Babuji te Ajay-Atul (बाबूजी ते अजय-अतुल)

​Attended a concert titled “Babuji te Ajay-Atul (बाबूजी ते अजय-अतुल)”. Madhuri Karmarkar, Mandar Apte (my namesake, not me), Vidya Karalgikar were the singers. They were supported by Ameya Thakurdesai on Tabla, Zankar Kanade on Keyboard and Prashant Lalit on Keyboard. The concert was conceived and anchored by Mangala Khadilkar. This concert was organized by Maharashtra Mandal Abu Dhabi (MMAD) at Indian Islamic Center, Abu Dhabi, on 23rd Oct 2022. This was the Diwali concert. I attended with Mihika, Dada, Aditi and Sambhaji, Mane, Oka, Patil families.

The title of the concert made the theme abundantly clear. It was going to be a journey of Marathi light music from Sudheer Phadke until the Ajay-Atul.  Concert started with all three singers singing ‘Lakh lakh Chanderi tejachi (लखलख चंदेरी तेजाची)’ from 1940 film ‘Shejari’. Audience lapped it up immediately. It’s a melodious song. 

Real deal started with Babuji’s famous Hindi song ‘Jyoti kalash zhalke (ज्योती कलश झलके)’ in Raag Bhupali, originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar and presented by Madhuri. Vidya then presented ‘Zini zini vaje Veen (झिणी झिणी वाजे वीण)’. Written by Ba. Bha. Borkar, Composed by Shridhar Phadke and sung by Asha Bhosle. Mandar presented a song ‘Jenvha tuzya batanna (जेंव्हा तुझ्या बटांना)’ based on Raag Mishra Khamaj, Written by Mangesh Padgaokar, composed by Srinivas Khale and sung by Suresh Wadkar. Madhuri then presented ‘Kanadau Vitthalu (कानडाऊ विठ्ठलु)’. It’s a virani of Sant Dnyaneshwar, composed by Hridaynath Mangeshkar in Raag Yaman, sung by Asha. Madhuri sung well, especially when she sung the line Kanadau Vitthalu karnataku  with Kanadi drawl. 

There were two back-to-back duets. Music by Babuji, written by GaDiMa and Shanta Shelke respectively. First Mandar and Vidya presented  ‘Navin aj chandrama (नवीन आज चंद्रमा)’ followed by ‘Aj chandane unhat hasle (आज चांदणे उन्हात हसले)’ from movie ‘Kalank Shobha’ by Mandar and Madhuri. Vidya then presented ‘Jithe sagara dharni milte (जिथे सागरा धरणी मिळते)’. Original is Sung by Suman Kalyanpur, composed by Vasant Prabhu from movie ‘Putra vhawa aisa’. Vidya pronounced the ladik जिथ्थे perfectly. 

Second section was a medley of title songs of serials. All composed by one and only Ashok Patkie. It started with the song that started the era of title tracks, title track of Gotya ‘Beej ankure ankure (बीज अंकुरे अंकुरे)’ . This was followed by title tracks of Abhalmaya (आभाळमाया), Wadalwat (वादळवाट), Awaghachi sansar (अवघाची संसार), Pimpalpan (पिंपळपान), Maza hoshile na (माझा होशील ना?) and Tula pahate re (तुला पाहते रे). This is a genre, probably unique in Marathi, and it was given its due credit. 

Vidya presented ‘Firuni Navi janmen mi (फिरुन नवी जन्मेन मी)’. Composed by Babuji in Raag Pilu, written by Sudhir Moghe, sung by Asha. She also presented ‘Sukhache chandne (सुखाचे चांदणे)’. This one was sung on pre-recorded track. This was followed by Mandar’s ‘Kitida navyane tula athawawe (कितिदा नव्याने तुला आठवावे)’. This one was also on pre-recorded track. He is also the composer of the song and has won many awards for it. Audience demanded once more and Mandar obliged with one stanza. Madhuri then presented a Lawni ‘Chum chum payi waje ghungur (छुम छुम पायी वाजे घुंगुर)’

Mandar presented ‘Yeshil yeshil rani (येशील येशील राणी)’. Sung by Arun Date and composed by Yashwant Deo. Madhuri presented ‘Mi Radhika (मी राधिका)’ , composed by Shridhar Phadke and sung by Aarati Anklikar. Madhuri sung it very well with all the harkat. Mandar and Madhuri presented ‘Fite andharache jale (फिटे आंधाराचे जाळे)’ composed by Shridhar Phadke and sung by Sudheer Phadke and Asha. Written by Sudheer Moghe. Raag Mishra Bhairavi. Diwali concert is incomplete without a Diwali song. Here it was. Vidya presented the Diwali song ‘Ali mazya ghari hi Diwali (आली माझ्या घरी ही दिवाळी)’ from movie Ashtavinayak. It is composed by Anil-Arun, written by Madhusudan Kalelkar, sung by Anuradha Paudwal. 

