Lucky Ali holds audience spellbound

BHUBANESWAR: He pulled out all the stops as he took the audience through soulful numbers like ‘Gori Teri Aaankhen’ and ‘Anjana Rahon Mein’ to the rollicking ‘Kaise Kahoon Ke Woh Main Hoon’ from Xsuei to more gritty pieces like ‘Nahi Rakhta’ and ‘Apna India’ from his new album Rastaman. Singer, composer and performer Lucky Ali held the Sunday audience spellbound at Xpressions, the annual festival of Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (XIMB). Amid near full moon and a slight chill, Ali brought the mood to a slow burn rather than setting the stage on fire. The concert kicked off a good 30 minutes late as the meticulous artist took his talented band and the acoustics through a series of checks. But the wait was well worth it as track after track in his inimitable smoky and mellifluous voice spilled out into the winter evening. Ali kept varying the mood and tempo as he went from his characteristic ballad to rock to semi-classical tracks. Popular playbacks from films like ‘Na Tum Jano Na Hum’ and  ‘Ek Pal Hai Jeena’ were the icing on the cake.  He had his young audience on their feet halfway through the show as he interacted with them and asked them to ‘keep the child alive in themselves’. Not missing a beat, he dedicated songs from his new album to the real world out there and took a swipe at reality shows which he dubbed unreal. ‘’Let us meet back on Facebook,’’ he added. Ali gave each of his accompanists __ Subhash Pradhan on acoustic guitar, Kalyan Barua on lead guitar, Manoj George on  violin, flautist Anand Prasanna Patnaik (incidentally an Odia), Suresh and Peter on percussion and drums their moments in the sun.