SAN JOSE: It was an evening of nostalgia at the San Jose Garden airport hotel as versatile singer Kumar Sanu took stage at the house full show of Aashiqon me Mehfil. Sanu’s name is synonymous with romantic hit Bollywood songs from the 1990s and the early 2000s. He holds the Guinness Book world record for recording the maximum number of songs in a day – 28. He is famous in Bollywood as a melody singer.
Organized by Instant Karma, the event welcomed each attending lady with a red rose. Opening with his all time favorite Do dil mil rahe hain from Pardes, Sanu got a rousing reception. The audience had a great time clapping and singling along to Bas ek sanam chahiye ashiqui ke liye and whistling along to Chand sitaare phool aur khushbu.
Kumar Sanu a.k.a Kedarnath Bhattacharya was born in Calcutta. His father Pashupati Bhattacharya was a vocalist and a composer. Sanu was trained to play tabla when he was young. Though his first playback break came in 1986 in a Bangladeshi movie, he announced his arrival in the runaway hit Ashiqui in 1990. In fact from 1990 to 1994, he won five consecutive Filmfare awards for the best male playback singer.
He has enthralled film audiences with his voice for decades and has recorded more than 17,000 songs. He was honored as the Artist of the Decade at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards. In 2009, the Government of India awarded him Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor, in recognition of his achievements.
Sanu is often credited with having one of the best voices among playback singers in India. During his career, he has sung with numerous successful composers and directors like Jagjit Singh, R.D. Burman, Nadeem-Sharavan, Anu Mallik, Jatin-Lalit, Ismail Darbar, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Naushad, Kalyanji Anandji, Ravindra Jain, Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Pt. R K Razdan, Usha Khanna and more.
Back at the show, in between songs, Kumar Sanu took time to share stories about his experiences in Bollywood especially with legends like R D Burman, adding anecdotes and cracking jokes on stage.
A special mention for the accompanying musicians traveling with Sanu. They complemented his singing in every possible way. The technical arrangements including sound and light designed by Pacific sound was perfectly tuned to match a Bollywood evening like this one. Amitabh and Bhavini from Instant Karma then thanked all the sponsors, volunteers and supporters.
India Post News Service
