An outstanding charity concert, organised by Garia Mitali Sangha and presented by Tochon Ghosh and Bonny Ghosh at Netaji Indoor Stadium featured two luminaries of the Bollywood music industry, Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan. My middle-class ticket surprisingly provided me a great vantage point to view the sitare up close and personal with close proximity to the stage. The best part is that Sonu and Sunidhi did not Bongofy their acts and the gung-ho Bengalis still lapped it up proving the fact that Ishq-Vishq, Entertainment Mein Sabse Aage No. 1 Punjabi.
The comperes and the cover version artists did a ho-hum job. There were a group of young girls who performed to Dola Re, Ghoomar at the beginning but they were unceremoniously booed down from the stage. Sunidhi started her act with the pulsating Dhoom Machale. She was dressed in skinny black jeans, black vest and a shining silver jacket that added glamour and oomph to her Rockstar persona. She upped the tempo of the audience with Crazy Kire Re followed by Sajna Diwani, Ishq Sufiana, Aani Aani Aani Aani Loot Gaya etc in close succession. Her voice was strong and powerful and she exuded vitality and attitude akin to a teenybopper in keeping with the contemporary and upbeat numbers she belted out. She sang Main Badiya Tu Badiya from Sanju but unfortunately it was not a duet with Sonu Nigam. Sunidhi initiated an epic GIRL POWER moment when she asked all the girls and ladies in the audience to stand up and join her in her moves to Desi Girl. The she did a superb rendition of Race Sason Ki, Disco Deewane, Dil Ding Dong Ding Bole, Didar De from Dus, Aisa Jadoo Dala re and it was refreshing to watch the singing sensation perform with such energy and vibrance even for a charity show. The acoustics were at international standards and were a delight to experience. Sunidhi performed Bidi Jalai Le without paying heed to the non-smoking dictum of the indoor stadium and her multi-dimensional voice was a cross between those of Usha Uthup and Ila Arun. Her item songs were a big hit amongst the audience fed on regular doses of such fare in the music channels. Interestingly the ladies in the crowd screamed for “Sheila Ki Jawani” leaving the men bemused but turned on nevertheless. Sunidhi had a clear western influence in her choice of songs and she often used English songs as the mukhra of her Hindi songs displaying the wide range of her voice.
Sunidhi warmed up the audience considerably setting the stage for Sonu Nigam who made his entry with a lot of flamboyance amidst cheering crowds who screamed “Sonu!Sonu!”. He started off with Chalte Chalte Mere Yeh Geet Yaad Rakhna, followed by the heart-thumping Yeh Dil Hain Deewana from Pardes and the absolute crowd pleaser Suraj Hua Madhyam. He had an interactive style of singing and started each song with a mellow mukhra while petering off slowly with the antaras. He would sometimes walk towards us and then walk away and every time he did that our hearts would say “Palat”. I called it a night at 9 pm since Sonu’s was a repeat act of what he had already performed in Kolkata few months back and I needed to beat the crowds. I came out of the stadium rejuvenated and energised with Bhangra Paale Aaja Aaja ringing in my mind.
AninditaRoyMusings 