MUMBAI: Following the grand success of the first event; Vasantotsav of the centenary celebration of Guruji Acharya Jialaljis. Ajivasan is now set to present The Legends. on 14 May 2017 where they have invited legendary artistes such as Hema Malini, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma and Vidushi Girija Devi to perform on the occasion. Noteworthy is the fact that Hon'ble Education Minister and Vinod Tawde, will grace the occasion with his presence as the Chief Guest. The profits of the show will be donated to the NGO, Acharya Jialal Vasant Sangeet Niketan (AJIVASAN) which is in empowering and teaching the underprivileged kids.

Noted singer, Vidushi Girija Devi who, represents the finest tradition of the Benaras gharana and equally adept in singing ‘khayal' and the semi-classical forms like ‘thumri', ‘chaiti', ‘tappa', ‘kajri', etc will interact with the audience while performing and elucidate the importance of month of ‘Chaitra' and present various combinations of ragas and trends in tune with the theme along with few folk songs and rendition of soulful ‘sufi’ music. Now at the ripe age of 86; Girija Devi’s voice emerges from somewhere within, grounded firmly as if it were subterranean, rising slowly it reaches the peak, at a point that it becomes so sharp and clear that the sound of her voice reverberates in the silence.

Danseuse Hema Malini plans to pay a tribute to Acharya Jialal Vasantji by performing a newly choreographed Bharatnatyam dance; this being her solo performance after a long time. Hemaji’s performance will encompass Praise of Goddess of Knowledge (Saraswati) and Krishna Yajurveda in different forms and variations. The second performance is slated to be based on Shiva-Parvathi Vivah where Shiva is depicted as a blue lotus and Parvathi as a moon. This shall be followed by few more combinations of love and worship between the two.

Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia will present contemporary ragas on the flute ‘Yaman’, ‘Behag' and ‘Bimpalasi’ and will present some bhajans for ‘Chaitra’ month. He will also take farmaish (requests) from the audience.

Dr. Suresh Wadkar said, “It is our mission to reach out to people and impart classical music knowledge in all its purity to all aspirants and enthusiasts, across age groups. This is Guruji Acharya Jialaljis centenary celebration and we have got legends performing. We at Ajivasan make special effort to make every musical program a special one for our students and the audiences. Contrary to popular belief that classical music is losing its spectators base, the achievement of our programs year after year proves that there is not only a discerning audience for classical music but also that classical music retains its unique position in the Indian arts”.