A R Rahman Concert - A Magnificent Musical Show at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium

A R Rahman the popular Bollywood playback singing sensation came and performed along with other well known singers like Hariharan, Chitra, Sadhana Sargam, Karthick, BlaaZe, Madhushree Neeti Mohan, Naresh Iyer, Mohammad Aslam, Javed Ali and Benny Dayal, at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday 18th April 2008 from 8.00 p.m onwards.

He held the audience spellbound for 4 hrs non stop, with his usual striking music performances, spectacular entertainment, multi-tier stage set up, back ground dancers, orchestra and amazing lighting effects.

The cricket stadium was packed with a large number of music lovers who yearned to listen to this great performer and his hit songs. This concert of A R Rahman was held in UAE after a span of 5 years. He performed and lived up to the expectations of music lovers in this live concert. The audience were glued on to their seats from the start till the finish.

The concert started with Bollywood hits like Masti Ki Pathshala, Jashn-e-Bahara, Khoja Khoja, Nannaare, Diya Jale, Tere Bina, Humma Humma and Rubaroo. Rahman took the audience on a wonderful musical journey that included his current hits and old favourites from Bollywood and South Indian films like Dil Se, Jodha Akbar, Shivaji, Guru, Rang De Basanti, Bombay, Kadalan, Boys and Roja to name a few. The song from the super hit south Indian Tamil movie Roja, that helped A R Rahman climb the ladder of success, fame and glory, Kaadal Roja was impressive and deserved the applause from an extremely responsive audience.

Shivamani the ace drummer and percussionist with his magical fingers and hands performed drum beats and regaled the audience. He was truly amazing. He received a huge round of applause from the crowd and mesmerized them with the drum beats. He also showed the audience how he could produce music from objects like spoons, a bottle of water and suitcases .
A brilliant performer with tremendous potential and energy AR Rahman was seen on stage right from the start till the end. He was either playing the keyboard, directing the orchestra, sensing the mood and the pulse of the audience and joining the chorus. He is indeed a fine musician, singer, director and a multiple talented personality - A priceless gift from God.

The singers reached out to every nook and corner of the stadium with their choicest selection of Hindi and South Indian songs and the music filled the air. The sequence and choicest selection of energetic dance tunes, spiritual devotional numbers, rocking rap music and soul stirring patriotic songs was well appreciated by the audience. The audience responded with a huge round of applause after every performance.

The English song Pray For Me Brother touched the inner core of each and every person witnessing this event. It was dedicated for the speedy recovery of ailing children all over the world and hence the crowd stood up holding illuminated mobiles in their hands and sent a prayer to the Eternal Creator. This song created a sense of belonging and spiritual bonding of brotherhood among those present within the stadium.

The audience also felt a strong spiritual bonding as he sang "Khwaja Mere Khwaja" on the harmonium, covering his head covered with a scarf. The entire audience stood up for the last song Vande Mataram, which was a befitting tribute to India.

Kudos to the organizers for organizing such a beautiful event. This was indeed a memorable event and a concert to remember. A R Rahman fans and music lovers would look forward to many more concerts like these in the future.

Brief interview

Our team member C Salaam met Mr. A R Rahman who shared some of his choicest thoughts on the Indian music industry. He said that it was not possible to have concerts like these regularly in UAE because of his love and commitment to music. He is thoroughly occupied with bollywood and south Indian films, and another international project which has been assigned to him by Mr. Shekar Kapoor. He is currently studying the finer details of Arabic music and wants to streamline and incorporate the same into his system. Jodha Akbar will be remembered not only by him but his fans too for the quality music rendered by him.

AR Rahman in addition to the above mentioned commitments wishes to open a music school called KM Music School in Chennai. At this point he praised the reality shows conducted by various TV channels for their contribution and hardwork in looking out for talents, providing a platform, training and shaping them up, and helping them to rise and shine like the stars in the galaxy.

He then mentioned the names of some fine performers and singers like SP Balasubramaniam, KS Chitra and Lata Mangeshkar. The names of these artists along with the legend of hindi music industry Mohammed Rafi needs to be etched on a marble in golden letters for generations to remember them for their contribution in the field of music he added.

Courtesy: mangalorean.com