Bhubaneswar: The soulful legacy of legendary playback and devotional singer Md Sikander Alam resonated as his 86th birth anniversary was celebrated at Rabindra Mandap here on Sunday.
The event was jointly organized by Md Sikander Alam Foundation and the Culture Department, Government of Odisha.
The celebration began with an auspicious note with guests like eminent litterateur Prof Santanu Acharya; chairman of Eastern Media Ltd Dr Soumya Ranjan Patnaik; veteran producer, director and actor Dr Prashant Nanda, former secretary of Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department Manoranjan Panigrahi and former minister and BJD leader Prafulla Samal lighting the ceremonial lamp and offered floral tribute to his portrait.
The foundation’s chairperson Naima Alam and secretary Dr Nazia Alam also shared the dais.
The air was thick with emotion as speakers took a trip down the memory lane, reminiscing the golden voice that once ruled the airwaves. They described Md Sikander Alam as a versatile singer, equally ease with filmy songs, devotional songs and light classical ones.
On this occasion, music director guru Laxmikant Palit and Basant Kumar Tiadi were felicitated with Sikander Alam Memorial Award and Sikander Alam Badyaratna Samman respectively.
The evening turned nostalgic as a packed auditorium was treated with some of the popular songs of Md Sikander Alam. Dr Nazia Alam, daughter of Md Sikander Alam, opened the concert with ‘Sapana Ra Pathe Patha’ from film ‘Dharitri. The following singers who transported the audience to a different world were Randeep Palit, Bandish Palit, Yash Mohanty, Mahaprasad Kar, Debasish Mohapatra, Adyasha Das and Yash Mohanty.
The talented accompanists who lent a good support to the singers were Baroda Prasanna Pattanayak (Organ), Debashis Kar (Organ), Bhabatosh Mohanty (Guitar), Dushmant Parida (Tabla) and Priya Ranjan Mohanty (Octopad).
While actress Sofia Alam, elder daughter of Md Sikander Alam, managed the evening, Dr Mrutyunjay Rath did a seamless anchoring.
