A SPECTACULAR SHOW FOR
AN OUTSTANDING CAUSE

By Tushar Raman (tusharraman@indiatimes.com

Atlanta – 14th April 2006 – As a journalist based in India, I was recently on a working trip to the United States. I happened to come to Atlanta during my trip and my friend’s family coaxed me into joining them to attend the Heat concert organized by the Robin Raina Foundation.

Having seen a number of these shows in India, I was initially not keen to attend the concert but ended up tagging along nevertheless with my friend to the concert since I have known about the work of the foundation for a while now. Let me admit that little did I expect the concert to be the spectacular experience it turned out to be! I ended up wearing my journalistic boots, taking my pen out and jotting notes to write a review of the concert and the cause associated with it.


The show started at 9 pm and went on precisely till midnight – with no breaks in between. The show was apparently designed to be like a fast paced dance extravaganza, targeted to keep the audience rocking all through the show. And didn’t the show simply sizzle.
The setting was clearly meant to convey the cause associated with the show. The backdrops, the cyclorama and two large side screens all had the backdrop of the foundation showing an under-privileged girl child with the foundation logo and the slogan “Bringing hope to children worldwide” under it. The artists namely Sushmita, Akshay, Saif and Preity took pains to convey the spirit and intent behind the concert. It was frankly rather refreshing to see the artists support the cause and the Robin Raina Foundation with such gusto.

The whole show was supported by audio visual interactive effects coming out of the three large screens, in addition to the rather spectacular pyro effects. A two level stage, 50000 watts of music, three cameras projected on large screens, meticulous choreography and a riot of color with dress changes almost at the drop of a hat, made the concert into a mega show designed to thrill.

The former Miss India Celina Jaitley of “No Entry” fame, came on to the stage with her intro act and put the crowd in the right mood, swaying to hit numbers, including Deedar De, No Entry and Kajra Re. Her performance was energetic, youthful and meant to prepare the audience for the dance extravaganza to follow. She was supported in her performances by a crew of 40 dancers or so who clearly to me were the hidden faces behind the show.


Coming into this show, there were rumours that Saif will not be coming on the tour. With two rather large shows Heat 2006 and Rock Stars planned to hit the US at the same time, it soon became obvious where these rumors came out of and the fact that these rumors were meant to unsettle the Heat 2006 tour’s success.

In any case, there he was – Saif Ali Khan dancing to his best abilities for the Atlanta audience. Saif danced to various songs from his hit numbers through out the concert, some times alone and sometimes with Preity. Each of the dance performances were supported by the carefully rehearsed dancers who matched step by step with the artist. With a recent appendicitis operation, Saif showed his large heart by dancing for the sake of the cause of the Robin Raina Foundation concert.
 

     



At one time, he even raised his vest to show the appendix cut on his abdomen to the audience.

Once Preity Zinta took to the stage, she dimpled her way into everyone's hearts. Attired in Indian wear, she performed to her songs from Hum Tum, Veer Zara and Mission Kashmir.

The Bollywood heartthrob had the audience grooving to the Bumbroo Bumbroo dance routine. Preity’s dance performances had a mix of the traditional and the teeny bopper dance hits that she has come to be known for.

In its inimitable slick manner, the foundation’s rather popular Sponsor a Child “Pinky Ad” was suddenly played on all the large screens in between the show.

 

     


This was followed by a rather moving appeal by the RRF founder Robin Raina asking all present not to forget the intent of the concert and the cause associated with it. In his customary plain-speak manner Robin appealed to all to remember the under-privileged millions in the Indian sub-continent, who struggled to get one proper meal a day.

He made a fervent appeal to all to sponsor at least one underprivileged child’s education, food and shelter sooner rather than later and be the source of hope in that child’s life.

He also thanked Haven Trust Bank for its generosity and support in having paid in excess of $100,000 towards sponsoring the show. The Bank Chairman Mike Patel spoke from the stage, for 2 minutes about the need by all present to support the foundation’s efforts to help the under-privileged.

Riding high on her last few years’ successes in Bollywood, Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen came on next. Her command over the audience, her energy levels, her electric moves and then her pragmatic down to earth way of speaking had the Atlanta audience completely bowled over. She was clearly the Miss Universe of all hearts that night.


She made the audience groove with her as she danced to her hits like “Laga Laga Lage Re” and “Mujse Shaadi Karogi” etc.

