| Mumbai - Friday - August 25, 2000. |
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Penaz’s back! When Penaz Masani decided to go pop, her decision raised many an eyebrow. How could a ghazal singer get into something as frivolous as pop, asked the staunch, orthodox followers of music, and some dismissed her album even before it was released. What they didn’t understand was everyone wants to reach out to the maximum people, and Penaz too wanted to expand her horizon. And when she herself was confident about her foray (what with the foundation of classical training backing her, and the fact that she was among the leading ghazal singers), who were others to question her capability. Anyway, her debut pop album Tu Dil De De was released by Magnasound, and it did okay. The title song was quite catchy and Penaz looked gorgeous in the video, but maybe the listeners had their own mind block about a ghazal singer going pop, which explains the mixed response. For a long time after the release of her album, nothing was heard from Penaz. But the wait is over, as Penaz hits you with her next pop album titled Lakeerein, released by Archies Music. Wonder why she changed her music company, but lack of promotion is a major complain artists have against Magnasound. Anyway, coming to Lakeerien, the title number makes an instant impact (though the tune reminds you of the yesteryear hit Gulabi aankhen jo teri dekhin,) and has good lyrics about the role destiny plays in our life. The story in the video is a bit confusing, but Penaz looks vivacious in a very Western outfit, as she flashes her palms in which the lakeerein have been outlined boldly. Hope this time the lakeerein work wonders for Penaz. Indebted to Rathod? At the music release function of Vaada, one was confused as to why Harish Dayani of HMV kept on thanking Roopkumar Rathod profusely. Dayani had a special mention for Roopkumar Rathod in his speech. Said he, “Roopji’s role is not just of a singer, he was the advisor for this album, giving his valuable inputs as to how to go about creating, and arranging for this album.” Well, we thought maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, who is the composer of the album, and arranger Bhavdeep Jaipurwale knew their music quite well. Though any advice for the betterment of an album is welcome, we are sure Roopkumar Rathod’s inputs wouldn’t have been more illuminating than what these two know. Maybe Dayani was conscious about the fact that Roopkumar’s wife Sonali Rathod, who was initially the female singer in the album, was dropped, and Sadhana Sargam taken on instead. So he was doing his bit in pacifying the singer by giving him a lot more credit. Why, even the television promos of Vaada project the singer as a phenomenon. The promos go - “One great composer, One great writer” and “One great singer.” No doubt Amjad Ali Khan and Gulzar are ‘great’, but Roopkumar, who is definitely among the promising singers today, has a long way to go before being lablled ‘great’. P.S.: Sonali Rathod, who accompanies hubby Roopkumar for almost every function, was conspicuous by her absence at the Vaada function. Roopkumar came with daughter Surshree in tow instead. Gately,
the crowd-pleaser
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