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There are two unique things that always stand out in any event
hosted by the Raina Foundation. The hard work that the
volunteers put in, and the way the audience gets into the skin
of things to show support for the foundation’s charitable work
and the stars it brings for its charity shows.
Sonu Nigam came to Atlanta more than 5 years ago. That night
there was a huge storm, and yet he performed to a sold out
audience. He was funny, endearing, and full of fun as he belted
out one number after the other. However that time he was part of
an entourage that comprised of not just his dad Agam Kumar, but
the powerhouse voice of Jaspinder Narula and her brother Micky,
a surprisingly good singer.
This time at the gorgeous Fox Theater, which seems to have
become the domain of the stylish Robin Raina, it was an older,
more mature Sonu Nigam who dominated the stage at the sold out
show hosted on August 19th by the Robin Raina Foundation. In the
past five years Sonu has had to go through a lot of negative
stuff that has hurt him but in turn also made him more deeply
spiritual. He has also decided to cut himself off from singing
songs just to add to his fortune. In an interview Sonu admitted
that of the 300 odd songs he sang in the past couple of years
for films, there may be a dozen that fulfilled him as a singer.
He is now going to focus more on private albums and sing only
those film songs that challenge him as a singer.
The show began at 8.15 p.m. as queues of people were still
trying to get their tickets from the Will Call booth. Many who
thought they could buy at the show as Indians are prone to do
may have gone home disappointed.
The show began with a few songs from petite singer Soumya Rao.
Perhaps what most people in the audience didn’t know was that
Soumya has hundreds of songs to her credit. She began her career
in singing by belting out songs for the legendary music Ilyaraja,
who mentored A.R. Rahman. Her first big hit was the song
Greekuveerudu from the Telugu film Ninne Pelladatha that had the
lead pair of top notch stars like Nagarjuna and Tabu. The song
was the number 1 hit for more than 20 consecutive weeks, and
Soumya became the new singing sensation in the South Indian film
industry. She moved to Bombay at the request of music director
Sandeep Chowta and has sung for many top notch Bollywood films.
She began her segment with Ankhon me raho from the film Company
and went on to sing Nach Baliye from Bunty aur Babli among other
numbers. She has a pleasing voice which is well trained and
powerful, a surprise for someone as petite as her.
Then came the moment that everyone was waiting for. If anyone
had forgotten what a nectar sweet velvety voice Sonu Nigam has
and what a huge range, it was reinforced several times over
throughout the performance. Sonu’s voice serenaded the crowd
with the classical notes behind the blockbuster song Kal Ho na
Ho before he went on to sing the song. This was followed by
Suraj Hua Madham. Sonu then spoke to the audience thanking them
for coming out in such large numbers to support the good work
done by Robin Raina and his foundation. In return he was going
to go all out in making August 19th a memorable night for
everyone.
Sonu sang Mera Rang de basanti from Shaheed Bhagat Singh, to
other block busters, Chanda ki Doli mein from his private album
of the same name, Sun zara soniye sun zara, from Lucky and mere
haath main from the film Fanaa and had the crowd rocking to
gumshuda and chalte chalte, mujh se shaadi karogi, and the old
Kajra Mohabbat wala.
The concert in Atlanta was only the second one of the tour and
Sonu said everyone was still suffering from jetlag and not just
that, 21 of their suitcases didn’t come from India when they
stepped on stage to perform in Raleigh North Carolina for their
first concert, but coming to Atlanta and seeing such positive
energy and an audience that was being so supportive had taken
him to a new high. He also said he was really happy to be
performing with his very talented live band, breaking the norm
of lipsyncing and singing on pre-recorded tracks as many
performers are doing these days.
He recalled the time when in 1991 he was only 19 years old and
had struggled and struggled to make a foothold in the music
industry and finally got to sing the sorrowful acha sila diya
tune mere pyar ka from Sanam Bewafa. “The next thing I knew I
started getting all these sad songs, where I sang about death
and dying and crying. So while all the uncles were singing sexy,
romantic numbers I was singing about when I die you’ll cry on my
grave, kind of songs.” Sonu said he decided then to go for a
total style change and gave a hilarious demonstration of how he
went from classical to the cacophonic-but it worked and the
singer hasn’t looked back since then. He went on to sing Just
chill chill, to show what his stylistic change brought him.
