Public bore ho gaya.
That was the refrain of the audience at Sunday's concert at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai to celebrate Lata Mangeshkar's 74th birthday.
The concert had raised high expectations as it was associated with The Nightingale of India. But not only did it dash the hopes of the masses, it also made them very angry.
To begin with, the show began a good 45 minutes late. Though the audience was seated by the designated time, the organisers were still testing the microphones and the musicians their instruments. The poor performances that followed heightened the disappointment.
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He then called singer Chitra (Piya Basanti) on stage to begin the show. She started with one of Lata's songs, Rasik balma (Chori Chori, 1956). The crowd was stunned to hear a bad imitation of Lata's voice. Chitra tried hard to sing like Lata, but her voice was too low and not in accord with the music.
"The least she could do was sing her own song rather than imitate the legend Lataji," a member of the audience was overheard saying.
Worse was to come.
Neeraj of Bombay Vikings sang a remixed version of one of Lata's favourites, Hawa mein udta jaaye mera lal dupatta mulmul ka (Barsaat, 1949). But the audience was zapped. Dancers ran helter-skelter on the stage and people were astonished to see this on Lata's show.
Noted lyricist Javed Akhtar even commented on stage, "I am sure Lataji must have never dreamt that such a beautiful song of hers will be treated this way today!"
Nationalist Congress President Sharad Pawar too was critical. "So far we have not heard anything in the show which is worth remembering," he said. "I only hope there are some good performances later."
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, who was the special guest at the event, asked Lata to sing a line from her film Bhabhi Ki Choodiyan, Jyoti kalash chalke. The audience and musicians listened to her in rapt attention and gave her a standing ovation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said, "I never realised that Latadidi has grown to this age. I always felt that she is 25 years old!"
Other political dignitaries like Shiv Sena leaders Uddhav and Raj Thackeray and Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi were present.
Of the three big screens inside the stadium, two did not work, making the view for people sitting at the back very bad. They could barely see anything on stage.
People soon started filing out as they realised that Lata was not going to perform and they would have to hear poor remixes and imitations of her voice by newcomers. By 9pm, the venue was almost empty.
"We are not interested in listening to bad imitations of Lata's voice," a spectator commented to his friend as they left.
Lata, however, sat quietly throughout the event and did not express any dissatisfaction. She simply said, "All the new singers have great talent and potential."
Photographs: Jewella C Miranda
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