Lovers of Indian music will be given a treat come May 5 when some of India’s popular playback singers–in the name of Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan–take to the stage for the 175th anniversary celebration of Indian arrival to Guyana put on by the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha.
The Sabha announced in a press release that it has signed the two singers, who it called “super-hit Bollywood playback singers”, and they would be performing on May 5 at the National Stadium. They are expected to come with a full band of musicians and technical personnel.
“Alka and Udit have been specifically chosen because of their wide repertoire of hit music which spans more than three decades and the fact that their music is extremely popular and much loved in Guyana,” the organisation said in the release.
The Sabha is of the view that the concert will be extra special because the two singers “have the distinction of singing numerous beautiful duets together including several Guyanese favourites.”
According to the release, Alka is described as the “melody queen” and among the best-known playback singers of Hindi cinema. She boasts the record of seven-time winner from 35 nominations of the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer, is a two-time recipient of the National Film Award as well as winner of several other music awards. Further, as many as 20 of her tracks feature in BBC’s “Top 40 Bollywood Soundtracks of all time” review.
Among her notable achievements was being the single nominee at the 1994 Filmfare Awards for the category of Female Playback Singer, having all four nominations to her credit, one of which she shared and eventually jointly won with Ila Arun for “Choli Ke Peeche”, from the film of the same name. Her popular songs include the well known “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”, “Na Na Karte Pyar” and “Dil ne Yeh Kaha” from the film Dhadkan; “O re Chori” from Lagaan; “Odhni” from Tere Naam; “Ek do Teen” from Tezaab; “Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam” from Duplicate; “Dil Mere Naal (I love you, love you like crazy)” from Fida, among many other hits.
Narayan has sung over 1200 songs for Hindi Films. He is also the winner of three National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards and numerous other awards. In 2009, he was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the Government of India.
He has sung for numerous blockbuster films like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Dil to Pagal Hai, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Hum Saath- Saath Hain, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, Lagaan, Devdas, and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham to name a few. His most recent hit is a currently popular song in Guyana “Radha” from the film Student of the Year.
Last year, the Sabha brought Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal for concerts in April and September.
The Sabha will over the next two weeks unroll all its activities for the year to commemorate the 175th Arrival Day.
