BAFI night 2007

[Tehsin]

Meant to post this couple of weeks ago.

Enjoyed my time at the Bafi Night held at the Patriot Center @ GMU (Virginia) earlier this month. In true Bangladeshi fashion, the 7PM show did not start until 830PM. It's pathetic but not sure if the hosts were late or were they did not want to 'inconvenience' the folks who were still walking into the Center around that time. The lack of common sense is amazing.

Anywho, the big draw was undoubtedly Habib. I like his music and he has a decent voice, nothing like his dad and with all the syth. don't know what his real voice sounds like. Frankly, he was also one of the reasons I went there (my wife loves his music). Aside from Habib, his dad (Ferdous Wahid, in case you didn't know) and several big name stars from BD movie/drama/music scene was present. Sad thing is, the organisers were saving Habib for the end and by the time he got on stage, there was only time for 5-6 songs.

Sabina Yasmin was supposed to be there but she fell ill and found out about her cancer only the night before. Shakila Jafar missed out as well. Both sent their greetings to the audience which was pretty nice of them.

The one's that were there are:

Jewel - host and in charge of the music and all that jazz. He started to sing one of Ayub Bachchu's songs but forgot the lyrics in the beginning.

Kanakchapa - beautiful voice. Sang some crowd favorites.

Haider Husyn - Definitely the star of the show. I've only heard the Faisha Gechi song before this program and didn't realize what I was missing out on. He reminded me of a more refined nochiketa. He definitely sounds better in concert and even though he was sitting down with the guiter, he was moving like a rock star. Something you don't expect from someone who also reminds you of your hujur.

Runa Laila - With all due respect, she was hogging the stage for far too long. I have seen her in concert before and yes, she is great. MOST of the folks went to see Habib, when Runa JI took an hour to perform the same songs she has been performing the same way over the last 30 years, it cut down on HABIB time. Maybe she wanted to prove to herself that she still has the MOJO. Who knows.

Can't remember the name of the dancer, very popular, used to dance with Nipa all the time. He danced with some fusion music created by Jewel.

Opi Karim and her partner from the drama Ekannoboti performed a - what if they met in NY - bit. Had some funny lines. Couldn't understand any of the english lines but the bangla lines were pretty funny.

Poornima and Asif ? - Bangla movie superstars did a dance routine with a 10-15 song remix. She wasn't bad at all. As for him, I can't dance so I'm not going to judge.

Habib - Performed about 6 songs. I was trying to enjoy his performance but a retard (probably drunk and troubled about his sad pathetic life) was yelling stuff like 'Laltu' and other rubbish. Idiot, we didn't pay to hear you putting your mom and dad to shame. The worst part was the other idiots sitting around him laughing at this nonsense. Class act.

Ferdous Wahid - With the GMU folks locking up the place at 12AM sharp, ferdous wahid only had time to sing one song - Mamunia. I left my seat to go to the mens room and by the time I was getting back to the sit, the organisers were telling everyone to leave the center.