Muscat : Anitha, Ravindra Prabhu Dazzle Oman with 'Sangeeta Lahiri'
Report: Clarence Pinto
Pics: Dilip Correa
Daijiworld Media Network - Oman
Oman, Jan 22: They came, they sang and ultimately conquered the hearts of many music lovers in Oman. Multi-talented singer Ravindra Prabhu, popularly known as the 'Golden Voice' of coastal Karnataka and fabulous Anitha Samson, combination of marvelous beauty and remarkable voice, presented 'Sangeeta Lahari' with a perfect blend of scintillating songs from the coastal Karnataka’s major languages at the Grand Hall of Al Falaj Hotel, Ruwi – Sultanate of Oman on Friday, January 21.
'Sangeeta Lahari' a musical extravaganza presented by Spandana in association with Vasudha Musical Stars commenced with a welcome note by the main organizer and brain behind the show, Prakash Naik, an activist and promoter of coastal Karnataka’s culture and tradition in the Sultanate of Oman. The cultural show commenced with a presentation of Yakshagana, a musical dance drama popular in Malenadu, North Kanara and Dakshina Kannada districts. Yakshagana was choreographed by Prakash Naik and presented by Karthik Shanker Kunder and Vishbhav Vittal Poojari with costume and make up by Ravi Kanchan, Srikant and Viswanath.
The anchors of the show, Shodhan Prasad and Ananth Rao, were introduced by Karunakar Rao. Both the anchors, Shodhan in Tulu and Ananth in Kannada, did a marvelous job in introducing the artistes and their performances. They also created a joyful atmosphere in the hall with their witty dialogues and humour.
Ravindra Prabhu, a popular singer of the coastal Karnataka region with his speciality in Kannada language, has earned himself a name in the field of devotional music and has penned lyrics, composed music and rendered his golden voice in several albums. His familiar voice in Kannada and Tulu movies seeks no introduction. In the last two decades, Prabhu has performed in over 5,000 cine, classical, devotional and light music stage shows. Recipient of 'Suvarna Karnataka Rajyotsava District Award', Prabhu has performed in many stage shows at Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Ravindra Prabhu commenced his fabulous presentation with Dr. Raj Kumar’s classical prayer song 'Om' bringing a perfect beginning to the show and gave touching tribute to the legendary Kannada film hero, Dr. Rajkumar.
Anitha Samson, with more than 2,000 shows performed all over Karnataka, Mumbai, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Doha Qatar with lead singers and artistes, has sung in Konkani and Kannada movies. She has offered her voice for over 200 devotional and filmy audio and video albums comprising of Kannada, Tulu, Konkani, Beary and Malayalam songs.
Anitha gave a beautiful start to the programme with a marvelous Hindi number 'Satyam Shivam Sunderam,' the famous song of the film of same title and originally sung by Hindi music world’s queen Lata Manjeshkar.
Ravindra Prabhu and Anitha Samson presented some of the famous songs of Kannada and Hindi films like 'Navu Aduva Nudiye Kannada Nudi,' 'Banalu Neene' (both Kannada), 'Neend Naa Aayi,' and 'Aaj Kal' (Hindi). Both the singers enthralled the audience with Konkani songs ('Yo Baye Yo'), Tulu ('Daane Ponne,' 'Pakkilu Mooji' and 'Ekka Sakka'). They also entertained the music lovers of the coastal Karnataka with songs of Beary and Kodava languages. They even entertained Malalayam and Tamil song lovers and rendered a couple of songs from these languages too. Both the performers filled the premises with a delightful and thrilling experience of beautiful music and songs.
The renowned musicians of the evening were Bhaskar Basrur, music composer par excellence with more than 1,000 compositions to his credit in Kannada, Tulu, Konkani and Beary languages; Rajesh, highly talented and famous tabla player of the Karnataka region, who has played for Dr S P Balasubramanyam, Guru Kiran, M D Pallavi and many renowned composers in various reality shows; Vamana Kanajaru, popular and renowned rhythm pad player and rhythm composer of South Kanara, who has played for more than 200 TV channel shows and Vijay Kumar, an upcoming guitarist of South Kanara district.
Local singers Sumana Shashidhar and Kishan Udyavar along with other artistes presented songs and dances. Sakshi, Karunakar Rao, Praveen and Anitha Bhat sang Hindi and Kannada songs whereas sisters Ananya and Amoolya Ravi presented a dance choreographed by Aishwarya Ravi. Upcoming dancer of the community, Varun Bantwal, entertained the audience with a rocking performance to the beat of 'Dangerous,' recreating the magic of Michael Jackson. One more local talent and Dance Mania competition winner, Bharath Hegde, mesmerized the audience with a brilliant dance performance.
'PANI PANI BARSA' Tulu Music Album released
During the programme a new Tulu Music Album called 'Pani Pani Barsa' was released for the first time in Gulf. The release was done by Shri Ramakrishna, Head of Sales, Bank Muscat who was one of the Main Sponsor of 'Spandana' and also a Guest of Honour. A digital display was presented and the song was played during the event. A copy each was presented to the Guest and the organisers including Prakash Naik & S.K. Poojary. Shri. Ramakrishna wished all success on the release of this album which has been created by Maa Creations, penned by Arthur Pereira Omzur, Tuned by Raviraj Tantry, Music by Cajethan Dias and sung by various cine play back singers and Raviraj Tantry.
One of the song titled 'Yel Kadaldanchida' which was shot entirely in Dubai in a record 3 days time featuring Sachin Padil & Nindiya Prasad was well videographed with the direction of Ranjit Bajpe, included in the packet of CD's released. Copies of the Album were on sale and many audience grabbed a copy each. Daijiworld alongwith other media is one of the media sponsor of this album.
The Spandana committee comprises Koni Prakash Naik, Riyaz Ahmed, Basrur, Karunakar Rao, Kadri, S K Poojary, Nagesh Shetty, Ramanand Kunder, Pitamber B Alke, Ramesh Shettigar and Dr C K Anchan.
The gold sponsors of the event were Bank Muscat SAOG, leading bank in Oman, Friends Providence International and Towell Group. Red Rose Furnishing Co LLC and FA Kida supported the event as silver sponsors.
The bronze sponsors were Roca, Sadolin, Jeel Al Nahda Private School, Al Majadief International LLC, World Wide Business House and Ismail Al Ajmi Trading. While leading newspaper of Oman, Times of Oman was the media partner, Travel and Tour Partner was Mezoon International Travel and Tours Co LLC.