Biennale Music: A Hat-trick of Performance for Dubai-based Singer

KOCHI:
For this Dubai-based hotel singer, known by the single name Hamzu, it turned out to be a memorable day as he performed for the third time at Arts and Medicine programme at the Government General Hospital here on Wednesday, notching a singular feat for the event.
An old singer of the Mehboob Memorial Orchestra, Hamzu, who is currently working in Dubai, was elated to strike a hat-trick of performance at the 220th episode of the all-Wednesday programme that seeks to provide solace to patients through therapeutic music.
The weekly music concert, organized by Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) and Mehboob Memorial Orchestra, is sponsored by CAFS (Casino Air Caterers and Flight Services).
“I have sung here twice before; it feels good to come back and perform once again with my friends. I also sang with Alka, my friend’s daughter, and this made the occasion more special,” he said.
Among the other singers in today’s programme was Christy Thomas, a native of Edakochi and an electrician by profession who has been singing for the past 25 years. He has sung in three music albums and is also part of the church choir of his parish.
The two other singers were Alka Askar, a 12th-grade student at The Delta Study, Fort Kochi; and Mishal, a class 10 student of The Choice School, Kochi with a passion for Carnatic music.
In all, the group sang 14 songs, mostly from the golden era of 70’s and 80’s. The songs included the title song of the 1983 film ‘Sandhya Mayangum Neram’; ‘Sangeethame Amara Sallapame’, from the 1992 hit movie ‘Sargam’; ‘Jab Deep Jale Aana’ from the 1976 movie ‘Chitchor’ and a few duets like ‘Kora kaagaz tha yeh man mera’ from the 1969 blockbuster ‘Aradhana” originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar.