The article which appears below, was originally published on A.R. Rahman Yahoo Groups in June 2009. ©The rights to this material are reserved to the owner. If you have any concerns or comments, please send an email to info@rahmaniac.com.
The Decision:
“Okay guys; see you in Pune, hopefully.” The Yahoo group members had said to each other waiving their hands for ‘tata’ before leaving the Calicut city. As the readers know, almost a month back, around 30 group members had attended the first concert of the Jai Ho world tour in Calicut. It was absolute fun and a freshening experience. But we are always thirsty for such experiences, and a single concert may not quench out thirst so easily. So when we got to hear that there would be another concert in Pune, without any further ado, we had already decided – we were attending it!
The Coordination:
Immediately after the Calicut concert, the list of the fans was finalized. Pune was a new place for many visiting fans, and Mr. DV uncle came to rescue. He and Pinak Agte joined together to personally and patiently visit all the possible hotels near the venue to collect the data like rent, availability etc. and prepared a list for suggesting the best available options to the visiting fans.
DV Uncle:
DV uncle is Mr. Dinesh Vaidya from Pune. This review will be soulless exercise if I don’t mention his name and the efforts he took to make the event memorable for the visiting fans. Friends, I call him uncle not because he is 2 years elder to our boss A.R., but because it’s a routine now. I remember, 4 years back when I met him for the first time; he was accompanied with some teenaged kids from TWS Rahmania group. They called him uncle. I humbly joined the kids, and started calling him uncle too. Now it’s become a practice. All the TWS members call him uncle! But mind you, he is youngest amongst all at heart and energy. During the 3 days, he was literally rushing from point X to point Y and point A to point Z for so many times without rest, and still he was so energetic. He even had antacid tablets with him saying that ‘During the concert and rehearsals my yahoo group kids will be sleepless and tired. They might need anti acidity tablets!’ He is synonymous with the word ‘energy’ which is something inspiring. Hats off! We are your fans, DV uncle! I’m scared to say anything more because I know you won’t like to take any credits. Just, thanks a million!
Drums with the Wandering Souls:
All the ‘loud’ and ‘silent’ members of this group are probably and hopefully aware of this movement called ‘The Wandering Souls’. TWS is a dedicated music band comprising of some hardcore music professionals who have taken a vow to take every wandering soul to the divine path called A.R.’s music. I am a fan of this group ever since I’ve seen them performing, and as we are fans of A.R., we share a great bond together. When the Pune concert was announced, TWS was ecstatic. They knew they had to be a part of the concert somehow. And out of their love towards the man; they decided to volunteer for the event and to help the organizers, but God had higher plans for them. A.R. himself had acknowledged the team and thus when the organizers needed the drummers they turned to the tasted and certified team – TWS. As dear and near friends; Anmol Bhave invited some of us to the practice sessions of TWS. It was a fantastic experience to see the members marching like soldiers and beating drums on the tunes of A.R. We were also covered by the local media and ultimately we had loads of fun. As I have closely witnessed the growth of this group for past 4 years; I know it was their long time dream to perform with A.R., and now it has come true. I hope TWS continues to maintain the craze and spreads the message of peace through A.R.’s music.
The Day:
The group had landed in the city on 30th and we had a quick fans meeting in the evening. There was no special POA on D1. Everyone was waiting eagerly for D2, i.e. the concert day. The gates were supposed to open at 3.30 pm. Initially the idea was to hit the gates at around 2.30 pm, but shortly we realized that we were in ‘Pune’. We suspected if the fans will gather at the venue at 3.30 pm. Firstly, the venue was around 15 KMs outskirts from the heart of the city. Secondly, Pune crowd is known for being super punctual. If the show is supposed to start at 7 pm, people will come by 6 pm even if the gates are opening by 3.30 pm. Our hunch came out to be true. At exact 3.30 pm, there were only watchmen and police vans. But shortly, people started coming in, and within some time it looked like a concert ground. All the Yahoo group fans gathered by 6.30 pm, and took their seats. We heard from the late comers that there were parking queues for like 2 KMs and the standing queue for getting in was also too long. On getting in we realized that the ground & the venue were just great. Arrangements were perfect too. Seating was fine, and we could clearly see the stage & screen from our seats. Overall, this was a better experience than Calicut.
