On a musical journey of Bollywood

Vaadya Vrind celebrated the Indian cinema with a special musical performance at the recently concluded Centenary film festival.

The recently concluded Centenary Film Festival, celebrating 100 years of cinema hosted a mesmerising musical feast to give a glimpse into the evolution and glorious journey of Indian Cinema. And who better than the country’s first national orchestra band Vaadya Vrind which performed complex and lilting compositions from Hindi films down the decades. A unit of All India Radio (AIR), Vaadya Vrind stole the hearts of each one present at Siri Fort that evening. 

With more than 30 musicians on stage, the Vaadya Vrind team proved those wrong who maintain that only films can explore unravelled emotions. With their soulful recitals from compositions by Pt Ravi Shanker to a medley of Hindi film numbers that our soul has absorbed since the time we first encountered them in Bollywood films, Vaadya Vrind successfully brought alive images which lie hidden in our collective
memory.

The show started with Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Vande Mataram – a perfect start to the show as the musical chord directly hit at the hearts of the audience. It was followed by Pt Ravi Shanker’s special composition for Vaadya Vrind, The Awakening.

The composition had raags like Taadi and Bhairavi, which reverberate with positive energy, releasing it in the atmosphere when played at the beginning of each day.
AIR’s RJ Jainendra Singh had created a virtual image of a radio station showcasing how Vaadya Vrind has been recording beautiful compositions since its inception in 1952. He also recalled how Singh talked about legendary music composers like Salil Chowdhury and Shanker of Shanker-Jaikishan fame who had once been a part of the Vaadya Vrind.

The concert took the audience on a joyous ride when a special piece comprising selected songs from oldest Bollywood films, to the latest ones were presented. The sitar, tabla, drums, sarangi, sitar, shehnai, guitar, santoor and ghungroo swooned to the ministrations of conductor Ras Bihari Dutta, a veteran of AIR who has several orchestral composition to his credit.

His special medley comprised Jab dil hi toot gaya toh, Jab pyaar kiya to darna kya, Inhi logon ne le leena dupatta mera, Agar tum na hote, Allah tero naam, Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nissar, Pukarta chala gaya, Jo wada kiya woh nibhana parega, Mera jeevan kora kagaaz, Yeh dosti hum nahi torenge, Kabootar ja ja, Tujhe dekjha to yeh jaana sanam, Sandeshe aate hai, Dil hai chhota sa, Bharat hum ko jaan se pyaara hai and reached its climax with Jai ho, leaving the audience in raptures as they clapped alongwith. As the standing ovation to the musician who’d worked on this special piece for months created its own special music, one wished the evening had only just begun.