Jadu hai nasha hai
A few hours before Shreya Ghoshal arrived at RRC Grounds near Rail Nilayam on Saturday evening, she was busy tweeting her favourite songs, which can be quite a challenge given the innumerable hits the 26-year-old has managed to deliver in the nine years she has been in the industry of entertainment. Soon after, she was belting out these numbers at the RRC Grounds, turning the weekend evening a rocking one for Hyderabadis. She didn’t abandon the tweeting though, for she kept the virtual world updated on her performance and the audience’s reaction during every break.
From foot-tapping to soulful to racy numbers, she had it all in her kitty for the evening, proving yet again just why she is considered a national treasure. Not only was every corner of the RRC Ground but every place around it was packed with people and she didn’t let them down. Enchanting the audience not just with her voice but also her words, the singer reached out to the crowds by proclaiming her love for Hyderabad and its people. Seeing the teeming thousands, she exclaimed with a broad smile, “Poora Hyderabad yahan aa gaya hai (the entire city is here)”.
Creating waves with her magical voice, the versatality of the leading lady of playback singing was in full display. Be it the sensuous `Chalo tum ko lekar chalien’ (Jism, 2003) which she gave a twist to by singing it with rock variations before breaking into the peppy `Bahaara Bahaara’ from `I Hate Luv Storys’ (2010) which she sang on popular demand. She would intermittently flirt with the crowds dropping hints of songs and then finally performing to a number the crowds would cheer the most for. And yes, she even belted out Telugu hits including `Tarime varama tadime swarama’ (Ye Maaya Chesave, 2010) before performing her hit number `Teri Ore’ (Singh is King, 2008) which had the crowds dancing and cheering. Many of those watching the show standing showed no signs of fatigue as they swayed and danced to each number.
Monalisa Biswas who had come to the show with her friends gushed and cheered when Ghoshal performed her favourite number `Teri Ore’, wherein she along with scores of Hyderabadis became a volunteering chorus and did the same for another hit `Yeh Ishq Haye’ (Jab We Met, 2007) and her `item’ performance `Honth Raseeley’ (Welcome, 2007).
Looking like a million dollars in a jazzy golden jacket with skin tight jeans and gladiator shoes, Ghoshal won a million hearts with her `Tere mast mast do nain’ (Dabangg, 2010), followed by uber melodious `Tune jo pal bhar mein’ from the same film, surprising the crowds with her Salman Khan like jig. And the crowds could barely contain their excitement when she sung, `Shukran Allah’ (Kurbaan, 2009) and `Piyu Bole’ (Parineeta, 2005) back to back, at the end of which there was a loud encore of `once more’.
The maximum requests, however, was for the Bhool Bhulaiya (2007) Bengali-Hindi number `Aami Je Tomar’. Just as she started the song, breaking into taans and alaaps with remarkable ease, she left the audience breathless with their squealing and cheering even as she displayed commendable control on her breath as she gave the song a smooth finish. The scintillating musical show had clearly turned out to be the icing as the Times Hyderabad Festival drew to a close.
Such was the power of her music that her peppy numbers `Zoobi Doobi’ (3 Idiots, 2009) pumped up the spirits of the audience and compelled them to do an impromptu rock-n-roll. Dancing to her tunes was Bhisanlal Sanghi who was matching steps with his grandchild and had come all the way from Dilsukhnagar with his family to watch Ghoshal perform live. And he could not stop praising the singing diva. “She is brilliant and her every performance is rocking,” the senior citizen said.
Shreya drew the curtains on the evening by singing a brilliant medley of Shah Rukh Khan hit songs Tumhe jo maine dekha/Om Shanti Om/Dola Re, etc. as the crowds went berserk and uncontrollable. With the audience waiting for more, Shreya bid a finally signed off in Bengali with `Borosha hoye tume aakash bhore,’ promising to come back again to the city.
Over the years Shreya, who debuted as playback singer with `Devdas’ in 2002, has won millions of hearts across the globe with the power of her voice. At a young age of 26, she has acquired what most cannot, even after putting in decades of work in the industry. Her calibre as a singer comes across not just in her filmy scores but also classical compositions that Shreya pulls off with ease and accuracy and in fact adds valur to the piece with her soulful singing. It is this versatility that has won her dozens of awards and honours world over. The list includes not just popular film awards but even two national awards. When not at the recording studio, the young superstar of music is busy touring, belting out at stage shows on her homeland as well on foreign shores.
Jism 2003
Jism (transl. Body) is a 2003 Indian erotic thriller film edited and directed by Amit Saxena, written by Mahesh Bhatt, produced by Pooja Bhatt and Sujit Kumar Singh under the banner Fish Eye Network Ltd and Shreya Creations, which starred Bipasha Basu and John Abraham, the latter making his début in Bollywood films. The music for the film was scored by M. M. Keeravani. Jism ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes poll conducted by Channel 4. The film is essentially a remake of Body Heat, which was, in turn, loosely based on Billy Wilder’s 1944 film Double Indemnity, which was a version of James M. Cain’s novel Double Indemnity.
Feb 6, 2011, http://m.timesofindia.com/city/hyderabad/Jadu-hai-nasha-hai/articleshow/7433967.cms