Sushmita paid an outstanding tribute to the RRF founder Robin during her performance by saying that “She salutes Robin and the foundation for taking care of the cause of the underprivileged children with such passion and purpose”.

She spent quite some time highlighting some of the foundation work in the Indian subcontinent and the need for people to support the foundation in its endeavors. She specifically referred to the foundation’s work in Pakistan and its sponsoring a ward at Imran Khan’s Shaukat Khannum Cancer Hospital at Lahore.


For me, the moment of the show was when Susmita walked through the crowd gyrating and speaking to them and caught hold of a blond girl. There was pin drop silence in the audience as the blond American six year old from the crowd on being asked by Sushmita what her name was, replied –“I have cancer.” Sushmita took the child in her lap and said – “Everything will be okay.. I will be back to dance with you in front of Atlanta as you will soon be fine”.

Sushmita also gifted her hat to the blonde girl after autographing it for her.

The atmosphere in Hot-Atlanta was ignited further as 'heat’ built up with the appearance of Akshay Kumar on the stage. Undoubtedly Akshay Kumar was expected to take the stage by storm but not before the ladies too had done their bit! The dancing action hero Akshay Kumar was the 'star' of the show in his trademark shades, as he incorporated his martial arts training with his dancing prowess. His interactive session with the audience had him jumping on and off the stage on more than one occasion where he could be seen pushing aside frantic fans who came too close to him. He displayed his vocal skills with a solo rendition of 'Bheege Honth Tere', accompanied onstage by the Italian ballad dancer Jennifer whose spirited performance really shook up the crowd.


He had the crowd eating out of his hands as he mingled with them as he sang and danced on top of chairs, tables, sitting on the edge of the stage railing etc.

This was followed by Saif playing the guitar and singing a song. The women in the crowd could be seen swooning and shrieking his name. He invited a young lady from the audience on the stage at random, danced with her, and finally gifted his guitar to her after autographing it. The trip from North Carolina was clearly worth it for the young lady, who had driven to watch the show with her friends.

Preity joined Saif on the stage as they brought in a couple from South Carolina to the stage and indulged in the typical Salaam Namaste brand of humor that both have been known for. They had the audience in splits with their tongue in cheek humor.


The foundation also made an appeal during the show to the people present to donate money to the Danyal Ali Cancer Fund as they walked out after the show, to support the bone marrow transplant operation of Danyal Ali. The foundation had Danyal Ali’s mother Samina Ali outside with two tables to raise funds for her son’s treatment. The foundation had already donated $5000 to the fund on its own a few days back. The appeal clearly had its effect as it resulted in the spectatators donating in cash a total sum of $3000 to Danyal Ali’s fund while walking out of the auditorium, at the end of the show.

The final act had the Atlanta crowd on its feet as Preity, Saif, Akshay, Celina and Sushmita took centre stage dancing and waving to the audience. They were then joined in by the dancers, choreographers and the Director Abu Malik on the stage, as they made a final bow to the audience.

As I walked out of the auditorium, my journalistic instincts took over and I decided to speak to a few folks to get their review of the show. A Tennessee gentleman called it “simply electric”. Another Winston Salem spectator called the show “amongst the best he had seen”. An Atlanta based spectator called it “Outstanding but something he had come to expect from the foundation shows”.


A local media journalist spectator on being asked by me about the show said “RRF continues to undoubtedly energize the Atlanta entertainment scene – let us see whether they can get Big B next to Atlanta.” A real estate agent spectator called it “most impressive” Another young lady from Marietta said “Hats off to the foundation for what they do and how they do everything.”
 

 
     

On being quizzed by me about the security challenges of having to protect Akshay as he mingled with the crowd, the security chief at Gwinnett Arena – an American gentleman said “His performance and the response from the audience reminded me of the Bon Jovi show -this guy rocks.”

If there was anything negative about the show from the spectators, it was the refrain from a few that some $55 ticket holders had climbed down into some of the vacant higher category seats. On being asked, the foundation spokesperson indicated that they expect people to follow the rules and in any case the mistakes of a few cannot take away the positive behavior of the rest of the audience.

I also had the opportunity to speak to the Heat 2006 Director Abu Malik later, who called the Atlanta audience “the best on this US tour” and the foundation’s effort “extremely polished and professional.”

If this concert was anything to go by, the foundation is clearly set to raise the benchmark of shows in the US. The commitment of the artists, the response of the audience, the glitz of the show, the passion of the organizers and the cause behind the show made this concert - an outright winner in my book!