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Asha Bhosle, is a household name – an Indian playback singer, known for her versatility, described as one of the most influential and successful singers in Hindi Cinema. In her career spanning over eight decades she has recorded songs for films and albums in various Indian languages.

Asha Bhosle has received several accolades including two National Film Awards, four BFJA Awards, eighteen Maharashtra State Film Awards, nine Filmfare Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award and a record seven Filmfare Awards for Best Female Playback Singer[, in addition to two Grammy nominations. In 2000, she was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest award in the field of cinema. In 2008, she was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honour of the country. Courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha_Bhosle

Do tune in for the interview, recorded many years back – yet again today, 4th June, on our show, From our Archives, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST.

Mahalakshmi Iyer is an Indian playback singer, best known for her Hindi, Assamese and Tamil songs. She has sung in many other Indian languages as well, including Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Odia, Gujarati and Kannada.

She sang on the Academy Award-winning song “Jai Ho” for A. R. Rahman in the film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Specifically, she sang the Hindi words between the short “Jai Ho” chants, as well as portions of the verses (most of which were sung by Sukhwinder Singh). She was known for her performances in songs like “Kabhi Sham Dhale” from Sur – The Melody of Life (2002), and many more. Courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahalakshmi_Iyer

Do listen in to this conversation, recorded many years back – know about her journey, about her many mile stones and much more. Do listen – in for sure, to the re – broadcast, today, 3rd June, on our Hindi Radio Show, From our Archives, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST

Suman Kalyanpur is an Indian playback singer. Her career started in 1954.

Suman Kalyanpur’s first film song was a duet with Talat Mahmood in Darwaza (1954). She was a very popular singer and recorded songs for movies in several languages – Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Bengali, Odia, and Punjabi.

Suman Kalyanpur received the prestigious “Sur Sringar Samsad” award for the best classical song in a Hindi movie, thrice. She also received the Lata Mangeshkar Award 2009 from the Maharashtra government, the Ga Di Ma Award by Ga Di Ma Pratishthan, and the Mirchi Music Awards 2022 – Lifetime Achievement. Courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suman_Kalyanpur

On the show, we go back in time with Sumanji as she recounts many anecdotes – Do listen – in for sure, to the re – broadcast, today, 2nd June, on our Hindi Radio Show, From our Archives, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST

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Penaz Masani is an Indian ghazal singer who started singing in 1981 and has made over 20 albums. She was honoured with the Padma Shree award on 26 January 2009.

Penaz has won a number of awards, including the title of ‘Shehzadi Tarunnam’, by the state government of Uttar Pradesh 1996 and the 11th ‘Kalakar Award’ for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’, in 2002. She has worked as a playback singer for Bollywood, in more than 50 Hindi movies and sung in over ten languages. Under the aegis of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, she has performed in countries as far reaching as Germany, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Vietnam. Courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penaz_Masani

This conversation goes back to July of 2010. We spoke about Penaz’s journey, her music and much more – and yes, she did sing as well. Do listen – in for sure, to the re – broadcast, today, 30th May, on our Hindi Radio Show, From our Archives, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST

Lata Mangeshkar, a name so familiar, so much our own, a name which reached the greatest of heights, attained so much glory and fame, and yet remained so humble, so grounded. Yes, I could feel all this and the simplicity of this great personality, India’s greatest singer and a legend…

We all have heard that Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had cried when he heard Lata Mangeshkar sing, “Ae Mere Watan ke logo”, when and where did this happen, Lata didi shared those memorable moments. She took us back to the days when she worked along with other legendary singers– Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh…some nostalgic moments, some which brought a smile, and all through this, you could feel her simplicity and her greatness.

This was way back, it seems, but this conversation will always remain fresh – showing the simplicity of a person who attained the greatest of heights – do listen – in, for the rebroadcast, with the Nightingale of India, the Queen of Melody, on our show, From our Archives, today, 28th May, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST.

Sukhwinder Singh is an internationally acclaimed Indian playback singer who primarily sings Bollywood songs. He is famous internationally for singing “Jai Ho” from the film Slumdog Millionaire which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Sukhwinder Singh won the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for songs “Chaiyya Chaiyya” from the movie Dil Se.. and for the song “Haule Haule” from the movie Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhwinder_Singh

This conversation, recorded many years back tracks his journey – Do listen in to this conversation, with Sukhwinder Singh – today, 22nd May, to our Hindi Radio Show, From our Archives, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST.

Tanwi Mookherjee Prigge serves as the President, India Association of Minnesota. She started volunteering at a young age for Mother Teresa and Ram Krishna Mission. She has been a resident of Minnesota for the last 18 years. An IT professional, she believes in service to others through her profession and volunteer work. She enjoys working with children and women in various communities, through her volunteer work, drama/theater/music, and encourages folks to step out of their comfort zone and have fun. She is excited about working with the Indian community and the community at large.

Ramla Hasanali was born in India but raised in a small country in the Middle East, “Oman”. Her roots are in Gujarat and Bombay. She moved to the US in 1999 to pursue a degree in Computer Science and has called Minnesota home for the last 12 years. An active member of the Dawoodi Bohra Community that practices in Plymouth, MN, she helps run Public Relations and Outreach for her group. She has served on the Edina Race and Equity Task Force for years drove systemic change in the City of Edina and helped her build deep connections in the school and government system.

Today, on the show, we talk about an event on Mental Health Awareness being organized by India Association of Minnesota – to learn about the event, do tune-in today, 17th May, on our Show, Saat Samundar Paar, on MeraSangeet Gold – at 9:00 AM,1:00 PM,5:00 PM, and 9:00 PM – EST. You can also catch the interview on MeraSangeet East at 11:00 AM EST

Shweta Basu Prasad is an Indian actress, writer, and director. She started her acting career with Vishal Bhardwaj’s Makdee (2002) and won the national film award for this movie at age 12. Receiving the award from former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam.

This was followed by Iqbal (2005) The Tashkent Files (2019) Serious Men (Netflix 2020) Ray (Netflix 2021) Criminal Justice (produced by BBC Studios India, 2022) Jubilee (Amazon Prime 2023). Shweta studied mass media and journalism. She made a documentary film on Indian classical music after college which premiered at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival and was then on Netflix for 3 years.

Shweta worked as a script consultant with Phantom Films under the mentorship of Vikramaditya Motwane and assisted Anurag Kashyap. Shweta is also a classical musician, she plays the Indian classical instrument sitar.

On the show today, we talk about her film, Retake, starring: Anupam Kher, Zarina Wahab, Danish Husain, being screened at the New York Indian Film Festival 2023. This episode is in partnership with NYIFF. So incase you missed it earlier, tune – in for sure, today, on 12th May, on our Show, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST.

Harshad Nalawade is an Indian filmmaker from Belgaum, Karnataka. His debut feature film, Follower, is based on his own experiences of living as part of a linguistically marginalized community in the town. The film had its World Premiere at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, in 2023. Follower was partially crowdfunded and was selected for the NFDC Work-in-Progress Lab, 2021.

A graduate of Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Harshad started his career in films by writing and directing short films while working as an Assistant Director.

Harshad’s first short film, A Return Gift was nominated for Best Short at the New York Indian Film Festival, in 2016.

On the show today, we talk about Harshad’s debut feature film, Follower, being screened at the New York Indian Film Festival 2023. So incase you missed it earlier, tune – in for sure, today, on 12th May, on our Show, on MeraSangeet Gold at 2:00 PM EST and on MeraSangeet USA at 5:00 PM – EST