By MOHAMMED SAIFUDDIN

RIYADH — Distinguished Ghazal and Bollywood Singer Mohammed Vakil enthralled the audience here at Al Mas Restaurant auditorium in Riyadh performing popular ghazals and Bollywood songs. Musical Waves, Riyadh, organized the event. A large number of Indian Diaspora attended the event. Ghazal, a popular genre in the subcontinent, is a poetic form with rhyming couplets and a refrain, each line sharing the same meter.

On this occasion Mohammed Vakil released “Ulfat”, the album of Ghazals by Assamese Singer Poornima Borah and Riyadh-based Indian singer Dr. Sayeed Mohiuddin. Vakil extended best wishes to both the singers and prayed that this album reaches the hearts of millions.

He commended its Music Composer Ramavtar Dayama of Hyderabad for melodious compositions. Ulfat is recorded and produced at Soul Music, Jaipur, by renowned duo Rishikesh Soni and Mayank Sharma. Short clips of Ghazals from this album were showcased which were highly applauded by the audience.

Apart from CDs, the ghazals from ‘Ulfat’ would be available online soon said Dr. Sayeed. As the singer Poornima Borah could not make it to the event, she sent her video message. She thanked the audience, Mohammed Vakil and Dr. Sayeed Mohiuddin.

Vakil stole the show with his famous and much sought after Qawwali from the Veer Zara “Aaya tere dar pe deewana”. His mesmerizing performance left everyone in the auditorium awe-struck as he rendered traditional ghazals in his unique style and performed timeless Bollywood numbers to shift the tempo and kept the audience spellbound.

Vakil said that he enjoys Ghazals because they combine poetry and music, both of which are close to his heart. Apart from Ghalib his favorite Urdu poets are Waseem Barelvi and Bashir Badr.

Along with his masters Ustaad Ahmed Hussain and Mohammed Hussain, Vakil admires the Ghazal renditions of Mehdi Hassan, Jagjit Singh and Ghulam Ali.

Vakil’s favorite playback singers are legends, such as Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. Sonu Nigam, with whom he has also performed, is also among his favorite singers.

The 43-year-old singer hails from Jaipur, India, from a family of well-known Ghazal singers. Vakil is from the sixth generation of this family. His grandfather Ustad Afzal Hussain and great grandfather Mohammed Ismail were renowned artists in the field.

Praising the city of Riyadh he said, “Tumhare shaher ka mausam bada suhana lage, Main ek sham churalon agar bura na lage”. He further mesmerized the music lovers of Riyadh with more soulful renditions of the legends like “Hotoon se chulo tum,” “Tum ko dekha to ye khayal aaya”, “Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho”,“Aaj jaane ki zid na karo”, “Chhap tilak sab chheen le”, Damadum mast qalander” and others.

He presented Ghazals from his own albums too which were greatly liked by the audience. “Ye kasak dil ki dil mein chubhi rehgayi” was highly applauded by the music loving Riyadh audience. Few of his great admirers travelled all the way from Jubail, 400 km away from Riyadh to listen him live. Vakil thanked everybody present and who supported him since his first visit to the Kingdom, prominent being late Afzal Sanai, renowned personality of Riyadh, Dr. Nadeem Tarin, Pervez Rahman and Ghazanfar Ali Khan.

He expressed his gratitude to Dr. Sayeed Mohiuddin, CEO Ghazalsara for promoting him online. He greatly acknowledged the support of the event organizers including Jose A. V. Lucky winners from raffle draw were picked up and presented gifts.