Ahmedabad, Aurangabad and Amritsar get new FM station
Monday, October 29, 2007

Ahmedabad, Aurangabad and Amritsar will each have one more FM station to tune into. Private FM radio players have been quite regularly announcing the launch of their new stations in the Phase II of FM licensing in various cities. The three cities now have a new entrant in the form of Radio City, Radio Mirchi and My FM, respectively. Radio City launched its ninth station in the country in Ahmedabad last week. Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City, noted that Ahmedabad was a very important market for the radio player.

Labels: Radio

Three-year-old prodigy captivates music lovers in Rajkot

Rajkot, Sept 23 (ANI): At a tender age of three years, Shivam Singh of Gujarat’s Rajkot District is a little wonder. The child prodigy sings melodiously and plays traditional Indian musical instruments with as much ease and aptness as he recites his nursery rhymes. His expertise in music is evident in the effortless manner with which he renders both melodious hymns and classical music, and taps apt rhythms on tabla and plays harmonium. The only son of Ashwin Singh, a music teacher at the city's SNK School and Madhuri Singh a housewife with immense interest in classical music, Shivam is creating waves in Rajkot with his talent. "I am a grown up now. I sing, play the tabla and also the harmonium. Thank you very much," says Shivam. Recognising this talent, Akashvani (All India Radio) recently aired a special programme to project his artistry. "He used to listen to us as even as a month old child when we used to practise. I feel his interest in music started from there itself. At a sub-conscious level, he had music in his system ever since then," says Ashwin, Shivam's father. His mother maintains that it is not practically possible to teach a child at this age, and they have never made any conscious effort to do so. She says the child is a quick learner. Often regarded as miracles of the nature, child prodigies intrigue the ordinary and tease scientists, who are keen to decode the mystery surrounding their capabilities. "He has an excellent genetic pool to learn music. Also, he has got a very conducive environment that is congenial for his hereditary talent. His parents encourage him if he sings or plays with musical instrument. While other kids recite Baa Baa Black Sheep, he sings religious hymns," said Shruti Hemani, a child specialist. There are numerous prodigies in India like P. Hari Krishna, the country's youngest-ever chess grandmaster; the Mysore brothers, Nagaraj and Manjunath, who gave their first violin concerts at the ages of 10 and 9 respectively. Human calculator Shakuntala Devi was also a child prodigy as was Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), who had mastered trigonometry at the age of twelve. Shivam appears as the next to join this long list of luminaries. (ANI)

Labels: Music

1st Gollywood sequel

The ever growing trend in Bollywood, now seems to have caught up with Gollywood too, as shooting begins for a sequel to the runaway hit ‘Maiyarma Manadu Nathi Lagtu’ (MMNL), that will be the first Dhoom 2, Phir Hera Pheri or Lage Raho Munnabhai of Gujarati movies. The movie already had many firsts to its credit in Gollywood. It was the first Gujarati film to be shot and dubbed in digital Dolby sound and also had appealing camerawork and choreography. It was touted to be made at a budget of around Rs 1.5 crore, much higher than the Gujarati film industry standards. Buoyed by the success of MMNL, Gangani is all set to make a sequel. In 2001, the film swept the first Gujarati Screen and Stage Awards with nine awards, including those for the best film, best director, best actor, best actress, best story, best music director, best lyrics, best editor and best comedian (male).

Labels: News