KOCHI: Cochin Ibrahim recalled a narrow miss he had with Bollywood music almost three decades ago, but none of the gloom associated with that episode reverberated when the playback singer rendered a string of Mohammed Rafi hits at Government General Hospital, Ernakulam.
Far from being sombre, the hour-long concert arranged as part of weekly ‘Arts and Medicine’ Programme hosted by Kochi Biennale Foundation brimmed with cheer and vivacity, much to the joy of the crowd largely comprising of patients and their relatives.
Organised in association with Lakeshore Hospital and Research Centre Limited and Mehboob Memorial Orchestra, the every-Wednesday cultural series this time saw Ibrahim revealing his great penchant for Hindi movie songs in general and, in particular, those by iconic Rafi (1924-80) known for his mastery in genres ranging from Hindustani classical to patriotic songs to melodic lamentations to romantic numbers to qawwalis to ghazals to bhajans.
Ibrahim, who began with ‘Ganga Meri Maa Ka Naam’ from the 1969 movie ‘Tumse Acha Kaun Hai’, noted that he, during a 1987 concert, impressed an elite crowd comprising Dilip Kumar and Rishi Kapoor when the actors visited Kochi that year.
“After that show, Dilip Kumar expressed his appreciation for my music. He even offered me a song to sing in his upcoming movie. I was on cloud nine. I went to Mumbai and the song was recorded. However, the film was never released, and so the song got lost in the can,” he reminisced.
On Wednesday, Ibrahim sang popular old hits including ‘Chaudavi Ka Chand Ho’ and ‘Tere Mere Sapne’, going back to the late 1960s.
The artist also peppered the show with few Malayalam hit songs which included ‘Nee Madhupakaru’, ‘Kadale Neela Kadale’ and‘Priyamullavale’.
Ibrahim has sung for around 15 Malayalam movies. He was the playback singer in the movies ‘Pattanapravesham’, ‘Tourist Bungalow’, ‘Madhuram Thriumadhuram’, ‘Manasu’ and ‘2 Harihar Nagar’, having worked with renowned musicians like M S Baburaj, A T Ummer, Johnson and Shyam.