The stage presence was a major highlight this time. Lighting & visuals simply rocked! In addition, the video display screens were crystal clear for quality freak people – making it a treat for us!
Waiting for A.R.:
The sunlight was still bright at 6.30, so we had to wait to see our man, A.R. The stage was in Radio Mirchi’s hands for some time, and I’m told, the comperes were two RJs called Srikant and Aditi. They did a good job indeed, but we were waiting for A.R. Lata Didi and Karad ji entered and people gave a standing welcome to both of them. A World Peace Anthem was performed. Sponsors’ advertisements were repeatedly played on the video displays and in addition there was a video footage of the work of Alandi Dehu Vikas Samiti. It didn’t seem to go well with the audience, as they were here for the man – A.R. Rahman! The audience got little restless. We heard some voices from the corners ‘Stop the videos, bring the man out’! …And Blaaze enters!
When He says Jai, We say Ho:
Blaaze took the charge of the stage, and started conversing with the audience. He was in his trademark style. His talents in rapping are exceptional and I’m sure he can do better than what he does. Despite his daughter being recently diagnosed with tuberculoma in the brain, this man gathered the courage to be at ‘work’ – hats off to him, and prayers for his daughter. On stage, he was at ease. He took out his cell-phone from his pocket, and made us listen to A.R. saying ‘Hi Pune, my Jai Ho is to you!’ Blaaze started rapping in his style, and the lines were… ‘When I say Jai, you say Ho!’ The public followed him screaming and singing along, but still the initial response seemed lukewarm.
A.R. enters:
…And finally the man entered. Mausam & Escape was being played in the background, and the man emerged from a cube – coming up from down under the stage. His entry was magnificent as he belted out Jaage Hai… This song is one of my all time favorites. Public went berserk and the man opened his lines… Jaage Hai Der Tak Hamein Kuchh Der Sone Do… He brilliantly fused the two tracks – Mausam & Escape and Jaage Hain. People liked the experiment. The energy levels were so high. The man said ‘Namaskar Pune’ and promised them they would have a wonderful night. ‘Fun’ in the real sense, he says; it’s almost like a rehearsal. With and without mistakes, and has good and bad songs. He hopes people like it!
The songs 01:
Next track was Athiradi by A.R. and Sayanora. It was a flawless performance except for a line that A.R. forgot to sing. Delhi 6 started off with some funky graffiti like visuals and Blaaze singing; and thereafter Roja Jaaneman with Sadhana Sargam and Hariharan. As Sadhana started with the aalaap, there came a big cheer from the crowd. Hariharan’s rendition was better in Calicut. Here, he was breaking in his Sur & was trying to reach the beat. But later towards the end, it was perfectly fine. Chitra was missed in Pune, her singing was magic in the Calicut concert. Next, Raja Hassan entered with Masakkali, the super duper hit track of 2009. The visuals were specially created for this song. With the visuals, they recreated the old Delhi on the stage, which looked fantabulous. The guy who played guitar on keyboards (keytar?) was fabulous. Raja Hassan is a true revelation. He was perfect in his Sur and his overall singing was great.
A.R. converses with the audience:
After Masakkali, A.R. came on the stage and said ‘I’m bored of frequent interviews. Let me interview the fans now.’ And what he did next was a sweet surprising spectacular act. He came down the stage, picked random people from the audience, and interviewed them! ‘What do you hate the most in the world? Who do you love? What do you love in my music? What do you hate in my music?’ The audience was sharp too. A guy said ‘I don’t hate anything in the world’ to which A.R. said, ‘What has happened to this world!’ The guy said, ‘We are following you!’ Next a lady, whom he asked ‘Do you really love me?’ replied ‘Do you want me to tell it or show it?’ And this shy man ran back to the stage! Wonder what that lady would have done if A.R. had asked her to show how much she loves him! It was so nice to see the man converse with the audience – even for such a short time. Never seen him going in the audience and interact, like he did here. Surely he’s come a long way.
