KARACHI: Music group Amateurs’ Melodies celebrated its 20th anniversary on Friday evening at a local club with an array of Pakistani and Indian film music.

Informing the audience, which had turned up in a large number, on the genesis of the group, Sultan Arshad said it was formed on April 17, 1999 at the residence of Akhtar Ali Khan. To come up with such a venture was Khan’s brainchild. Another member, retired Col Jalaluddin, chose the name for it.

The concert began with an instrumental of pop icon Alamgir’s film song ‘Hum chaley to hamarey’. It was a pretty interesting choice, because the track was made in the 1970s and brought back memories of the days when Pakistani film music was popular.

The first vocalist that appeared on stage was Zara Madani. She sang Ahmed Faraz’s ghazal ‘Terey qareeb aa ker bari uljhanon mein hun’. Zara took a bit of time to warm up to the task, and when she did warm up, her rendition of the ghazal was liked by the discerning audience.

The singer’s second presentation was one of the most celebrated Iqbal Bano numbers that has been performed many a time but never loses its charm. It was the Master Inayat-composed track ‘Payal mein geet hain chham chham ke’. Zara did a good job, especially with the mukhda. After all, it’s not an easy song to sing; the young woman managed it well.

Then came a bit of a pleasant surprise. Nadeem Omar is known for owning a Pakistan Super League team. On Friday he flexed his vocal muscles. And what he sang was from a time period that not many of us find hard to recall today. His first song was the famous Pankaj Malik piece ‘Piya milan ko jaana’ (1939) penned by the inimitable Aarzu Luckhnavi. It is pretty striking how Omar makes his singing voice sound from a bygone era.

Continuing with that style, it was but natural that he would sing a K.L. Saigal song. The one that he chose, ‘Rum jhum rum jhum chal tihari’ was from the film Tansen. Describing the situation in which the song was picturised or for which it was made, Sultan Arshad said it’s about taming a wild elephant.

Omar thought that he had finished his stint on stage after two tracks. When he was about to leave the microphone, a member of the audience requested him to sing another number ‘A kaatib-i-taqdeer mujhe itna bata de’. He did and was well appreciated.

The show lasted for a few hours.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2019