LAHORE: A fabulous music evening featuring one of the most celebrated vocalists of yesteryears, Ghulam Abbas, roped in a decent audience despite cloudy weather on Wednesday.

It was a memorable evening where the generation of 70’s and 80’s fully enjoyed the old melodies sung by the singer at the Alhamra Art Center, The Mall, after a gap of a few years. The evening was organised by the Lahore Arts Council (LAC). LAC Executive Director Athar Ali Khan and chairman Tauqeer Nasir attended the evening.

To the dismay of many in the audience, the programme host spent a lot of time eulogising the LAC chairman while describing his career as an artiste and former DG of the PNCA. They were of the view that it was an evening dedicated to Ghulam Abbas and not to the LAC chairman who also left the event quite early.

“Introducing LAC’s officials in an aggrandising way has more or less become a trend at such programmes. On such occasions the organisers are expected to provide quality entertainment to the visitors, “ said Ehsan Nasir, one of the attendees.

The evening, in fact, started at 7:30 though its actual time was 7pm and the host spoke for almost half an hour about the LAC officials.

The stage was tastefully decorated with palm pots and a large flex featuring Gulam Abbas’ recent portrait. The singer thanked the audience for coming in good numbers to attend the evening despite hazy weather conditions.

Abbas, a household name of 1970’s, began with film Ajnabi’s song, ‘Wo aa to jaye magar intezar hi kam hai’. The song was picturised on Muhammad Ali and it was composed by Nisar Bazmi. The second song ‘Aisay wo sharmaye jaisay megha chahye’ made many tap their toes and transported them to the times of golden memories. It was composed by Robin Ghosh. The audience was quite responsive and it gifted the singer with a thunderous round of applause.

Another ghazal sung by Abbas earned him another round of applause, ‘Mein nay roka bhi nahi aur wo thera bhi nahi”. The singer before this performance shared with the audience that this particular ghazal won the award for maximum broadcast on Radio Pakistan. He also sang many other popular film songs and ghazals and mesmerised the audience.

LAC Executive Director Athar Ali Khan said the council had tried to provide platform to the general public for quality programmes. He said budding singers could learn a lot from the likes of Ghulam Abbas.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2019