The Songs 02:
The next song was Jiya Se Jiya sung by A.R. and with TWS on the drums. The song rocked to the core. A.R.’s interview stunt had already shocked the audience, and now Sivamani’s surprise entry was the next shock. Sivamani appeared on the stage from nowhere and shared a drumstick with fellow TWS members. How I wish he should have played more! The Free Hugs video on the background screen was a highlight. A.R.’s singing was perfectly matching with the A.R. in the video.
Tanvi and Blaaze followed with Style which was fused with Liquid Dance so perfectly. Thereafter Raja Hassan entered once again, with a Guzarish this time. We had a Guzarish (wish) too; please don’t stop the flow of the sweet music! And to fulfill our wish, Suzanne entered the stage with the lovely and magical Dreams on Fire. Suzanne’s performance in Calicut was loved by most of the audience. Especially, her opera singing was a killer. You listen to it to believe it. She can break glasses with her high pitch singing. You feel like a blade running through your throat. It’s a deadly experience. She repeated the magic here in Pune too. She deserves more fan base and more number of songs too. Taal Se Taal (Western Beat) was the next track, again blended and fused with Ringa Ringa. Performed by Neeti, Sayonara, and Shweta Pandit, the song stole the show when Neeti made some heart catching dancing movements!
The Songs 03:
A.R. comes here, again. This time for Dil Se Re, he stood on the top of the cube, surrounded by firework. His singing was almost flawless. This song is about the passion, and A.R. successfully brings the required feeling to it. His guttural vocals do the magic in the high pitches. I’m sure; everyone in the audience had goosebumps. Wonder if A.R. would ever compose something as passionate and magical song as this one again. Must say, A.R. has improved a lot in his singing over the years. It looks like he’s concentrating more on his singing nowadays. How can he sing in such a high pitch for so long? First of all, singing in high pitch itself is difficult. Secondly, singing continuously for so long is more difficult. You need to be ‘gifted’ to combine both the difficult things together. And A.R. can, because he is – gifted.
Next track was Sasuraal Genda Phool which was an absolute blow in my strict opinion. First of all, the song is deeply rooted in the Indian culture. It’s a baitha song, and dance sequences are not at all required for such kind of songs. But here a dance sequence was planned, and it was a western dance sequence. So funny! It didn’t go well with the sound design and to add to the fun, the mike was off. Entire first verse of the song was missed. Shweta Pandit was overall strictly okay in her singing. Since the mike was off for the initial phrase, Shweta was seen to be struggling to lift the song later. Such a beautiful song was totally wasted due to the dance and the technical error. This song needed the tone which Rekha Bhardwaj has created. Shweta was better in her ‘Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gayee’ sometime later.
The Songs 04: Unplugged Session
In Pune Concert what we missed from A.R., was his absence the keyboards. In Calicut, we heard that the place where the keyboards were placed was unstable. Before the Pune concert, I had told the Calicut story to DV uncle, who personally checked the keyboards place in Pune. He said, ‘I jumped there, and it’s perfectly fine’. So we did expect A.R. on the keyboards this time. But as I said earlier, it looks like A.R. is concentrating more on his singing. When we were dying for A.R. to be on the keyboards, he came with a smile to play the unplugged session with a grand piano!
The unplugged session was the highlight of the night. A.R. took charge of the grand piano to hit some magical chords while Roopkumar Rathod, Hariharan and Rashid Ali backed the vocals. The song selection for the unplugged session was nice. Hariharan’s Tu Hi Re & Dheemi Dheemi set the mood, and got the audience singing along. Rashid Ali’s romantic voice did wonders with ‘Kahin To Hogi Woh’. Next song in the unplugged session, Khamosh Raat was a sweet surprise. Roopkumar was so good in his singing that Hariharan was left stunned, visibly so. The harmony Sa Pa Pa, Ma Ga Ma Ga Ma Pa in the background sounded so sweet. We never wanted the unplugged session to end, but then with Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna and Bharat Humko Jaanse Pyara Hain it was worth! With the patriotic numbers, A.R. made the audience sing along patriotically. Overall the unplugged session was loved by the audience. Piano could have been a little louder but whatever it was, it was sheer magic. A.R. played some aalaaps in Raga Des before ‘Sarfaroshi ki tamanna’ on the piano, and it was mind blasting. It was vintage A.R. We want him back…!
