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Trinity of the Turbulent Times

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TRINITY OF THE TURBULENT TIMES:
K L Saigal ~ Surendra ~ Ashok Kumar 
ADMISSION FREE programme
on Monday, 23 July, 2018,
Sawarkar Hall, Shivaji Park,
7.45 pm
The 30s and the 40s were times frozen in political turmoil and turbulence! War clouds were looming large. The world economy was hit hard by the Great Depression of the late 20s…in and around the same time, the freedom movement gathered further momentum with Gandhiji’s ‘Salt Satyagraha’ and the tragic hanging of Freedom ‘Terrorists’ Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru … and then the country came in the grip of the World War II, the Quit India call of 1942, the Hindu Muslim riots and Dockyard Explosion in the mid 40s and finally, the partition woes in 1947!! The film firmament in India was experiencing a great churning! It is in this tensed scenario, films and film music took birth and was nurtured under severe stress. 

The Trinity of Saigal ~ Surendra ~ Ashok Kumar emerged and ruled the rostrum, melting the frozen turbulence and fluttering temperaments of the audience thirsting for freedom and a flight of fancy! 

The Trinity turned the turnstile with their naturally gifted vocals! The 17 years of political upheavals from 1931 to 1947 gave a profound thrust to the nationalist upsurge.

The Trinity cut through the clutter to give some soulful outpouring which stirred and urged the entire nation to wake up from the slumber and forge ahead triumphantly.

It is in this background, Keep Alive attempts to recreate the musical magic of an era as distant as a dream and as remote as a reality.

SAGAR SAWARKAR will breathe new life into the timeless tuneful treasure of the Trinity with the able support of ANUPAMA ROY in the romantic duets. 

Am reminded of Dr. Iqbal’s iconic quote:

हज़ारों साल नरगिस अपनी बेनूरी पे रोती है 
बड़ी मुश्किल से होता है चमन में दीदावर पैदा!

This programme of vintage value suffers from the same plight of the Narcissus Poeticus (a poet’s Daffodil) ethnically called as ‘Nargis’ which blooms once in a blu moon!! The pain and pathos of the ‘Nargis’ flower, inviting gaze of the connoisseur for at least a few seconds, bears an obvious testimony to this very purposeful and passionate programme.  

I, for one, would genuinely invoke the innermost chord of MI audience to come and witness this rare experience.

Join the journey to an era called VintAGE which will never AGE!!

The event has the benevolent support of well wishers like:
Shri Arvind Thakkar,
Shri Harshad Sheth,
Smt Kumkum Mehta,
Shri Nilesh Parmar,
Smt Preeti Kothi and
Ms Smita Pagnis
Manohar Iyer

 

Manohar Iyer

The author Manohar Iyer

Manohar Iyer breathes, eats, drinks, sleeps, walks and talks nothing but music. Through his brain-child Keep Alive and the recent offsprings thereof, he has been striving to resurrect the Golden Era of Hindi Films and Film Music and perpetuate the great cinematic and musical works of the legendary filmmakers, maestros. lyricists, singers, actors and others. For more details, kindly see 'About Us'.

8 Comments

  1. Years back I had attended @ Shanmukhnand hall ” songs of Golden era” if I recollect very well , probably you( Manohar Iyer ) were compering. It was a mind blowing karyakram .

  2. Very well worded precursor to the event. If such words don’t evoke interest in a person about this unique show, nothing else can. The prologue is like a beautiful work of art of a carpenter, a masterpiece chiseled out of a log of wood.
    Would be an absolute pleasure to attend the show.
    Best Wishes

  3. *Trinity of the Turbulent Times*

    Sagar started the Intro Piece, Curtains Opened, MI Sir gave the Context of the Turbulent pre Independence Times, How Indian Cinema moved from the Silent era to Talkie Era and the Audience was Heralded in a Time Lapse into the 30’s and 40’s for the next Four Hours.

    For those like me, who have not seen the pre Independence era, the Four Hours were a Complete Eye Opener, On The Independence Movement, The Hindu Muslim Divide, The Quit India Movement, How Studios came into existence, How movies were made, How music pieces were created with minimal Orchestration, How Actor / Singers would have coped up with Acting and Singing. It Was Education at It’s Ultimate Best.

    The Masterful Sutradhaar took his Magic Wand and Abracadabraa… Narration after Narration, he Weaved A Spell into each one in the Audience to Visualize the Turbulent Times and How Lyricists may have penned their Restrictive Creative Expressions, yet Illuminating a National Impact via Movies and Songs.

    Sagar arrived on the Scene like a Messiah with A Mission and Boy He Conquered the Hearts of Each and Everyone Present in the Auditorium. Kudos to you Sagar for Honestly and Truly Making Each and Every Song your Own. You Delivered the Knock Out Punch to the Impeccable Narration.

    Sagar was very ably supported by Anupama, who was effortlessly wearing multi singer hats. Amazing renditions and ease of singing difficult octaves.

    About Aruna, she is blessed to have got a Keep Alive platform to sing alongwith by far the Best Industry Talent. She was petrified to say the least to take up the task of singing her two songs.

    Though I had not heard many songs, each song was a revelation and each Lyric seem to be telling a Deep Story related to India’s Independence Struggles.

    Each of the musicians, Santosh Divekar, Sachin Sawant, Ranjith Nayak, Saagar Temghare, Sateesh Nivaskar led by Chetan Upadhyaya were in complete form. Special mention for Sachin and Ranjith who were exceptional.

    Nitesh Phanse’s Sound was also Brilliant.

    Trinity of Turbulent Times, made me musically richer and gave me a much deeper understanding about India’s pre Independence struggles.

    As I left the Auditorium, I considered myself really fortunate to have witnessed such pristine moments in my life. The Evening will stay with me Forever…

    It also left me wondering, why those who did not attend, Did Not Attend !!!

    1. Oh my .. such an elaborate and extensive sum up of the Trinity prog. Thank you Sandesh.
      My only lamentation is:
      Hazaaron saal nargis apni benoori pe roti hai,
      Badi mushqil se hota hai chaman mein deedawar paida.

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