Parveen Sultana performing in Bengaluru
Begum Parveen Sultana is 75. Her cheeks may be less rounded but her smile remains intact. She is as graceful and strikingly dressed, including a string of jasmine adorning her hair, as before. Most importantly, her enchanting voice seems untouched by time.
Performing for Bhoomija Foundation’s Holi Re! in Bengaluru recently, the Begum said: “Is umr mein gaana… jaan nikal jaati hain!” (To sing at this age is exhausting) However, when she began singing to a full house at the Prestige Centre for Performing Arts (PCPA), one hardly felt any strain in her voice — it effortlessly traversed octaves.
Parveen Sultana visits Bengaluru at least twice a year, one of which is to perform at the reputed Sree Ramanavami Global Music festival in Chamarajpet.
Listening to her sing, I was overcome with nostalgia. It brought alive memories of those HMV recordings that introduced me to her stunning rendition of raags Salagavathi, Thodi, Lalith, Nandkauns and Mangal Bhairav.
Discussions after her concerts usually centre around her ability to sing at a high pitch. But there is much more to her voice, as seen in this concert — open-throated aakar, speedy taans and seamless modulation.
Parveen Sultana began with Puriya Dhanashri (bandish ‘Laagi mori lagan’). In her characteristic style, she took the audience along right from the opening notes that had a solemn grandeur about them. She explored the lower octaves with conviction, lending the song a pensive quality even as her voice kept perfect pace with the sur. In the drut bandish, ‘Payaliya jhankar more’, the taans were brisk and marked by clarity.
She embellished the composition with tonal variations Her flamboyant aesthetic is not merely a show of her prowess, it indicates her thought process.
Begum Parveen Sultana’s concert was a fine blend of technique and emotion
Parveen Sultana followed this with traditional thumris, specially picked to invoke the colours and moods of spring. ‘Kaise kari barjori shyam’ set to raag Mishra Kafi. It began with a slow exposition, capturing the reflective nature of the beautiful lyrics, but reached the climax too fast. Then came a Surdas bhajan — a complex composition, with unexpected turns, again in raag Mishra Kafi.
Can there ever be a concert without the diva singing the evergreen, ‘Humein tumse pyar kitna’ composed by the inimitable R.D. Burman? She must have sung the song a thousand times, yet it sounded refreshing. That evening, she recalled the rehearsals and recording of the song in 1981 and was full of praise for the composer.
The musical values she brought into her singing made Parveen Sultana’s rendition of ‘Bhavani dayani’ (raag Bhairavi) a gem.
The well-known Ravindra Katoti on the harmonium and Ojas Adhiya on the tabla provided unobtrusive accompaniment.
Published – March 31, 2025 06:04 pm IST