Sonu went on to bring the house down with Kiska hai yeh tumko
intezar main hoon na. Sonu also did several variations and
linked several songs based on the same notes, like tu jahan
jahan chalega mera saya saath hoga, maine tere liye hi saath
rang ke sapne chune, phoolon ke rang se and then back to kiska
hai yeh tumko intezar main hoon na.
He then invited two hysterical female fans of his and sang
Bijuria for them after getting them to croon the song they
wanted to hear which they did sportingly.
The second half started with Soumya singing Do lafzon ki hai dil
ki Kahani and the big hit of last year Kajra re from Bunty aur
Bubbly.
After that it was the turn of Sonu Nigam’s father Agam Kumar who
has been on stage since the 1970s and has performed all over the
world. The influence of Mohammed Rafi is evident in the voices
of both father and son and more so in the father who can sing
Rafi to perfection. That night which also happened to be Agam
Kumar’s birthday, the youthful father of the singing star wowed
the audiences with a pitch perfect rendition of three Rafi
numbers-O door ke Musafir, Yeh Mera prem patra padh kar and
Muhabbat Zinda rehti hai. Unlike last time when he was not
accorded the respect he deserved, Agam Kumar was lustily cheered
by a dazzled audience. The senior Nigam is riding high these
days as his latest album with T-Series,” Bewafaai”, has sold
over 2 million copies.
Sonu came back to sing several other hits- Kabhi Alvida na Kehna,
and tum se milke dil ka hai jo haal kya kahen..from the block
buster Main hoon na..his variation on the romantic, “Hai” that
Shahrukh Khan lipsynced on celluloid had the crowd going crazy
with girls screaming “ We love you Sonu,”. He also took requests
from the audience and sang as many songs as he could when he was
able to hear the requests through the screams and chaos of the
excited audience. Sonu showed his range when he chose to sing
Bole chudiyan from Yaadein and sang the female and the male
segments as Soumya Rao who had arrived on stage to do some duets
with him started laughing. The chart toppers, Mahi Ve, Yeh dil
diwana, Tera rang balle balle followed and finally he
re-serenaded the audience with Kal ho na ho again.
Sonu was visibly moved by a fantastic audience response and said
he deeply appreciated the fact that the audience clapped,
laughed, and screamed at all the right places. Robin Raina
thanked his sponsors and his friend Talat Aziz, the ghazal
maestro who is also donning a business cap these days and was
the man behind this tour. For Robin, every concert that inspires
people to sponsor an under-privileged child is worth doing. His
focus is also to bring uniquely different events each time and
not repeat himself. After the concert Robin said he was really
relaxed during the preparation of this show.” I think more than
me it’s my volunteers who really have got the hang of
everything. When I went to the venue around 3 p.m. I saw
everything had already been put in place and the atmosphere was
very relaxed. I also knew that because of Talat Aziz who is a
dear friend, things will go smoothly. I was very touched by Sonu
as a person. He is a straight shooter, but his warmth came
across both on stage and off it when I spoke with him. I think
the audience saw why Sonu is at the top of his game. He is truly
talented.”
Perhaps the only discordant notes in the show were the shabbily
dressed dancers many of whom were over weight and spilled out of
their clothes-and the emcee Manasi Verma who was an eyesore and
an ear-sore. It should be understood by those who conceptualize
these concerts that a person like Sonu Nigam is a complete
package in himself. His talent and his personality, his ability
to interact with people is enthralling in itself and a high
caliber artist like him doesn’t need these unnecessary props. I
also wish that we would do away with bringing horribly inept
emcees into these shows. In fact we need to delete the concept
of emcees totally, most of whom don’t deserve to be there
because they don’t add to the show at all. Most of the actors
and singers today are very media and public savvy and very well
educated. They don’t need frumpy, shrieky voiced female emcees
to introduce them to an audience that already knows who they
are.
At the end of the show the audience streamed out absolutely
thrilled with Sonu Nigam and his father. Many liked Soumya’s
low-keyed charm and warmth as she gracefully got the audience
involved by getting them to clap along with her songs as did
Sonu. The biggest kudos must go to the audience for making it
such a thrilling experience for the performers. Their enthusiasm
and affection for Sonu and Robin’s passion for charitable work,
was the ultimate icing on the cake.
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