The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

LEISURE

Sadhna Sargam enthrals
S. D. Sharma

If Bollywood star singer Sukhwinder Singh had bequeathed a majestic start to the musical bonanza at the Leisure Valley, it was Sadhna Sargam, again from Mumbai, whose melodic voice wafted across the entire ambience to enrich the fragrance of the roses on the concluding ceremony of the 33rd Festival of Roses organised by the Chandigarh Administration.

The versatile classical vocalist and equally accomplished playback singer extracted full pleasure from the panoramic gardens and the keen interest evinced by the intrusive audience in her musical soiree as she opened up with a hit ‘Neele neele umber par’ from film Kalakaar followed by another hit ‘Pehla nasha, pehla pyaar’ from film ‘Jo Jeeta Voh Sikander’ in quick succession.

Amidst lofty applause she rendered ‘Aaap kea a jaane se’ (‘Khudgarz’), ‘Har kisi ko nahin milta payar’ (‘Jaanbaaz’). She virtually sent the jubilant crowd in reverie with ‘Chhak de’ (‘Ham Tum’), ‘Mahi ve’ (‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’) and ‘Munda tu hai Punjabi sohnaa’, with the rich Punjabi folk content.

She was apparently at her best with ‘Saat samandar paar se’ (‘Vishvatma’) when the multitude hummed the tune with her.

The eloquent response, especially from the back-seated audience not only obsessed the sophisticated Sadhna but also rejuvenated her spirits to dole out more hit numbers from films.

Earlier, in an interaction with the Chandigarh Tribune she disclosed her transformation from a purist classicist vocalist to the invincible playback singer of regional and feature films. Motherhood of Neela Ghanekar was more of a music hood to baby Sadhna, initiated into art of classical vocal at the age of four at Daphol, a sleepy town of Maharshtra.

She learnt the finer nuances and intricate patterns of the realm under the tutelage of Pandit Jasraj of the Mewati gharana. “Call it a coincidence or destiny willed it that I found myself engrossed in the charm of film music with Kalyana Ji who promoted me and with a satirical remark prompted me to change my surname from ‘Ghanekar’ to ‘Sargam’”, said Sadhna.

He recorded me for film ‘Rustam’ in 1984 and thereafter, with the blessings of Almighty and my Guru’s ashirwaad, I had worked with all the top music directors from Naushad to Sukhwinder Singh and A. R. Rehman. Sukhwinder Singh directed me for Subhash Ghai’s new film. Besides films Sadhna had recorded albums of bhajans and ghazals like khushboo kabhi gham, Vaada, oh my love, Tanahi and the latest ‘Chara ve’.

Tracking down lives of glitterati
Swarleen Kaur

Nari Hira

Stardust, Savvy and Showtime, which track down the lives of glitterati, provide loads of spicy treat to us. The man managing these publications, Nari Hira, Managing Director, Magna, Publishing Company Limited, was here in the city today. The dynamic man is also running other reputed magazines like, Health and Society and Interiors.

“I belong to a Sindhi family and it is very suitable name in our tradition,” he explains the mystery behind his name.

Do not magazines act like a peeping tom, making public the secrets of filmstars, robbing the fun from their life?

Kunal Ganjawala performs at Hotel Mountview, Chandigarh, on Sunday. — A Tribune photograph

Quickly denying the charge, he claims that 90 per cent of articles appear in his magazines with their consent”. In fact, daily newspapers are more revealing in this regard, he said.

Capturing the celebrity characters, he himself very carefully shuns limelight. “I don’t give any personal interviews as I don’t want to be seen or heard. I just want my editors to remain in the spotlight”, he says firmly.

Many times controversial articles appearing in his magazines have landed him in soup but he has managed to bail out safely most of the time “ We come clean because we are always right”, he asserted.

He has a passion for writing and disdain for cell phones. So we were not surprised that he was not carrying a cell phone.

Sultry Bollywood actresses Amrita Arora and Preeti Jhangiani unleashed their glamorous charm at a show organised by the Magna Group Publications held at Hotel Mountview, today.
The performance of Amrita on “Dilli ki sardi” and “laila-laila” cast a spell on the viewers. Singer Kumar Ganjewal’s “Bheege Honth Tere” gave the evening the much-needed bounce. The show was held to award students of interior design and professionals from the fraternity. Anu Chatrath, Mayor, and Nek Chand, Rock Garden creator, gave the prizes amidst the scintillating performances.

On his first visit to the City Beautiful, he was bowled over by the beauty and greenery of the place.

How did having Shobha De, editor of Stardust, help the magazine to sell?

“When I chose Shobha De, she had no celebrity status. She no longer works with us. But I must say that the celebrity should not overpower the magazine. Only then it sells but if the celebrity aspect becomes more dominating, surely a collapse happens.

Appreciating Madhur Bhandakar’s Page 3 movie, he said it has depicted a lot of truth though the drama element is also there.

With 30 years of experience in his field, he gets the best from his staff by creating a friendly environment and by discouraging politics.

He follows the mantra “living in today and plan for tomorrow”. He wants to live every dimension of life. He is aiming for a feature film in October.