Pankaj Udhas (Vocal)

Attended a concert of Pankaj Udhas (Vocal) accompanied by Vishal Dhumal (Keyboard), Nirmal Pawar (Dholak), Rashid Mustafa Thirakwa (Tabla), Nasir Sajjad Hussain (Mendolin), Rajendra Singh (Violin), Ninad Gulalkar (Flute) on 3rd Nov 2015 at World Trade center, DUBAI with Sameer, Pooja and my father.

Concert started with 'Aap jinke karib hote hai (आप जिनके करीब होते है)' followed by 'Niklo na benaqab jamana kharab hai (निकलो ना बेनकाब जमाना खराब है), Deewaronse milkar rona accha lagta hai (दीवारोंसे मिलकर रोना अच्छा लगता है), 'Sabko maloom hai mai sharabi nahi (सबको मालूम है मैं शराबी नहीं)', a Gazal of Anwar Farukhabadi. He informed audience that he has done some experimentation with this gazal by adding a kata (कता) with every sher (शेर).

He presented a very meaningful Najm (नज्म) of Zafar Gorakhpuri 'Ek wo bhi that jamana, Ek ye bhi hai jamana (एक वो भी था जमाना, एक ये भी है जमाना) & followed it with Aur ahista kijiye batein (और आहिस्ता किजीए बाते), 'Thodi Thodi piya karo (थोडी थोडी पिया करो). Then he presented one of his most famous gazal 'Chandi jaisa rang hai Tera (चाॅंदी जैसा रंग है तेरा)' amidst big applause from audience. This was interval.

First song after interval was 'La pila de sakia (ला पिला दे साकिया)' followed by Jiye to Jiye kaise (जिए तो जिए कैसे)' from movie Saajan, then he presented what is probably his most famous song 'Chitthi aai hai (चिठ्ठी आई है)' on public demand. Another farmaish was 'Tum kitni sundar ho (तुम कितनी सुंदर हो)'.

He then presented the medley of various farmaishes. 'Dil deta hai ro ro duhai (दिल देता है रो रो दुहाई)', 'Aaiye barishon ka mausam hai (आईए बारिषों का मौसम है)', 'Sharab cheez aisi hai (शराब चीजही ऐसी है)', 'Aj fir tumpe pyar aya hai (आज फिर तुमपे प्यार आया है)', Ai game jindagi kuch to de mashwara (ऐ गमें जिंदगी कुछ तो दे मशवरा) and ended the medley and concert with his famous 'Ke ghungroo tut gaye (के घुंगरू टूट गए)'.

Pankaj Udhas sung some pre determined songs, some he sung upon farmaish and also sung medley. Needless to say he was too good. What was better was that he helped audience enjoy by explaining difficult Urdu words, drawing their attention to maqta (मक्ता), emphasizing important words etc.

When one sings Gazal, the wording is very important and the way they are put forth to reach the heart of audience make them golden. Pankajji does it deftly.

It was a big troupe of musicians. All musicians were good and shone when their opportunity came. Tabalji was given a little too much leeway.

Sound system was good. I would have preferred the volume of instruments a notch lower as it sometimes masked the minute variations of vocals.

Lighting on stage was good. With so many artists focus light was used effectively for audience to concentrate on the correct artist. However lighting on audience was bad. During the program glaring light was thrown on the audience for no apparent reason. It was irritating and also prevented taking good photographs.

Auditorium was good. It was a large auditorium but all seats were at same level making it difficult for audience in rows behind to see clearly. Gazal requires cozy atmosphere. That was missing due to the large size of auditorium. Organizers had the foresight of arranging drinks at the concert. Gazal and Jam (जाम) always go hand in hand.

Entertainment rating 8.5/10.