Four decades of ‘Mastana Bahar’

Khayal and Sardar Mohammed, sons of the show’s creator the late Sham Mohammed, announced the milestone.

Sham Mohammed, who died 16 years ago, established the show which quickly became a forum for Indian culture in Trinidad and Tobago in 1970, eight years after the arrival of television in this country in 1962.

Sham, an attorney, politician and cultural promoter, is credited, along with his brothers Moen and Kamaluddin, with introducing chutney to the local airwaves on Indian oriented radio programmes. The Mohammed brothers also hosted public shows and soon dominated the growing artform through their energetic entrepreneurship.

With the move to television, Sham initiated what would become one of the longest running locally produced talent competitions in the Caribbean. Mastana Bahar’s main aim is to promote and broadcast the best talent in the traditional Indian performance arts of singing, dancing and playing musical instruments. The show encompasses a series of semi-final rounds, leading up to a final annual contest where grand prizes are distributed to the winner, as well as to the 13 runners- up.

In addition to the talent competition, the show is popular for many features which allow for audience participation, including the Pick-A-Pan competition.

Over the years, many local artistes have graduated from the Mastana Bahar stage to launch successful careers in music. The first winner in 1970, Parvati Khan, is now a singing star in India.

It was via Mastana Bahar that late chutney icon Sundar Popo first shot into the spotlight with his song “Nana and Nani”.Singing that popular number on the show for the first time in 1971, Popo’s rendition caught the imagination of television and radio audiences with his lyrical blend of Hindi and English and spicy rhythmic beat.

Recording under the guidance of Moean Mohammed and music maestro Harry Mahabir, Popo turned out hit after hit and soon became a household name in this country. However, he never won Mastana Bahar’s first prize, although he appeared in the finals on several occasions.

According to current producer of the show, Khaya Mohammedl, Mastana Bahar continues to provide a national stage for local singers, dancers, musicians and artistes.

“There is a lot of work done throughout the week in producing this show but it has become a part of my life and I try to meet my demands on daily basis,” he said.

Following in the footsteps of his late father, Mohammed puts together the participants, judges, photographers, sponsors and production team members for this shows aired every week on local television. Auditions are held on Sundays, then there are rehearsals during the week and the show is filmed on Thursdays for broadcast on Saturdays.