The songs 05:
After the unplugged session, while Hariharan, Roopkumar and A.R. went inside, Rashid Ali took the mike in hands and gave a brief idea about the next track. He said there is an Aditi in every girl and he dedicated the next track to all those Aditis in the crowd. Rashid Ali has got very lovely voice. He doesn’t seem to be a born singer, (basically he’s a guitarist) but still he sings so well. In my opinion, he needs little brushing to his diction and pronunciation to bring the required feel to the songs he sings. But in the concert he was very good. Kabhi Kabhi Aditi set the crowd swinging! We heard people shouting excitedly, ‘3 more albums Rashid, 3 more albums’! 😉
‘Change is the only permanence in the world’. A.R. came on the stage, with a mike, to share the philosophy behind the next song. ‘In Delhi 6, there is a character who is a half Hindu and a half Muslim. And nobody wants him. While working on the film, I got stuck onto this idea. If something or someone is different than us, we should learn to accept it the way it is. Change is also like that. We don’t accept it initially, but we have to accept it. So when we accept it, we should accept it as it is. This is the philosophy behind the next song. I must say I wrote the song for myself.’ Having said this, the man who has changed the entire world of Indian film music, opened lines from my current favorite song – ‘Rehna Tu’. The song has very deep meaning to it, and with A.R. explaining some of his ideas behind the song, it sounded more meaningful. A.R. sung it very beautifully. Towards the end, he replaced the continuum sound with his humming. He continued singing, and so we called his voice a ‘continuum’. He did the humming so perfectly, firmly sticking to the swara. Almost flawless and magical!
Sadhana Sargam entered once again, with a lovely and nostalgic song, ‘Chupke Se’. She has got such a beautiful and smiling voice, but unfortunately she was found struggling during the song. Not her best rendition. I can recollect her singing in the USA – LA concert. She was the soul of the 2000 USA tour! But anyway, it happens in the live performances and we don’t mind. The next track, Neeti Mohan’s Mayya was by far the most flawless performance. She rocked, with her latka and jhatka dance moments. Now I know why most of our group members are in love with her. 😉 Well, not to forget Aslam, his ‘hey jee re’ part was super cool. The variations he gave to the tune while singing jharmar jharmar barse, mehulo was lovely! It was around 9.30 pm now, and I feared the concert would end soon. But nope, there was a grand surprise to come.
The Songs 06: The DJ Medley Track:
I’d already feared they’d end the concert soon, and this one started! But within a minute, this track took us to the limits of craziness, and we were dancing! To tell about this track, it came as a grand surprise, and we were all on our feet! Believe me friends; this track seriously needs a standing ovation! It almost sounded like Kaissiom’s ARRahmanFans Mix 60 Track, but shorter and crispier and crazier. With A.R.’s 30 mega hit songs all-blended-in-one; we were thrown in the nostalgia, and as we couldn’t guess the next song, we were hopping each time the next song was injected in the previous one. The fusing; the blend was way too perfect, and totally incredible and surprising. The way they managed to match the rhythms and place the rhythmic proportions was just mind blowing. It was a great treat indeed! Its overall effect was totally mind blasting. Isaipuyal at his best!
Blaaze and Tanvi came next with Gangsta Blues. Blaaze is a terrific singer. He senses the pulse of the audience so easily, and makes them move on his rap. Adding to that, he has loads of confidence. He’s so talented; he creates the lyrics on the stage with ease, and what more, he can rap with punctuation marks too!
Interval:
Then comes the interval – usually the most boring part in an A.R. concert. But this one was lively and funny. The local politicians were called upon the stage, and the public was shouting a ‘go back’ to them! Seeing the mood of the public, the politicians chose not to speak. But the organizers took the mike and spent a lot of time talking about their ideas, past work, the vision etc. Public wanted them to go back, and it was getting a little messy. All of a sudden, we saw Lata Didi walking towards the stage, and noticed that now public was back to decent behavior. When she took the steps, A.R. came forward to give her a hand to help to come on the stage saying that ‘It’s every music director’s dream to share a stage with her. My dream is coming true for second time, after Hyderabad here in Pune, which is home to her.’
