Guru Dutt ( Padukone) Centenary concert organized jointly by Maharashtra State Govt. Cultural Affairs Ministry with K.S.A--- in presence of Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar-jee --event sparkled with emotional nostalgia and musical grandeur !! By Sr. Journalist Chaitanya Padukone

To commemorate the birth centenary ( 100 years) of the thespian actor, producer and director Late Shri Guru Dutt (real name Vasant Shivashankar Padukone), a musical tribute “Guru Dutt – Yanchya Gaanyanchi Sangeetmay Rajni” last Sunday, Oct 12th at Swatantrya Veer Savarkar Auditorium in central Mumbai,  late afternoon. Emotional nostalgia blended with musical grandeur and elevated the same Centenary event to a marvelous, memorable lofty level ! 

Adv. Ashish Shelar, Hon’ble Minister of Cultural Affairs and I.T., Government of Maharashtra, was the Chief Guest. while Sr. Film Journalist-Editor-Author  Chaitanya Padukone & popular TV star-actor Shri Nasiir Khan (son of the legendary actor-comedian Johnny Walker-- a lucky-mascot favourite actor of Guru Dutt films) were felicitated on stage as the Guests of Honour !. 

The well-organized event  was convened jointly with the Govt. of Maharashtra’s Department of Cultural Affairs by the Kanara Saraswat Association (KSA), a 114-year-old registered Charitable trust of the Chitrapur Saraswat community.. Emotional nostalgia blended with musical grandeur and elevated the same Centenary event to a marvelous, memorable lofty level !  

The Chitrapur Saraswat community has over the past so many decades, has given the Indian film industry a galaxy of talented luminaries such as popular yesteryear actor S B Nayampalli, legend Guru Dutt ( Padukone) , producer-director  Atmaram ( Padukone), producer Devi Dutt  ( of 'Masoom' fame), actor-director Girish Karnad, producer-director Shyam Benegal, mega-star actress Deepika Padukone, actress-lyricist Leena Chandavarkar-Ganguly ( wife of Kishore Kumar),, Anant Nag, Shankar Nag, Amrita Rao, Isha Koppikar  famous veteran singer Suman Kalyanpur, director Amit V. Masurkar, singer Shyama Chittar, singer Anupama Kaikini-Deshpande, singer Anuradha Nadkarni-Paudwal,  famous veteran actress Shubha Khote, classical singer-actress Sushila Rani Baburao Patel, producer Satish Wagle, director Jatin Wagle, director Anil Baindur, and of course Phalke Academy ( twice) award-winning eminent senior film and music journalist-editor-author Chaitanya Padukone are some of the prominent names.

In an eloquent speech, corporate luminary Kishore Masurkar President of KSA warmly welcomed the Chief Guest, the Guests of Honour  and the audience. Nasiir Khan and Chaitanya Padukone shared fond emotional little-known anecdotes and explained why legendary Guru Dutt is also a 'showman' like Raj Kapoor-saab !.

Multi-talented TV star  Nasirr Khan had tears welling in his eyes while recalling the emotional bonding between Guru Dutt and his father Johnny Walker ( Badruddin 'Badru' Kazi )  whose initial talent as a witty entertainer (bus-conductor) was noticed by acclaimed actor Balraj Sahni . Who in turn recommended  'teetotaller' Johnny  to director Guru Dutt for an extempore covert audition of a 'drunkard'.!   
At the Centenary event, a personal pre-recorded video was projected on the LED screen, of a congratulatory message of 'blessings' from Devi Dutt-jee --famous  film producer and younger brother of Guru Dutt (Padukone). 

While speaking on the sentimental occasion articulate orator Adv Ashish Shelar-jee highlighted the unique qualities of legend visionary Guru Dutt ( Padukone) displayed in his films which recognizes him as one of the greatest film makers of both Indian and foreign Cinema ! Whose film brilliant dialogues, vibrant visuals and realistic song-lyrics ( 'like 'Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaaye --Toh Kya Hai') are timeless and so relevant and inspiring today even after 60 years . . Hon'ble Shelar-jee stated that Maharashtra State Government and Cultural Ministry was proud and honored to be associated with the organizing of this historic Guru Dutt ( Padukone) Centenary event. 

The 'houseful'  audience was spellbound listening to the melodious rendering of the live evergreen wide variety of songs from Guru Dutt films very well-co-ordinated by Prashanti Bhat . The solo and duet songs were sung 'live' by talented singers Ashish, Suvarna, Shefali, Amit, Shailesh and Prashanti   The concert program was ably compered by author-biographer music-savvy Smt. Mangala Khadilkar. 

A self-shot brief video inspiring and motivating message from the  Arjuna awardee and Padma Shri and former legendary World Badminton Champion Prakash Padukone ( from Bengaluru) was shown at the Guru Dutt event.  "From One Padukone Legend To Another"-- was the eye-catching headline in leading Mumbai city tabloid Sunday Mid-Day October 12th edition on Diary page 04 relating to the news-snippet about the same historic-video!

The Kanara Saraswat Association (KSA) is a 114-year-old registered non-profit Charitable Trust established on 26th November 1911 and has been supporting the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin community (population of around 27,000) through various initiatives such as organising cultural events, propagation of Konkani language, felicitating and monetarily supporting meritorious students in their higher education, providing financial assistance to the needy in the form of medical relief, educational grants, Distress Relief and more. Since inception, KSA has been involved in conducting various cultural and social activities.

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