A song composed by the legendary Kishore Kumar in the 1960s will for the first time see the light of day in Auckland next month – through his son Amit Kumar.
Amit Kumar will be in New Zealand on May 1 for a one-off show, “Yeh Zameen Ga Rahi Hai – a tribute to Kishore Kumar and R D Burman”, at the Logan Campbell Centre, and he has chosen the occasion for the world release of his latest album Ley Chalo.
The title song of the album, “Ley Chalo …” was originally composed by Kishore Kumar in his heyday in the 1960s.
Ley Chalo has been mostly a family affair with lyrics by Kishore Kumar’s wife Leena Chandawarkar, with composition and direction by Amit Kumar and his brother Sumeet.
Singers are Amit Kumar, Reema and Makarand Patankar and music by Richards, Kashi and Jitendra Kulkarni.
Local radio personality Gopal Bhatia, the man behind Amit Kumar’s Auckland gig, said the singer was keen to launch his album in New Zealand. Gopal was in Mumbai recently to finalise arrangements for Amit Kumar’s visit to Auckland.
Gopal also had the opportunity to visit Gouri Kunj, the home of Kishore Kumar, where legend made his music.
Here, Gopal relates his experience of his visit to Kishore Kumar’s bungalow to meet the Ganguly family:
Why did he choose New Zealand to launch the album?
When I was discussing and interviewing him he mentioned about this album, so I thought I would request the producer Makarand Patankar and Amitji if it can be launched in Auckland during his live concert on the May 1, and both of them agreed to it.
After meeting him in India recently, surely you must know the popular numbers he will be singing . . . Main ekh panchhi matwala re . . . Will he be taking requests from audience?
After meeting Amitji I got to know that he likes to interact with audience and I am sure looking at the response he would love to sing what people want to listen. For sure I know he is going to sing Yeh Zameen Ga Rahi Hai and Bade Acche Lagte Hain.
What is Amit Kumar like – his personality, his family…
Amitji is very humble and very kind and he sounds and talks like a born artiste and is very passionate about his music and Baba’s music (Amitji addressed Kishore da as Baba) and feels great and blessed that he is the son of legendary Kishore Kumar. I met Leenaji, who is also great personality and told me many stories of her experience of being Kishore da’s wife and I felt very much touched with some of the anecdotes she shared with me.
Will Leena ji be accompanying him on show to New Zealand? Who would be the female vocalist sing in this show? Will his show be backed by his own orchestra or with local musicians?
Leenaji asked me if I would call her for my next tribute show to Kishore da and I said yes I would love to have her and Sumeet. We will be having local female singers of high calibre - along which Shweta, Manju and Vidya, and myself, Makarand and of course Amitji would be singing and we are having Bollywood music industry’s top class musicians who have performed with Kishore Kumar, Lataji, Ashaji and many more music directors of the industry.
Being a Kishore Kumar / R D Burman "bhakt" for so long, what does the show mean to you?
I have been supported by the audience that has been appreciating my work and my presentations, which has inspired me to bring Amit Kumar live to them. This would be another tribute to Kishore da and Pancham da but it has different flavor because this time it is Kishore da’s own son and I have great pleasure and privilege to present this to Auckland music lovers.
Where are tickets available and what do they cost?
The tickets are selling very fast (thanks to all media partners) and I am proud to offer all music lovers an international show at local price. We still have some tickets of VIP which has reserved seating but people with big groups and individuals can still buy tickets in the general category which are priced at $30. We can offer some specials only to charity groups. For more information call 09 624-6330.
Tickets Available at:
. Rockyz Minimart - Papatoetoe
. Quality Mini Bazaar - Papatoetoe
. Auckland India Sweets - Otahuhu /Dominion Road.
. Century Video - New Windsor
. Relienz Forex - Dominion Road
. Curry Mantra - Hillsborough
. Spice Valley - New Lynn
. Video & Tailoring – Lambie Drive, Manukau