Rafi fans weave magic

Rafi fans weave magic
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, July 31
A leading cultural organisation Yaadgar-e-Rafi Society paid tributes to versatile singer Mohammed Rafi at a grand musical evening, today at the Tagore Theatre on his 25th death anniversary.

Speaking at the function the guest of honour, Mr HK Dua , the Editor-in-Chief of the Tribune group of newspapers, also the media sponsors, observed that the spirit and enthusiasm perceptible among the participants and listeners who remained glued to their seats for a marathon spell of over five hours’ melody, was a veritable testimony to the fact that the music created by Mohammad Rafi had no parallel.

The organising secretary, Mr BD Sharma, and Mr RD Kalia, said that out of the 400 singers who participated in several rounds of screening, 31 vied for the final laurels today with over 40 renditions immortalised by duets of Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. The finalists belonging to different professions shared a common bond of love for Rafi and his songs.

Displaying great control of swar, laya and taal, the child prodigies registered an edge over their senior compatriots bringing alive emotions.

Kanak Joshi at 13 was too young to conceptualise the theme of ‘Tumne kisi ki jaan ko jaate huye dekha hai…’ But with Rafi-like innocence he spelt magic.

The overall presentation by artistes was close to perfection the proud winners in respective categories were — (male seniors) Romesh Goel (Jalandhar), Chander Kant (Gurdaspur), and Harpreet Singh (Chandigarh).

Winners in (female seniors) included Himani (Ludhiana), Mrigakshi (Saharanpur), and Sarmishtha Bannerjee (Chandigarh).

In the (junior category ) the winners were Vinod Malik (Chandigarh), Kartik (Chandigarh), Kanak Joshi (Shimla) and Lakshya Kapoor (Amritsar) consolation. Priyanka Sharma (Panchkula), Ishita Sethi (Kapurthala), Supriya Sharma (Chandigarh), and Rupali Chhabra (Amritsar) consolation were the winners in the female junior category. The awards were presented by Mr H.K. Dua.

Hemant Contractor Chief General Manager, SBI, inaugurated the programme. The chief guest Mr Chander Mohan, Deputy Chief Minister, Haryana, lauded the efforts of the society and announced financial grant to the society.