Abhijit Pohankar’s Bollywood Gharana
The Indian Panorama
BOLLYWOOD GHARANA Rocks New York City
Friday, June 28, 2019
INDIALIFE AND TIMES
BOLLYWOOD'GHARANA' First Time in New York City, June 7th
JUNE 02, 2019
BOLLYWOOD GHARANA FIRST TIME IN NEW YORK CITY, JUNE 7TH AT 7 PM ELEBASH RECITAL HALL
New York City has been hearing Indian Classical music since the times of Pandit Ravi Shankar & Ustad Ali Akbar Khan ! It has also been blessed to have heard Bollywood music from the time when the melody queen Lata Mangeshkar became the first Bollywood Legend to perform at MSG!
Very rarely do we get to hear the combination of these two genres of music until now. Bollywood Gharana has a fresh sound combining the ancient & the contemporary.
Abhijit Pohankar, the master craftsman of fusion music, has once again created the perfect blend of classical music with popular Bollywood music.
The Latin percussions of conga drums add to the excitement of the sound of the band. Ancient Indian Classical Bandishes (compositions) mixed with Bollywood retro and modern songs make this sound unique and engrossing.
Traditional Indian instruments like the harmonium and modern Western instruments like the acoustic & bass guitar give it an vast canvas to work on. Hits such as Piya Tu Ab To Aaja, Tere Bina Jiya Jaye Na, Pari Hun Main and many more are mixed with Indian Classical Music which makes it a very interesting combination that is sure to enthrall the audiences everywhere.
The band includes:
Abhijit Pohankar - Founder, Bhavya Pandit - Lead Vocalist, Gandhar Deshpande - Vocalist, Sourabh Joshi - Guitarist, Rahul Deo- Bassist, Keyur Barve - Percussionist
They will be performing at the Elebash Recital Hall at the CUNY Graduate center in NYC on June 7th at 7 PM. The concert is being presented by the Indo-American Arts Council & The Graduate Center (CUNY). Tickets are $35 and are available at IAAC.US
HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
Media contact:
Suman Gollamudi
917 623 9604
MEDIA CONTACT:
Suman Gollamudi
917-623-9604
New Yorkers saw a rocking performance at the Elebash Recital Hall on Friday June 7th by a very special band from Mumbai, BOLLYWOOD GHARANA, which is a crossover of Bollywood and classical music. The band performed Bollywood hits with a fresh twist of Indian classical music. It was a true treat for music lovers who were literally dancing in their seats throughout the concert!
The concert was presented by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), one of the pioneering non-profit arts organization, passionately dedicated to promoting, showcasing and building an awareness of the arts and artists whose heritage lies in the Indian subcontinent in the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts and folk arts. The concert was co-presented with the Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY). Bollywood Gharana was created by Abhijit Pohankar, the son of classical vocalist Pandit Ajay Pohankar. Abhijit , the master craftsman of fusion music, has once again created the perfect blend of classical music with popular Bollywood music. Bhavya Pandit, the lead vocalist of the band is a well known playback singer. Bhavya's singing truly stole everyone's heart with her mellifluous singing, wit and charm. She spread cheer with her effervescent attitude on stage. Gandhar Deshpande was the classical vocalist of the band. One can tell he has had rigorous training because the compositions he performed were authentic but he also made them sound very cool.Keyur Barve on drums, Rahul Deo on Bass & Sourabh Joshi on Guitar added more magic to the evening.
The executive director of IAAC, Sunil Hali called this the "breaking boundaries" concert!
The band presented many popular Bollywood songs from the 80s and 90s along with old and new classical bandishes (compositions), set in similar ragas simultaneously. The perfect blending of the Bollywood and classical made it a joy to listen to for non classical listeners not familiar with the music. The audience members were dancing in ecstasy during the finale of the evening.
Shampa Chanda, a student of Indian classical music said she found the concert to be very entertaining and informative ! She found how some of the ragas were juxtaposed with the Bollywood songs, very interesting.
Anurag Harsh, IAAC board member and classical vocalist said,"Bollywood Gharana is a refreshing introduction to what is possible when contemporary music is painstakingly weaved in with traditional classical music. Abhijit Pohankar is a wizard at this and the credit goes to his father the great Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Ajay Pohankar. Pandit ji used to come to my parents house often and his sargams I recall were the best I had ever heard in the world of classical music. He was also among the few classical maestros that had total command over Thumri and lighter musical forms. Much of Panditji’s finesse has come into Bollywood Gharana through his son Abhijit and this band has shown how to do “fusion” the right way. The impact Bollywood Gharana had on our audience was mesmerizing. This was a memorable concert that rocked NYC and we look forward to presenting more such concerts in the future".
While introducing the artists, Sunny Thakkar, the artistic director of music at IAAC had said to the audience members that they were all in for a treat. Well that was an understatement according to many audience members who could not stop singing praises of the band.
The evening saw audiences from all over the tri-state area. Dr. Urvashi Kapoor, an avid music lover traveled from far end of Long Island with 6 of her friends to watch the band live in concert. She was elated when they performed their signature number "Piya Tu Ab Toh Aja" along with a 100 year old bandish "Dholan Mende Ghar Aa". She said it was even better hearing them live and very happy she made the trip out to NYC!
IAAC would like to continue this musical journey and keep on bringing such magical musical evenings to New York City. It is only possible with the support of such audience members and music patrons. We hope that you all will join us for our future endeavors!
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