An Incredibly Good Show by the
Incredibles for the
Raina
Foundation
By Kavita Chhibber
Photos: Aaron Tikkoo
Asha Bhosle-the superstar legend, Sonu Nigam the superstar and
legend in the making, Kailash Kher-the man who has both A.R.
Rahman and the reclusive actor Amir Khan raving about his unique
voice, and Kunal Ganjawala, the man who put Bheegey Hont Tere on
everyone’s lips. Just one of these names is enough to get you
rocking: put all of them together and you have the show of the
year and I’m glad Atlanta got to be the venue for it.
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Robin Raina Foundation has become a brand name in a very
short time combining not just charity with celebrity, it is now
fast becoming the brand name for spectacular shows which keep
getting better each year. The show on 17th June at the dazzling
Fox Theater was another example of how Robin Raina pulls all the
stops to give the audience more than their money’s worth.
The show started late because all the artists were stranded due
to inclement weather in Calgary from where they were to arrive
on the morning of the show. Instead, they ended up being awake
from 4 a.m. sitting at different airports waiting for delayed
flights to finally take off. Many of the artists reached barely
an hour before the show-Kailash Kher came straight from the
airport and in spite of being exhausted showed up at the venue
as quickly as they possibly could.
There was no time to do a sound check, and it was during the
first segment which introduced a US based singer Gunjan, that
the sound check was being conducted while she was singing.
Gunjan set the ball rolling with two hit numbers Crazy Kiya Re
from Dhoom 2 and Beedi from Omkara and did a good job with both
numbers.
Then Kunal Ganjawala took over the stage. I have not seen any
young artist in any event so far, who would come on stage in a
show of this level and completely dominate the stage and bowl
over the audience, but Ganjawala just rocked! He has seen
meteoric rise in the past 3-4 years from the days he says he was
not even a bathroom singer and discovered his talent for singing
at a college ragging session by seniors. Today Ganjawala has a
lot of blockbuster songs to his name and has also become a hit
singer of Kannada songs. He set the pace with Is Taal Taal Mein
hum tum Karen Dhamaal, and went on to belt out Tere Bin, Janabe
Ali, Dil Na Diya, Salaam Namaste, the lovely Channa Ve before he
went on to his swan song Bheegey Hont Tere. The sound system was
still a bit messed up but Kunal was totally as cool as he worked
with the sound guys and worked the crowd with warmth, and
patience until the system was where it should have been. He
actually did the sound check in essence for all the singers, and
then came down to mingle with the crowd, sang and danced his way
to entertain the sold out audience that was even more sold on
him when he left.
The crowd was still roaring, and it set the stage for Kailash
Kher to take over from where Kunal had left. For Kher whose
voice has made A.R Rahman say-Kailash
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Kher’s voice has the fragrance of the soil of India and Amir
Khan exult that Kailash’s voice is the only one that is complete
music for the ears, it was a bygone conclusion that this man was
going to rock the stage. And he didn’t disappoint. A voice that
soared beyond the malfunctioning microphones, the magic of
Kailash Kher began with a number that has so many people still
crazy over it-Teri Diwani, to Tauba Tauba, Allah Ke Bande, Chak
de phatte, and the soulful Tere Bin nai Lagda Dil mera Dholna,
and he had people dancing to O sikander, and Ya Rabba, Piya Re
and the title track from Mangal Pandey. He also sang from his
new album Kailasa Jhoomo Re-the purity, range, and earthiness of
Kailash Kher’s voice is as dazzling as his warmth and a 1000
watt smile.
Kher who said this was his first time to be on stage for a show
of this grand level in the US so he didn’t know the nuances of
how to work the stage, need not have worried. His humorous
comments, anecdotes delivered in chaste Hindi, the mischievous
twinkle in his eyes and just the joy and freedom with which he
sings, had the crowd roaring through the segment.
As he left, amidst a deafening applause, the next segment
heralded the arrival of the woman who still remains the youthful
legend of yesterday, today and tomorrow. At 74, with 60 years of
entertaining several generations of music lovers, and ageless as
ever, Asha Bhosle walked in, resplendent in a beautiful yellow
sari, to catcalls and a standing ovation. You would not have
known that she had not slept for hours, had barely managed to
take a quick shower and shown up on stage without any fuss. Her
magical spell was cast over an audience of all age groups as she
regaled everyone with jokes, went down memory lane reminiscing
about how she had entertained the grand parents, parents and now
their children and grandchildren over 6 decades and how music
and songs had changed over the years. She said she sang for the
first time in 1943 when she was barely ten and a song was Chanda
mama door ke. Then as she moved to more seductive numbers it
created quite a buzz and people across state lines whispered in
various Indian dialects-who are this Asha Bhosle? She is
misleading our boys! Asha became the voice of Helen and sang
songs like Aao Na gale lagao Na(Come on, come closer embrace
me!) and when the youngsters decided to leave for foreign
shores, her voice followed them with the soulful Jaiye aap kahan
jayenge?( Go, how far will you go?)
Asha ji then went on to mesmerize the audience with beautiful
numbers like Chura Liya Hai Tumne, Dum Maro Dum, a beautiful
fresh touch to In Ankhon Ki Masti mein from Umrao Jaan, and the
sexy number Yeh mera dil yaar ka diwana. She sang Punjabi tappe.
