Roop Kumar Rathod, wife Sonali to undertake UK concert tour

Mumbai: Singer Roop Kumar Rathod and his wife Sonali are set to undertake a three-concerts tour of the UK next month, in the run up to the 100th year anniversary of Indian cinema.

The concerts, aptly titled `Celebrating the Legends`, will be held at the Symphony Hall Birmingham on September 5, De Montfort Hall in Leicester on September 7 and HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London on September 8. "The exhilarating response that we got on our UK tour in 2010 has encouraged us to come back to be with our favourite audience one more time," Roop Kumar said. "In our own innovative style, we will sing not only our own popular numbers but also gems from the Golden era of cinema," said his wife Sonali. The husband-wife duo will take UK audiences on a trip down memory lane in an evening of timeless classics from a bygone era. In addition, Roop Kumar will sing his own hits such as `Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai` (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi), `Tere Liye` (Veer Zara), `Maula Mere Maula` (Anwar), the award winning `Sandesein Aate Hai` and `To chaloon` (Border) to name a few. Accompanied by eight musicians flown over from India, they will cover some of the best loved songs from yesteryear, including Mohd Rafi classics like `Chaudhvin Ka Chaand` (Chaudhvin Ka Chaand), `O Duniya Ke Rakhwale` (Baiju Bawra);, Lata classics like `Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha` (Anpadh), `Lag Ja Gale` (Woh Kaun Thi), `Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh` (Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai); Talat classics like `Tasveer Banata Hoon` (Baradari), `Itna Na Mujhse Tu Pyaar Badha` (Chhaya) and favourites from Noor Jehan like `Chaandi Raatein` (Dupatta) and `Aawaz De Kahan Hai` (Anmol Ghadi). Amarpal Singh Gaind, Saregama Head of Operations, Europe, who is presenting the event said here last evening that the `once in a lifetime` UK concert tour will pay tribute to some of the greatest singers from the Indian sub continent. "Roop Kumar and Sunali Rathod, the voices behind many contemporary hits from Bollywood blockbusters to Ghazals and Sufi songs will showcase the incredible vocal talents of legends Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Talat Mahmood and Noor Jehan in what promises to be a musical masterpiece," he added. Also on the programme and back by popular demand will be the couple`s rendition of `Madhuban Mein Radhika` (Kohinoor), which brought the house down during Saregama`s 2010 sell out `An Evening with Roop Kumar and Sonali Rathod` tour. "Celebrating the Legends is our grandest project to date and we don`t mind being loud and proud about it. We will be honouring some of the sub continent`s finest singers and their landmark songs. Roop and Sonali are classically trained musicians and yet commercially successful therefore are the most appropriate choice to pay tribute to these great artists, made especially poignant in the lead up to the 100th anniversary," said Amarpal. "Roop`s silken voice is perfect to do justice to greats like Rafi and Talat, but with a new spin to it, while Sonali`s versatile vocals will evoke memories of Lata and Noor at their peak," he added. Sonali said well known Japanese musician, composer, record producer and singer Ryuichi Sakamoto has invited her to work with him at a concert at Taj next year. "I will be working with him at Taj," she said. PTI