An evening of film music.

Byline: Peerzada Salman

KARACHI -- Music group Amateurs' Melodies celebrated its 20th anniversary on Friday evening at a local club with an array of Pakistani and Indian film music.

Informing the audience, which had turned up in a large number, on the genesis of the group, Sultan Arshad said it was formed on April 17, 1999 at the residence of Akhtar Ali Khan. To come up with such a venture was Khan's brainchild. Another member, retired Col Jalaluddin, chose the name for it.

The concert began with an instrumental of pop icon Alamgir's film song 'Hum chaley to hamarey'. It was a pretty interesting choice, because the track was made in the 1970s and brought back memories of the days when Pakistani film music was popular.

The first vocalist that appeared on stage was Zara Madani. She sang Ahmed Faraz's ghazal 'Terey qareeb aa ker bari uljhanon mein hun'. Zara took a bit of time to warm up to the task, and when she did warm up, her rendition of the ghazal was liked by the discerning audience.

The singer's second presentation was one of the most celebrated Iqbal Bano numbers that has been performed many a time but never loses its charm. It was the Master Inayat-composed track 'Payal mein geet hain chham chham ke'. Zara did a good job, especially with the mukhda. After all, it's not an easy song to sing; the young woman managed it well.

Then...