15 March 2024 (Punjab Khabarnama): Spring and music go hand in hand. And to complete the mood, comes the Kasauli Music Festival. The two-day festival will begin on March 29. Singer Kavita Seth will grace the program with her hit songs like Rangi Saree, Ektara, Tum Hi Ho Bandhu and more. The singer interacted with the media on Wednesday. She says, “North Indian people are very warm and welcoming. I have always enjoyed performing in Punjab.This will be my first time in Kasauli. The weather is really good and I hope it stays like that till 5th April as I want to explore Himachal Pradesh and take back many memories. Although Kavita has been a part of the Hindi film industry, she is not a part of any group or regular. Stays away from playback-singing circles. “It’s because lyrics have always been very important to me to do justice to the song.When I was in Delhi during the initial phase of my career, I was advised to do whatever it took to stay relevant. And, I listened to those people but soon I realized that actually I am not them. I will consider the meeting with Pakistani singer and musician Abida Parveen Ji as the turning point of my life. We were part of Muzaffar Ali’s Jahan-e-Khusro concert and after that I moved on to Ghazal and Shayari and never looked back.Kavita got her first big break after listening to Satish Kaushik’s songs at a festival. He gave her the Maula song for the film Vada (2005). She is selective about her projects. Kavita recalls how she refused Himesh Reshammiya’s song Hookah Bar because she didn’t like the lyrics. Although the song later became a hit, she still has no regrets as, ‘If I had done that, I would have been offered similar projects later.”In fact, Kavita from Tumhi Ho Bandhu afterAsk her who she likes to listen to and she has all the names of ghazals and Sufi singers at her fingertips. From Ghulam Ali to Jagjit Singh, Farida Khanam to Naira Noor. “But I love Jagjit Singh ji. From her ghazals, I learned how to keep a simple composition and still do wonders with it,” she adds. Apart from Me Kavita Hoon featuring Kavita Seth, famous Rajasthani folk singer Kutale Khan’s Kutle Khan The project will also be a major draw.Fozia Dastango on Meena Kumari and popular singer Vidhya Sharma’s musical Dastangoi of Meena Kumari, Meena Kumari’s Dastan, is being specially performed to commemorate Meena Kumari’s death anniversary, which falls on March 31. A Himalayan route is also included in the line-up of artists at the Kasauli Sangeet Utsav. A folk-fusion band from Shimla, a Hindi rock music band, HP 14-The Band and singers like Akash Verma, Jasleen Aulakh and Vidhya Sharma.
