarships as opposed to the funds. That’s why we needed a fundraiser,” explains Roopa Menon.
The NGO also serves the society along with the Prime Minister’s ‘Beti bachao, Beti padhao’ yojana.
The 20-member orchestra will perform a list of both old and contemporary songs and Roopa vouches that the evening will not be monotonous. “I was an amateur singer years ago and I used to perform a lot. But I had to choose a different career and I left performing. However, some of my colleagues in the orchestra stayed put and Raffi was one of them. He was a percussionist and today, he is an orchestra conductor and assistant to music director Deva,” she shares.
O Duniya Ke Rakhwale, Deewani Mastani and hits from Sathyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) will be some of the top numbers for the evening. “We have tried a wide variety of songs in chorus. They have been handpicked and I am really glad that we are going to be performing for a cause,” shares Raffi, who has been in the field for over 40 years.
The orchestra includes playback singers Bagyaraj, Renuka, Kalaivani and Ganga among other artistes from the film Industry. With most of them being professional singers-cum-musicians, Raffi gushes, “They are professionals and have a tight schedule all the time. But when we come together and rehearse, it’s always great,” he adds.
Catch them perform live on January 22 at The Egmore Museum, Amphitheatre. Call 9444393415