Bollywood playback singer Shaan is gearing up pay tributes to late actors Rish Kapoor and Irrfan Khan on the upcoming concert "Ek Desh Ek Raag", which is part of the 25-year celebration of the reality music show, "Sa Ra Ga Ma Pa".
"Ek Desh Ek Raag" will start on May 23 with a 25-hour digital music marathon. The 25-year celebration gala will culminate in a grand "Ek Desh Ek Raag" concert on May 24, which will start at 7pm, and will be aired in 10 national languages across 19 ZEE channels. It will feature some of the most iconic faces of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, who will sing from the confines of their homes.
During the show, the audience will get to see old footages from "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" featuring Irrfan and Rishi Kapoor.
"It is extremely unfortunate that the Hindi film industry and the country as a whole, on consecutive days, lost two legendary actors. Rishi ji and Irrfan never ceased to take charge and re-define set boundaries. As actors, they took their artistic liberty and went on to create masterpieces. I'm glad that a platform like 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa', during such critical times and on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, is paying such a mega tribute to these legends," said Shaan.
He added: "There is no better way to give a tribute to any artiste than to celebrate their work and that's what we are trying to do. I have been a massive fan of Rishi Kapoor's work. I have grown up listening to songs featuring him and I must say he's inspired me as an artist. Irrfan was an incredible human being too and I am honoured that I could do my bit in paying a tribute to them through 'Ek Desh Ek Raag'."
The singer will be joined by other artistes like Himesh Reshammiya, Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Richa Sharma among others.
Apart from Shaan, previous "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" former contestant Debojit Saha and Sanchita Bhattacharya have also collaborated to perform a Rishi Kapoor medley of 'Main shayar toh nahi', 'Hum tum ek kamre mein band ho' and 'Ek main aur ek tu' as a tribute to the late actor.
( With inputs from IANS )