The eleventh edition of Old is Gold, perhaps the longest running Hindi film music show in New Zealand, took loyal listeners of this long-running show down memory lane at Auckland’s Dorothy Winstone Centre last Saturday.
Conceived and directed by Amit Sengupta, fondly known as Amit-da, the well-respected kaumatua of Hindi film music in this country, the eleventh edition of his signature concert lived up to the high standard it has set for itself these past years.
Amit-da is an accomplished musician, singer, composer and teacher having taught dozens of singers who are now proficient performers in their own right in New Zealand and further afield. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that many of the lineup of singers at Saturday’s show counted among his grateful shagirds.
The show began precisely at 7pm (Amit-da is well-known as a stickler for punctuality and time management and has his proceedings time by the second, which is indeed commendable) with one of Auckland’s most promising female voices, Ankita Ghatani, singing the prayerful ‘Alla tero naam, Ishwar tero naam’, the soulful devotional immortalised by composer Jaidev for the yesteryear blockbuster ‘Hum Dono’. The original was sung by Lata Mangeshkar.
That set the tone for the 32-song repertoire sung by such accomplished singers as Guncha, Arif, Rachit, Pritha, Jayant, Jayesh, Ravie, Sasi, Aritra, Om, Kutu and Raj with several of them pairing up for diets and lend their voices to the choruses where required. The songs were all classics across genres from devotional to romance to qawwali and straddling an era of more than five decades.
An interesting item presented from the iconic but commercially below par film Mera Naam Joker by theatre personality and restaurateur Jayesh Bateriwala had him sing and dance in a clown’s costume and make-up. It was announced as a surprise item without revealing the name of the singer and left to the audience to guess.
The proceedings were peppered with sher-o-shayari by the competent Arif, who also sang solo and duets in his usual excellent voice and manner. The banter between the artistes and Amit-da as well as with compere Arif were entertaining and raised many a laugh from the audience.
Auckland’s well-known and experienced accompanists provided the score: Among them were Hemant Thakar and Cloyd D’Mello on keys, Navneel Prasad on tabla and dholak, and Amit-da himself on the harmonium.
As is his wont, during his Old is Gold concerts down the years, Amit-da announced donations to two organisations that work for the public weal – Starship Children’s Hospital and St John’s Ambulance. He presented the proceeds from part of his ticket sales and sponsorship collections as well as private donations to representatives of the two organisations on stage.
The lovely melodies of Old is Gold-Eleven, were a fine way to ring the curtain down on the Hindi film music concert lineup of 2022.
