Maestro sangeetkar Uttam Singh pays melodious tributes to legendary composers Naushad and Madan Mohan By Chaitanya Padukone

On the last day of the recent 14th Edition of the musical festival “Bandish: 2024-A Tribute to Legendary Composers”, hosted by NCPA and sponsored by HSBC, world-renowned, legendary Bollywood music director and composer Uttam Singh presented the evergreen musical melodies of two composers of yesteryear, Naushad Ali and Madan Mohan.

Despite the heavy rains and major traffic jams, a ‘houseful’ music-savvy audience witnessed the recent non-stop two-hour mesmerizing live show at the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre--NCPA, Nariman Point, in Mumbai. 

With an orchestra of nearly 50 talented brilliant live musicians and eminent singers, maestro Uttam Singh urged the audience to give the orchestra a rousing welcome. Emphasizing that the show would not have been possible without their proactive contribution. Singers Vibhavari Apte Joshi, Anwesshaa, Smita Adhikary, Hrishikesh Ranade, and Rajesh Panwar took center stage, performing famous compositions from films scored by Naushad Ali and Madan Mohan, which had the audience mesmerized and asking for an encore ( once more) .

Filmfare Award winner Uttam Singh (of 1997 movie)‘Dil Toh Paagal Hai, also Dushman (1998) and of course Gadar (2001)  paid a special tribute to these two iconic composers by adding and recreating “Dil Dhoondta Hai” ( Mausam) and the brilliant intro music of “Madhuban Mein Raadhika” (Kohinoor), which truly deserved a standing ovation for its lively and innovative orchestral overture addition. 

Paying rich tributes on stage were the sentimental sons of these two composers, Rehman Naushad and Sameer Madan Mohan Kohli who expressed their gratitude. Stressing that their fathers’ great talent showcasing would not have been possible without this unique show in their honour and all the efforts put in by Uttam Singh. Who brought together these talented singers and musicians together. “We thank Uttam-jee from the bottom of our hearts”, they both said. Immediately after, Rehman Naushad read a poetry which was penned by Naushad Ali in praise and fond memories of Madan Mohan after he had passed away. Leaving behind his immortal, rich repertoire of music, making the audience heartily applaud. 

On behalf of NCPA, dynamic Dr. Suvarnalata Rao, Head of Programming for Indian Music, welcomed the audiences and spoke about this unique annual music festival, highlighting how the artists have contributed their talent over the years. Veteran anchor Yunus Khan hosted the evening, introducing each song with a brief anecdote-trivia about its composition, which the audience appreciated

Uttam Singh needs no introduction when it comes to composing and arranging music for films, having ‘arranged’ over 15,000 songs over the past six decades. He is a multi-dimensional music personality, accomplished as an unbeatable - ace solo violinist, music arranger, composer and conductor who has worked for multiple decades with various Bollywood legends like Naushad, Madan Mohan , R D Burman, and of course Southside legend Illaiyaraaja  

 On the closing night, ( August 4th) Uttam-jee sang one of his own composed favourite soulful composition, “Chitthi Na Koi Sandesh”, from the movie Dushman (1998) . This soulful song was originally sung by  iconic ghazal singer Jagjit Singh, but when Uttam-jee sang it live,. Which perfectly suited the nostalgic situation, the audience seemed emotionally enthralled and they were yearning for more.. 

Speaking to me exclusively, some days after this concert, Uttam-jee emphasized that it was a creative challenge for him to try and curate-select a total of just 15 ( 8 plus 7) songs from the great repertoire of Madan-jee and Naushad-saab. Said Uttam-jee, “ Since I had worked with both the legends very closely, I tried my best to curate songs which had rich orchestral music, wonderful lyrics and which the audiences would love to listen to .It was a compact show but like the audience I too enjoyed conducting it and we had multiple prior rehearsals to ensure perfection of harmony in the symphony and the vocals.  The whole orchestra that evening, also reminded me of the ‘golden-era’ yesteryears where 90 to 100 musicians would be playing live acoustic instruments in the recording studios at the live ‘one-take’, ‘one-track’ analogue song-recordings of both Madan-jee and Naushad-saab  And I must say, the high-tech acoustic elegance-ambience of the NCPA-Bhabha Theatre and the appreciative involvement of the music-savvy live audience at our event was indeed overwhelming, “ insists Uttam Singh. We look forward to many more such live tribute grand concerts from maestro Uttam-jee in the near future.

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