Then Asha ji made fun of remixes and mentioned how beautifully
she had sung the song Chod do anchal zamana kya kahega(let go of
my long scarf(worn with Indian outfits) what will the world
say?) and then she sees a remix where the woman is wearing pants
and a shirt and singing the song. “There wasn’t any long scarf
to grab on to so how could she say let go of it?” quipped Asha
amidst laughter. Then she said “I have five year old twin
grandchildren and my grand daughter brought this cd to me and
said Grandma, please sing this song..So here I’m doing as she
said.” Donning a cap Asha ji went into a rendition of the famous
Himesh Reshamiyya number “ Jhalak Dikhla ja” Imitating
Reshamiyya to a T she brought the house down. She also sang Piya
Tu accompanied by Kunal Ganjawala, did the twist, and came down
escorted by him to mingle with the ecstatic audience, some of
whom touched her feet, others stood up to applaud a woman who
remains a show stopper for 60 years.
The stage was then set for the final artist of the show-Sonu
Nigam whose voice echoed the alaap of the title song from the
Karan Johar blockbuster Kal Ho Na Ho as he came in with a swirl
of
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dancers camouflaging him with a colorful cloth cover that
spelt the letter S, Superman style! Sonu was received with roars
and cheers and said mischievously that he had no idea he would
have to wait for 3 hours to come on stage! Sonu then took over
from where Asha ji left, and showed the audience why he is such
a phenomenon. His range, sweetness of voice, humor and wit as
well as talent in so many different genres of entertainment
makes him a consummate artist. He entertained the audience with
fun songs like Tum se mil ke dil ka hai jo haal Kya Kahen, mera
rang de basanti chola from Bhagat Singh, Tere Haath mein Mera
Haath hai from Fanaa, and of course the song Aaj ki Raat, where
Sonu sang his segment and the others sung by Alisha Chinoy and
Mahalaxmi Iyer himself in a female voice, which brought the
house down as did Kajra Mohabbat wala.
Sonu had the audience participating as he would get them to sing
with him.
Perhaps the most enjoyable segment that Sonu does in his shows
is how he creates a garland of songs sung through the years and
composed from the same raga. I had asked him in an interview
what he thought of the constant observation that the golden
years of music were when Rafi, Kishore, Mukesh and Manna Dey and
master musicians of that time reigned. Sonu feels that music is
music, what has changed is how the music is executed. He sang
Man Tadpat Hari Darshan ko aaj, didi tera devar diwana, chingari
koi bhadke and Saathiya as examples of songs emerging from the
same fountain of melody. He then went on to sing the lilting
title song of Salame Ishq but what brought the house down was
his superb rendition of the Bee gees number Staying Alive.
Sonu also shared the fact that he will be a dad this month. We
missed his dad Agam Kumar Nigam who was present at some of the
concerts on the tour and even sang a duet with Sonu but had to
go back to complete his new album. Also missing were some duets
Sonu had sung with Asha ji in other venues.
Perhaps the sore points in the concert were the fact that the
awful dancers were back as part of the show as was Manasi Verma
who really isn’t needed. All the artists these days are very
articulate and can do a great job of interacting with the
audience and could have easily welcomed the next artist
following them as they left. The singers were stellar and I keep
saying this in every concert-don’t add unnecessary paraphernalia
in shows like this where there is no weak point to hide. It is
extremely distracting to see clumsy dancers in ridiculous gear,
stumbling their way around a singer who is outstanding and
doesn’t need these props.
Another thing that really needs to change is the uncouth
behavior of a segment of the audience which was drunk, and
restless and misbehaved. For Robin Raina, whose team has worked
so hard since the past four years to bring hope to the
underprivileged
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the world over, it was disheartening to see that kind of
behavior where they booed Farhana from Delta and Mumtaz from
Mumtaz Fashions who have always supported most endeavors in the
Atlanta community through their enterprises. “ It makes me feel
that a segment of society, does not understand or appreciate the
goals and commitment of this foundation, and for whom this show
was nothing more than a song and dance thing.” Robin received
several emails from other audience members who apologized on
behalf of the rowdy segment, and told him how much they loved
the show and support the causes he espouses.
As with every Raina Foundation show this one too was a fund
raiser for building safe homes for slum dwellers in Bawana which
has become one of the biggest slum areas in India. “The slum
dwellers have been given land but don’t have the ability to
build safe structures for themselves,” says Raina. “ As a result
many people have been dying due to fires set by women trying to
cook. We run a state of the art school in Bawana for 400 kids of
these slum dwellers and since past few months I have been
working with architects to arrive at an economical and sensible
way to provide these slum dwellers safe and livable homes.”
Raina says his goal is to build 6000 homes for starters but even
at the most economically viable level, they need 250,000 dollars
for every 1000 homes they build.
Asha Bhosle said she has loved being a part of the foundation’s
charity shows since the past two years as giving hope and
education to underprivileged children is a cause dear to her
heart. Sonu Nigam said that because his show last year was such
a success he personally felt that the entire Incredible Tour was
resting on the laurels of the show done previously and he looked
forward always to supporting this noble cause. He deeply
appreciates the wonderful Atlanta audience. Kailash Kher met
Robin on a flight and was immediately hooked when he heard all
that Robin was doing and wanted to come on board.
Weeks have passed since the show got over and people are still
talking about it and many who couldn’t make it are hoping
fervently that there would be an encore next year.
For Robin the path is very clear, ‘ I am not a show Promoter,
nor do I ever want to be. I know that if there was no social
cause there would be no show under my banner. For me the most
satisfying thing is the strides we have taken towards achieving
the goals we set and nothing gives me more joy to see that
thanks to these fundraisers there are some blind children who
now are receiving High education and can fend for themselves. We
see confident and smart young kids in our schools in the slum
areas, and so many women have been able to stand on their own
feet with our support. But what we have achieved is only a drop
in the ocean. There is so much that needs to be done, always.”
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