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.”
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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!
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