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Geet & Ghazal Night with Naila
Mughal
Text and Photo by : Girish J. Modi |
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Naila Mughal may not be as popular as Ghulam Ali, Jagjit
Singh, Pankaj Udhas or Munni Begum and the likes in the United
States, but in Pakistan she is a rising star and gaining
popularity as a new voice in ghazal, geet and sufi songs. On
Saturday, January 2nd 2010, Naila came to Atlanta and enthralled
more than two hundred devoted fans of ghazal and geet at the
Global Mall.
Naila Mughal started singing from an early age when she competed
and won many musical performances at her school and college. She
was trained first by Ustaad Wajid Ali Khan Sahib and later on by
A. B. Kabeer. Naila started her professional career in 2004 and
started singing for the TV. She performed for live TV shows, as
playback singer for TV dramas and films. She is a very talented
and versatile artist who can sing Hindi and Urdu ghazals, geet,
pop songs, folk songs and bhangra-style songs. She is a gifted
performer on the stage. She has traveled all over the US,
Europe, and different countries of Asia for her music tours.
National concert promoter Mr. Manzoor Cheema of
CheemaCommunications.combrought her to Atlanta. The concert in
Atlanta was organized by Mr. Mustafa Ajmeri who has been active
in the South Asian media and event organizing scene for the last
30 years.
The actual performance by Naila Mughal started a little bit late
but once started it continued into wee hours of the night. While
Atlanta experienced record drop in temperature, the audience
inside the hall was sufficiently warmed up after listening to
Naila’s melodious and captivating voice. They kept making
requests for more songs which Naila generously acceded to
without showing a hint of being tired or losing her voice.
Among many items of the night, Naila sang famous poems and
ghazals including Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s iconic Mujh se pahli si
mohhabat mere mehboob na mang, which was also sung by the late
Madam Noorjahan; “Ulfat ki Nayi manzil” sung previously by Iqbal
Bano; popular song “ghoongru tut gaye” sung previously by Runa
Laila; and the concluding sufi song (dhamal) “Damadam Mast
Kalandar.” Naila captured the hearts of audience when she sang
Yeh jo halka halka surur hai, a qawwali sung and composed by the
legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; Chhap tilak written by
the thirteenth century poet and music composer Hazrat Amir
Khusroo; Lambi Judai sung previously by Reshma and “Honton se
chhulo” sung by Jagjit Singh. She also sang famous songs from
Indian films Umrao Jaan and Pakeezah.
When Naila sang the last song of the night “Damadam mast
kalandar,” it was just before 2 A.M. and the audience were still
wide awake ready to hit the dance floor.

Naila was accompanied by the famous Pakistanti tabla player
Umaid Hussain and keyboard specialist Saad Ali. The program
organizer, Mustafa Ajmeri, thanked sponsors, which included Mr.
Nil Patel of Paras Gold , Mumtaz Boutique , Sara of Natural
Identity , B4U video store and Sushma Patel of 5th season for
beautiful stage decor. He also thanked his friends Nadir Jiwani;
photographer Darshan Shah, Upendra Bhatt; Mehul and Vipul Patel;
Ashiana Restaurant; Mumbai Masala; Ali Bhai who provided sound
system and also entertained the audience with his gifted
singing; and media partners wownow.com, Atlanta Dunia ,Vijay
Panchal and Events by Salima for helping him organize a
memorable event. |
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