Lata Didi said to the audience, ‘Will you be listening to me, if I say a few words’ and public roared in unison, ‘Yes!’ She recalled some experiences working with A.R. and told once again how great he is. She kept referring to him as Rahman saab. She presented A.R. the photographs of two greatest saints of the land, Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant Tukaram. The organizer Mr. Karad presented A.R. a Puneri Pagdi. At the concert announcement day, they made him wear a Pheta, and now a Pagdi!
A.R. said, ‘I’m tensed to perform before people like Lata Didi and Hridayanath ji (Pt. Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Lata Didi’s brother). Each time I’m going off key, I’m saying Oh God, she’s there!’ Lata Didi said in Marathi, ‘Rahman saab khoopach uttam sangeetkaar ahet, tyanni don Oscars Bhaaratat aanlyet ani tyabaddal me tyanche hardik abhinandan karte!’ and then she said, ‘Oh, A.R. doesn’t understand Marathi, I’ll say this in Hindi.’ And then she repeated the whole sentence in Hindi. A.R. said he understood Marathi as well, touching the pagdi, indicating that once you wear this, you know the local language! In such cheering and tension-free environment the interval ended. Audience did a good job by maintaining a pin-drop silence to hear both the legends. On ending the interval, the entire audience gave a big applaud to show their respect for the legends.
The Songs 07:
Blaaze jumps back on the stage and yay! Its Hey Kala Bandar with Benny. It’s not so popular song our of A.R. fans circle, but goes very well on live stage. Blaaze raps so well, once again! The song ends in no time, and TWS soldiers march with drumbeats. The Shehenshah of music comes back with the mega medley, Azeem-o-shaan – Rukkumani – Veerappaandi Kottaiyile. I have personally experienced the wave of sheer magic in the crowd, and it was fantastic. I am all ears, as ‘my group’ is on the drums. The Wandering Souls! They look just fantastic in the traditional costumes, and they play with attitude – like what A.R. demanded from them on the previous night! Giving a fantastic experience overall, TWS and A.R. went back, and Benny and Shweta entered with the semi melodious Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gayee. Shweta sounds way better than Genda Phool here. Well, it was not her fault that Genda Phool didn’t go well. Live performance is a very big business and so many things are interdependent. Benny does some mistakes, but it’s ignorable. It’s a difficult song to perform live. Overall, Benny and Shweta do justice to the song!
The Songs 08:
Next, the Sufi Medley transported us to the world of divinity. The songs were Khwaja Mere Khwaja and Arziyaan Saari. It’s a truly heavenly experience sitting right in front of A.R. and watching him singing Sufi songs. A.R. was in trance – that divine expression was clearly visible on his face. Raja Hassan and Mohd. Aslam were on the supporting vocals, and they did a nice job too! In my personal observation, the songs did not go well for the rest except for A.R. fans. The songs are too long for people to maintain interest, and there are repeatations. All in all, the sound gets monotonous. Especially Maula Mere Maula sounded too monotonous for a live performance. I did observe people leaving their seats during these songs.
..A.R. and Blaaze suddenly started singing Humma Humma. But hey, where is Hariharan? Hariharan was supposed to sing a beautiful Bandish, with some Marathi words in it, and they had planned it to be the opening surprising sequence for Humma Humma. Seems like the time constraints were a major issue and they had to cut it off. Unfortunate thing for the music lovers!
Finally; Jai Ho & Vande Mataram. All artistes on the stage! Befitting finale! The crowd is mad. Fireworks. Everyone’s on their feet. Rahman mania is everywhere. Pune must have never ever witnessed such a concert. Such a grand one…
Vande… Mataram…!
The rest:
Overall the concert was way much better than the Calicut one in all means. Energy level was the biggest sore point. The crowd gave ‘cool’ responses, as if they were listening to some spiritual lecture. Some of us began shouting & singing prior to the concert, to which the security had objected so, they had to be shut up! Man, we’ve come to see a concert and not a lecture! Crowd gradually woke up and slowly became participative.
