Mega Talent Hunt Koshur Funkar Begins At Wular lake

Bandipora- With an aim to promote local talent in Kashmir region, Koshur Funkar, a mega talent hunt begins at Asia’s largest fresh water Wullar lake, generating immense response from stakeholders and local populace. Koshur Funkar was conceived with the purpose of the upliftment of the young talent of Kashmir in the space of music by bringing them to the forefront and creating an opportunity for them to be recognized. An initiative of Kashmiri local, Padmashree Awardee, Faisal Ali Dar, Koshur Funkar is one of its kind Talent Hunt Music Festival being held on Wular Lake Vantage Park, in Bandipora District, J&K. It is being held under the aegis of the ALI SPORTS ACADEMY (ASA), founded by Padmashree Faisal Ali Dar himself, which has successfully contributed to developing a sports culture in the valley of Kashmir and has created champions from the youth of Kashmir. He has worked extremely hard to bring the youth of Kashmir to National and International stages of various competitions where they have won medals for our country. ASA, along with Showcase Events and The Eagle, is now working towards promoting the musically talented YOUTH of Kashmir and bringing them into the mainstream of Indian talent and alongside promoting Kashmiri folk and traditional music. The talent hunt music festival was held on Wular Lake which is South Asia’s largest natural freshwater lake on October 5th, 2023. This will be an annual event for at least 5 seasons. Koshur Funkar has been curated, designed, and executed by Nanni Singh of ShowCase Events, New Delhi and Angelina Fernandes of The Eagle. They have both been working in the field of music for over 15 years and are curators of music festivals and shows. Colonel Sandeep Bhatnagar (Retd), an Army Veteran, has taken it upon himself to make this a success for the youth of Kashmir. For Nanni, it’s her passion to work towards conserving folk music and to promote it amongst the youth, the torch bearers of our intangible cultural heritage. Thus, she came up with the concept of Koshur Funkar for Kashmir. Angelina has been closely working with multilingual national and internationalaward-winning artists and her curiosity for Kashmiri talent brought her on to be passionately involved with Koshur Funkar. Colonel Sandeep Bhatnagar, an army veteran, had been based out of Kashmir for many years and Wular and around was his main base. His heart beats for the people there and he took this upon himself to help promote Bandipora through Koshur Funkar. The concept of this event started with a vision to to promote the talented youth of Kashmir in the field of music and promote Kashmiri folk music and folk artists. The organisers said that the event would bolster Wular Lake as a tourist destination. They said that the Season 1 has the support of the Folk Legends and Folk artistes of Kashmir namely Gulzar Ganaie, Noor Mohammad, Shazia Bashir and Tanvir Ali. The selected 5 talented young singers competed on the main stage and the winner will got an opportunity to perform with one of the artists on the main stage. Prasenjit Basu, Head Marketing, Voltas Beko said “At Voltas Beko, we are delighted to be associated with Koshur Funkar, as we jointly celebrate the rich culture of Kashmir, nurturing its youthful talent and preserving the soulful melodies and traditional musical instruments that define the region’s cultural heritage. Together, we strive to be the ‘Partner of Everyday Happiness’ for the people of Kashmir, spreading joy through the universal language of music.” Folk legends and artistes of Kashmir Noor Mohammad, Shazia Bashir, Tanvir Ali and Nasir Ali Khan stepped in to support and motivate the young talent by performing at the event. The highly honoured jury comprised of folk legends Gulzar Ganie, Noor Mohammad. The evening opened with the welcoming performance by the local band from Ali’s Sports Academy, followed by a welcome of the guests and dignitaries and the music loving audience. The first performance was by Tanvir Ali, followed by the first round of the contestants’ performance. Up second was Shazia Bashir, followed by the second round of the contestant’s performance. While the judges were adding their scores, Noor Mohammad took the stage and enthralled the guests with his outstanding Kashmiri folk performance. The winner got an opportunity to sing with Noor Mohammad. The event was anchored by Nasir Ali Khan.