Mesmerising ghazal rendition by vocalist at Tagore Theatre

Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, February 20

‘Ghazal usne chhedi, mujhe saaz dena, zara umar-e- raftan ko awaaz dena.’ The city art lovers were treated to a soulful spell of ghazals by versatile vocalist Dr Rinku Kalia, winner of the coveted Sa Re Ga Ma award 1997, in a special two day programme titled ‘Ghazal usne chhedi’, organized by Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi in collaboration with North Zone Cultural Centre, which commenced at Tagore Theatre here today.

Rinku Kalia opened the concert with a salutation to the literary zenith of Ustad Mirza Ghalib with his classic hit ‘ Ye naa thi hamari qismet’ to set the melodic pace for her next offering Dagh Delhavi’s ghazal ‘Rasam-e ulfat ‘ followed by ‘Lazzat-e-gham bdaa deejiye’, a faster lyric with philosophical content. However she was at her best with intoxicating classic ghazals ‘Aaj jaane ki zid na karo’, ‘Dil –e-Nadaan’ and Qateel Shefai’s ‘Ranjhish hi sahi’.

Rinku established an instant rapport with audience while paying tribute to ghazal king Jagjit Singh in immaculate recital of ‘Pyar ka pehla khat’ as also to Shiv Kumar Batalvi in ‘Shikra yaar’ which won applause. She rendered with reverence all classical ghazals by master poets which had the consistency of theme and thought of love longing, mystical and unrequited love as also modern ghazals with whole spectrum of human emotions.

‘Prem Katha’ depicts life of Munshi Prem Chand

The Manch Rang Manch drama ensemble, Amritsar, depicted life and literary journey of legendary litterateur Munshi Prem Chand in a play ‘Prem Katha’ in the TFT Theatre Festival at Navrang Theatre here today.

Designed and directed by Kewal Dhaliwal ‘Prem Katha’ was a dramatic presentation of Munshi Prem Chand’s journey of life, which chronicled his personal events.

However, the literary prominence , experiences in personal social and literary world were reflected though enactment of legend’s five famous stories ‘Shaheed, Heera-Moti’, ‘Holi Da Tofha’, ‘Eh Meri Maat Bhoomi Hai’ and ‘Guli Danda’.

The day’s activity also include photo exhibition by Photo Journalist Welfare Association, Chandigarh, and a street play ‘Chalo Dhund Ke Laye Azaadi’ by TFT artistes at the Plaza.