Rahman's Jai Ho Live Concert - Rahmania!!!

As someone SMSed to the giant screen, we had Superman, Spiderman, Batman. Now we have RahMan! Over the years, that is what an immensely talented and unwaveringly hardworking Rahman has become - a phenomenon.

AR Rahman performed live in Hyderabad yesterday at the brand new GMR arena in the Shamshabad airport premises. This Jai Ho concert is part of the worldwide tour Rahman embarked on. It was a treat to watch, especially for someone like me who missed his previous live here some 7 years ago. My beloved, myself and my buddy Harisha trooped in along with thousands of entertainment thirsty Hyderabadis and caused a traffic jam within the sprawling airport. Nevertheless, the organizers managed it well and pulled off the event successfully. Rahman rocked with his troop comprising of Benny Dayal, Blaaze, Rashid Ali, Sivamani, Chitra, Saadhana Sargam, Suzanne, Swetha Pandit etc.

The concert started just after 7.00 PM and lasted till 10:30 PM. Rahman started with 'Khalbali..' and then with 'adharani vadu' from Shivaji. Rahman was warming up and the crowds were settling in. Cops did a good job with crowd management thanks to the high-profile event managers. The evening was spiced up further by some almost comic singing from Vijay Prakash who, if i got it right, was introduced my Rahman as one 'who belongs to this land'. I am not sure though if Vijay Prakash is a local . He simply overdid singing 'Paruvam vaanaga..' from Roja and it was fun watching him doing that on one of the numerous screens mounted all around. He continued the same later with the 'O Cheliya Naa priyasakive..' number from 'Premikudu'. The song bought back memories how BEAUTIFULLY it was sung by Unnikrishnan. If God has a voice, that was it, that was it :) Too bad, he was not around yesterday. But then, this was more than made up with an explosive performance of 'Koncham Neeru Knocham Nippu..' from 'Donga Donga'. The dancers were amazing in the song.

Rahman who worked mainly in Tamil and Hindi and whose original Tamil songs are dubbed into Telugu invariably gets caught in language limbo when performing in Hyderabad. Someone who grew up mesmerised by Lata Mangeshkar's 'Jiya jale zaa jale' in Dil se would find it hard to take that song sung in Telugu. In fact, I was shocked when the beautiful 'Fiqraana' from Blue was sung in Telugu! I mean this movie, unlike Dil Se, didn't even work and no one knows it's Telugu songs. So the choice to sing in Telugu is baffling especially when the Hindi version of the song is so popular. Similarly, Jashn E Bahaara is sung in Telugu. In fact songs from 'Shivaji' should have been sung in Telugu instead of Tamil as they are popular here. This limbo somehow highlights the immense success Rahman enjoyed all over the country.

While the strictly Hindi audience revelled in numbers from 'Delhi 6 (Rehna Tu)',' Jodha Akbar ', Rang De Basanti, Rangeela and Dil Se (title song), Telugu and Tamil audience revelled in numbers from 'Sakhi', 'Roja', 'Shivaji', 'Bombay', 'Yuva', 'Premikudu', 'Amritha'. Some other wildly successful performances have been 'Mustafa Mustafa..' and a sitar instrumental. Blaaze simply rocked and almost everyone grooved wildly for 'Humma Humma..'. Talk about growing up years and their influences we carry forever.

Almost everyone would have felt bored with a GMR and Saakshi TV sponsered tribute for YSR with 'Sarfaroshi ki tamanna..'. I only thanked Rahman in my heart for sparing 'Lukka Chuppi..' for the same! In addition to this song, I missed some more like 'Masakkali', 'Thee Thee Thiyyani (Donga Donga), something from 'Iddaru' etc..But then not all from a 2 decade career can be accomodated in a single show. After all, we need another ARR Live :)

Rahman aptly closed the concert with 'Jai Ho' and 'Vandemataram' with some stunning fireworks lighting up the sky and the crowds grooving and clapping. Jai Ho Rahman. We trooped out, caught a cab, had a laugh about Vijay Prakash, and were discussing AR Rahman and his first name while the Muslim cab driver proudly chipped in. Rahman, what a leveller!