Madhuri presented ‘Sakhyare ghayal mi harini (सख्या रे घायाळ मी हरिणी)’ from movie Samna. Written by Jagdish Khebudkar, Sung by Lata. Music Bhaskar Chandavarkar. Madhuri sung it very well. Request for once more was not granted. Mandar presented ‘Datun kanth yeto (दाटून कंठ येतो)’. Sung by Vasantrao Deshpande, Written by Shanta Shelke. Music Anil-Arun. The song is fantastic and Mandar sung very well. As a result one could see some wet eyes in the audience and overwhelmed with emotions. 

Next section was Lawni medley. Lawni is not Lawni without Dholki. Logistical constraints led to use of Tabla in place of Dholki. But Tabaji put his heart into the dholki piece. He also involved audience and made them clap to his rhythm. Madhuri started with’Kalidar kapuri paan (कळीदार कपुरी पान)’ she modulated her voice to suit Sulochana. Impressive.  It was followed in quick succession by ‘Patang udavit hote (पतंग उडवित होते)’, ‘Chala Jejurila jau (चला जेजुरीला जाऊ)’ & ‘Mala lagli kunachi uchki’ (मला लागली कुणाची उचकी). MMAD audience is known to shake a leg on rhythm. So the audience danced freely during Lawani medley. 

Sandeep Khare, Salil Kulkarni and Awdhoot Gupte collaborated to create ground breaking song ‘Dhipari dhipang (ढिपारी ढिपांग)’. It was presented by Mandar and Vidya. And then there was the finale with Ajay-Atul medley. It started with ‘Malharwari’ (मल्हारवारी), ‘Man udhan waryache’ (मन उधाण वाऱ्याचे), ‘Adhir man’ (अधिर मन), ‘Lallati bhandar (लल्लाटी भंडार)’, &‘Zingat (झिंगाट)’ The last one was played on track, not sung. Mandar tried to sing but couldn’t. 

Audience started the dance from Lawni medley and continued through Dhipari Dhipang and and into Ajay-Atul medley. The dancing members kept increasing. It started with ladies, then gents joined in, then the girls joined in until there was no space to dance and some of them had to stand down. 

Concert ended with ‘Ne majasi ne (ने मजसि ने)’. Immortal poem of Swatantryaveer Savarkar, composed by Hridaynath Mangeshkar. 

Title of the program was ‘Babuji te Ajay-Atul’. So I expected the program to unfold step-by-step, the transformations in Marathi music. It would have been great if the program was like an onion where the anchor peals one layer at a time and the ecstasy of. Music continues unabated. But the format had some entropy. Mind you, it was good, but could have been better. 

Madhuri had some difficulty to attain the very high notes on a couple of occasions. May be the temperature of auditorium! There was some problem with her mic, her words were not clear. However she got her act together quickly and delivered a good performance. Mandar doesn’t have a delicate voice like Arun Date, however he sings the emotional and delicate songs with ease. This gives him a command over wide range of songs. Rather than being a specialist of a genre, he is versatile. Vidya too is a good singer. She had the role of singing non-specialist songs and mostly flew under the radar. She’s definitely has potential. We should see more of her going forward. She appeared a little distracted. Musicians did well. Doing a program with just tabla and two keyboards is not an easy feat. 

Mangala Khadilkar is considered yardstick of anchoring. She has excellent command over Marathi and never used English words in Marathi sentences. She also can quote Marathi, Sanskrit and English quotes off the cuff spontaneously.

Program started half an hour late. Music system was ok. The auditorium was cold, probably by design, with everyone decked in traditional heavy attires and jewelry! Cold might have been the intention, in reality it was chilled. It made audience lethargic and probably a little parsimonious in applause initially. However as the concert progressed the audience warmed up and finally danced. It was a celebration! India Pakistan T20 World Cup match started towards the end of concert. It distracted the cricket loving audience. 

All in all it was a very good concert and audience left with a feeling of satisfaction and contentment. MMAD committee 2022-23 deserves credit for organizing a good memorable Diwali concert.