KARACHI, Dec 22: Music lovers enjoyed a range of memorable songs from the legendary Indian filmmaker Yash Chopra’s films at an event organised by Amateurs’ Melodies at a local club on Friday night. Yash Chopra passed away in Mumbai on Oct 21 this year.

Film historian Sultan Arshad gave a brief introduction to the director’s life and works and invited amateur singers to present famous songs from his films.

The good thing about the whole exercise was that it was done in chronological order, that is, it began from a track from Chopra’s debut directorial venture Dhool Ka Phool and ended in a number from his last film Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

Kamran and Humaira Kanwal sang ‘Tere Pyar Ka Asra’ from Dhool Ka Phool originally sung by Mahendra Kapoor and Lata Mangeshkar. Florence Thomas sang Asha Bhonsle’s ‘Jab Bhi Mein Akaili’ from Dharam Putra after which Asif Ali appeared on stage and presented the very popular ‘Ay Meri Zohra Jabeen’ from the film Waqt. Dr Rubina Qidvai sang the rather philosophical track from Waqt ‘Aage Bhi Jaane Na’ and changed the mood of the concert a bit.

After that songs from that era were presented when Yash Chopra had come up with his own production company Yashraj. In that category the first track that the audience got to hear was the Kishore Kumar-sung ‘Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kia Hai’ from the film titled Dagh. Jamil Anjum sang the song. Sultan Arshad introduced the film Kabhi Kabhi as a turning point in music composer Khayyam’s career. He said the project changed the life of the musician because before that he used to work for B-grade film ventures. Then Jamil and Humaira sang ‘Tere Chehrey Se Nazar Nahin’ from Kabhi Kabhi.

Next up was a song from Trishul ‘Mohabbat Bade Kaam Ki Cheez’ presented by Usman Butt, Sharmeen Jatoi and Asif Ali. Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Yasudas had originally lent their voices to the song for the film.

This was followed by ‘Aankhon Mein Kajal’ from Doosra Admi sung by Usman Butt and Humaira.

The highlight of the performance was the tabla player’s lively act. He seemed to enjoy the composition more than the singers. Jamil Anjum and Florence Thomas were next performers who revisited ‘Ik Rasta Hai Zindagi’ from the iconic film Kala Pathar. Florence stayed back and sang the exceedingly mellifluous and romantic ‘Ye Kahan Aa Gaey Hum’ sung by the one and only Lata Mangeshkar for the critically acclaimed film Silsila.

Songs from box office hits such as Darr, Dil Waley Dulhanya Lejaeynge and Veer Zara were also presented, with the last number being ‘Heer’ from Chopra’s final film Jab Tak Hai Jaan. — Peerzada Salman