In my (and Amith’s) personal opinion, the song selection could have been way much better. Some songs like Athiradee, Gangta Blues, Liquid dance, Kala Bandar, Style, Ringa Ringa were not required in Pune. Instead they could have chosen some melodious numbers. Pune audience is known for its love for hardcore classical & bhaavageet culture, and with this background, the response for the abovementioned songs was little discouraging. Slumdog Millionaire and Delhi 6 soundtracks dominated over the concert. Almost all songs from these movies were performed. Rather than sounding a Rahman concert, it sounded an SdM-D6 concert.
Naveen’s flute was hardly audible, but it was way better than Calicut. He should have been given more scope. But let’s not blame him, as it’s not his fault. Most of the songs were hip-hop numbers. Also, TWS drums were hardly audible too. I was keenly concentrating on the drum sounds, but realized that the main sound was coming from the track. Unfortunately most of the songs were played on track. I remember UOL concerts were so rich in terms of live music.
The sound in Pune concert was way better than Calicut. In Calicut there were too many complaints about it. Here in Pune it took a little time to settle down. Initially the sound was dull and we the-quality-freaks who see the world of music through the ‘sound’ wondered what has happened. As hardcore A.R. fans, we would always demand the best sound. Fortunately, the sound settled later and we could experience the music. By the way, did anyone notice 31st May was H.Sridhar’s birthday?
Whom and what we missed:
We badly missed A.R. on the keyboard. We missed Javed Jaffery. The gaps in between the songs were a major hitch. A good compeer was needed. Javed Jafferey would do a nice job. We did miss ‘Yuvvraaj’ songs a lot. At least Tu muskura or Tu Meri Dost Hain should have been included. We would have really loved to hear Zindagi Zindagi in the unplugged session. We also missed the live strings orchestra sections. The Unity of Light concerts were so rich in live music. And we missed the singers like Karthik, Javed Ali, Sonu, Chitra, SPB, Sreeni, Sujatha. They are too good when it comes to live concerts, and we missed them tremendously. We missed almost 9 songs, which were dropped. Mangta Hain Kya was to be performed almost for the first time, but unfortunately we missed it. We missed Radha Mangeshkar singing Jiya Jale. We missed the vintage A.R. melody. It’s more hip hop, rock & techno now. Last but not the least, we did miss many fellow fans, who were there in Calicut, but couldn’t make it for this one.
The Impact:
I’m sure everyone in the audience was left happy – like us! It was really an ‘experience’ to call it! The concert rocked to the core! It was truly spectacular! Mind blasting! Magnificent! Superb! Too Good! Mesmerizing! Class Apart! Never Before! Truly International! The sound, set, lights, graphics, choreography, and the singer’s performances were really good. Two hundred per cent better than the Calicut concert! Overall impact was just fantastic! The atmosphere was absolutely electrifying. The Rahman mania was at its peaks. We did enjoy a lot, but also missed on meeting up many friends due to the messy, massive, maddening crowd. Never mind, there always exists a next time.
Despite all the positive elements, it took a little time for the public to gear up. When I spoke to organizers, I was given to understand that the people didn’t know how to react. The city of Pune had not seen anything like this ever before, and they were left stunned. But even the young audience was dull in the beginning. No claps, no dances, no singing along. If they were 50,000 only 50 of them were clapping! I think it was due to the standing in the queues for so long, and I think we cannot help it.
But A.R. can, and finally he got all of them on their feet and man, unbelievably, it was his (arguably) best concert so far! I inquired with the organizers if they’re releasing the DVDs and unfortunately they are not!
And the next:
“Okay guys; see you next time, hopefully.” The Yahoo group members said to each other waiving their hands for ‘tata’ before leaving the Pune city. As the readers know, around 50 group members had absolute fun and a freshening experience in Pune. But we are always thirsty for such experiences, and this one may not quench out thirst so easily. So we are waiting to hear that there would be another concert somewhere in India, and without any further ado, we have already decided – we are attending it!
Written by Amith Chandran and Swapnil Mistry
