Shillong: India’s best known Quiz Master and TV producer Siddharth Basu and wife Rosa are amongst the list of renowned personalities to visit Shillong. The couple were invited by Neil Nongkynrih, Director, Shillong Chamber Choir (SCC). Indeed the most happening address in Shillong in recent times is ‘Whispering Pines’ where the Choir members live, study, rehearse and are mentored by Nongkynrih. It’s where they are living ordinary lives until their next performance which takes them places. From Mumbai, to Delhi to Jodhpur, Bhutan, Dubai and what have you, theirs is a whirlwind tour. But in the interim when the Choir are not travelling they are happy to perform for different groups of people in their little makeshift stage at their home.
A week ago film director Rajesh Mapuskar and co-director Maheep Dhillon were at Whispering Pines listening to and taking serious note of what is an evolving film narrative centred around the journey of the SCC from the time they won the reality TV show India’s Got Talent contest in 2010 to where they are today.
Then on Thursday, Siddharth and Rosa Basu landed up at Whispering Pines to celebrate the latter’s birthday on Friday. Since WP can accommodate only so many people, Neil Nongkynrih chooses his guests with great diligence. The stage where the Choir performs today was formerly a chicken coop. It has now been transformed into a mini theatre that can seat about 50 people. Each time the Choir performs they create magic and stun the listeners with the eclectic range of genres that they tackle with incredible versatility.
For the audience who were invited on Friday evening it was journey down memory lane. Here was Siddharth Basu up close and personal conducting a quiz programme with the same panache that he did some 30 years ago (1985) for Quiz Time on Doordarshan and later Mastermind India. The questions thrown at the audience included those from the world of music, sports, literature and what have you but it’s not the questions as much as his stage presence that thrilled the audience even if they could not many of the answers right.
Between the quizzing sessions the Shillong Chamber Choir revved up the evening with their range of deliveries. From vocal accompaniment of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain’s recital (with whom they had earlier teamed up with in Mumbai), to Russian classical ‘Kuda Kuda’ sung by William Basaiawmoit in his flawless voice, to Ibarisa Lyngdoh’s mellifluous rendition of Johann Strauss’s Aria – The Laughing Song sung in Hindi and a duet from William and Iba from Phantom of the Opera and then Bollywood (Barfi and Tu Mile)and finally “To God be the glory.”
Siddharth and Rosa were ecstatic. The story is that Siddharth and Rosa who were looking for something creative for their show India’s Got Talent, scanned the horizon and spotted the SCC. They invited the Choir to take part in the second season of the IGT which their Company Big Synergy was choreographing and producing for Colours Television. The SCC accepted the invitation and the rest is history. “We believed in the SCC and that faith is not misplaced. In fact they are getting better with time and have raised the bar for themselves,” says Rosa. Neil’s invitation to the couple is his way of thanking them for ‘believing in the SCC when they were still a struggling Choir.”
Who can forget the exhilaration and joy when the SCC won the IGT. People were out in the streets till the wee hours of morning just rejoicing with the Choir.
Since then they have come a long way and now are ambassadors of Meghalaya and the North East across the country and the world. They are a widely travelled group and have remained true to their calling. The Basu couple certainly are an important part of their journey.