Give him a microphone, and Mohd Irshad, popularly known as Gulshan Nadeem, can dazzle his audience with his smart and witty talk. He is a successful anchor who has displayed his flair for hosting cultural events across the country. He is equally popular as a mimicry artiste and a singer.
Gulshan’s success in the world of entertainment is noteworthy since he has never received any formal training to hone his skills. Despite this, he has worked with several prominent local and Hindi film artistes including Pankaj Udhas, Anup Jalota, Vinod Rathod, Anuradha Paudwal, Mohd Aziz, Shabbir Kumar and Jumping Jack Jeetendra and his idol Manna Dey. Many describe him as an encyclopaedia of songs as he narrates the history and background of the composition and attaches a bit of trivia before he starts singing.
Born to Jan Mohd and Gulshan Biwi, Gulshan initially wanted to be a cricketer but destiny had other plans. His father, who was with the Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), Kolkata, died in harness. Being good at sports, Gulshan was offered a job at HLL but he could not join as he was not yet 18. But he used to play football in Joga Shanti Club of HLL (now Hindustan Unilever Limited). Later, he went on to play for Mohammedan Sporting 2nd division from 1983 to 1989. He completed his higher education in Kolkata and started working on contract as a lecturer in Hindi at the Golakha Mani Women’s college in Balasore.
On his career in anchoring, Gulshan says, “I used to read a lot of magazines on Hindi cinema and watch popular TV magazine Rangoli on Doordarshan. I always tried to imitate Hindi film actors when I was with my friends. This inspired me to dream of a career in anchoring.”
Gulshan adds, “Once I was at my sister’s house at Pipili in Puri district, as my college was closed for two days. One evening, I had gone to attend an orchestra programme there, but the event was about to be called off as the anchor for the show was unwell. Then some of my friends asked the organisers to give me a chance to anchor the show. They agreed and till date people of that village consider that show as one of the most successful shows. The next day, after paying me, the orchestra party asked me to work with them permanently. I was reluctant in the beginning but eventually had to agree as they guaranteed earnings round the year. The foundation of my anchoring career was laid on that day without my knowledge.”
Gulshan never looked back. He honed his skills and turned into an accomplished performer. He mostly sings numbers of Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh as he idolises them. On his evolution as a singer, he says, “Once I got an offer to anchor a show where all the guests were from other states and the show was on tribal art. The guests demanded a Hindi song and, as there was no singer available for the show, I volunteered to sing Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan from the movie Mera Naam Joker. I received so much appreciation that day that it inspired me to try my hand at singing. Karaoke technology helped me a lot in practising my favourite songs.”
Gulshan continues: “I got the opportunity to work for a Hindi entertainment channel in the late 90s and during that time I interviewed legendary singer Manna Dey. I narrated some of his personal experiences during song recordings in studios. He was surprised that I knew all this. I explained that I was a regular reader of Hindi film magazines. He was so happy that he asked me to travel with him to Mumbai and do stage shows with him. Although the offer was rewarding, I had to refuse as I didn’t want to leave Odisha at that point of time.”
Gulshan has received many awards for his live performances. He says that he is the only one from the state who is regularly asked to join troupes from Mumbai whenever a show is planned in Odisha. About his stage experience, he says, “When an anchor has a grip on the audience, the performing team gets some time to get energised. That is one reason people in this industry like to work with me. I wish to perform like this for a long time and hope that the audience will continue to appreciate my performance.
SOYONG,OP