AR Concert Review Part 4

Ok part 4... This review is getting more and more extensive day by day... Unexpectedly... I have decided to cut down on a lot of detail... So lets just see how it goes... I still haven't got to the half way mark yet... :S... I'll describe the highlights of the night in more detail and the rest will not be as detailed... So here goes...

Here was something that was definitely a highlight for the night... Unni Menon sang Yenna Vilae Azhagae from the movie Kadhalar Dhinam... I do not like the song... And previously I was under the impression Unni Menon was not a great stage performer... When he was introduced he got minimal claps, so I decided to scream and yell, just to make things a bit more lively... He gave a little intro and spoke... And then started singing... His voice was wonderful... Very unexpectedly... The crowds got really into it... The mobile phones started coming out one by one... Soon the audience glittered like the night sky... After the song finished, he got a massive response from the audience... At least 4-fold the amount he got when he was introduced to sing the song... Now there's a real performance... Truly Amazing...

Unni Menon

Next was Vennilavae Vennilavae from Minsara Kanavu... Sung by the duo Hariharan and Sadhana yet again... Sung fairly well, the thing to look out was for Hariharan's antics in this song... He got totally into it... Once after a solo bit that Sadhana sang, he pulled her hand and twirled her around... Seemed like she was caught off guard but of course it was totally planned... Same thing happened in the Melbourne concert... Entertaining performance and a very melodious number... One of my favs... (Hindi & Thamizh)

This pic is here because of the background I thought it was awesome!

Little Kailash Kher was back on stage again... Greated by many yells and screams of joy... The song he sang was Jinthamma Thullachamma... I have heard this song before and really like the beat behind it but have no idea whether these are the actual words or anything else about it... Kailash's powerful voice was backed up by the ever lively chorus singers swaying and dancing singing along... Those words (Jinthamma Thullachamma ) were sung again and again by them... A very lively foot tapping number! Loved this song... Still got it in my head... :)

Madhushree's turn again... The song was the hindi equivalent of Sandhai Kozhi from Ayuthu Ezhuthu, Yuva is the movie in hindi... Not much to say about this... Not really a highlight... Neverthless enjoyable of course... She sang a little in Thamizh and a LOT in Hindi... Still no grunts or grudges... She is a singer that really gets into what she's singing and that makes things more enjoyable... So enjoy is what we did...

Now it was turn for an old-timer... Deepan Chakravarthi... He sang Enna Solla Pogirai from Kandukondaen Kandukondean... The song I kind of liked in the movie... He seemed to be out of touch or something... There was a lot lacking... He went off tune a lot... Poor performance... Probably worst for the night in terms of singing...

Deepan Chakravarthy

Next up was Pachaai Nirammai from Alaipaithey, once again sung in both Hindi and Thamizh... Extremely well sung... Hariharan was the usual Hariharan, lively and he sang well... Not off-tune yet.. .Although when he sang this in Thamizh he did mis-pronounce a lot... Which is shocking... Ranjith did a great job... He seems to be a very promising singer and definitely one to look out for... Awesome performance for this basically...

Hariharan and Ranjith, both with a unique fashion sense! ;)

A song from Lagaan at last, I was waiting for a while for this to happen and here it was finally!!! O'Re Chori, from Lagaan was sung ever so beautifully by Alka Yagnik... Before starting it she said... For some reason Rahman always calls me for songs with Saaveri in it... You know what... She was sooo right... Every song he sung had that word in it... All extremely beautiful songs... She belted it out in style... Excellent performance... Definitely clearly better than Madhushree and Sadhana (of course not better than my favs Chitra but close to it)... A very dynamic voice for a very melodious song... Went extremely well together... :)

Alka Yagnik singing, full of might... The conductor standing at the back looking on with pride! :)

Next was Asmal and Alka singing Taal Se Taal from the movie... Taal of course... Beautiful song... They sang the fast version and Alka as usual was fantastic and Asmal did a very commendable job as well... They managed to really bring the song to life... Of course with the help of the wonderful and very lively chorus and the magnificant and in-synch orchestra... Great stuff!!! Beautiful song... A pleasure to hear live!!!

The pace of the songs gradually built up... Hum ma Hum ma... from Bombay was the song... AR and Blaaze were the singers... Blaaze started with a Humma Humma can you say Humma... Then AR followed... It became like a sort of competition... A few comments by Blaaze here and then followed by AR singing... Then AR did a little laugh...continued the song... And then they started the actual song... It was electrifying... Everyone got really into it... No one really danced... But nevertheless there was never a lack of enthusiasm... Towards the end of the song they started building the pace up with the Humma's... The crowd got clapping and really tapping their feet!!!

Blaaze and AR Rahman, really into the singing! Humma Humma... Say Humma!

Blaaze followed this by a bit of his B-A-B-A's... Baba thats what they say... ;) Awesome lively performance... Rapping is not my kinda thing in general... But I liked this... The Indian flair to it was awesome and just the touch it needed believe it or not... It wasn't much different from the actual song, but for the fact that the music was jarring and the crowd was having fun, increasing the enjoyability level immensely!!! ;)

Alright... So here it was the unnoficial interval... A break in momentum of the songs... The MC burst out onto the stage followed by Eminem... Yes thats right M&M (oops did I spell it wrong b4... ;) )... M & M were the initials of the organisers of the concerts and the people who ran the Charity Charindaa (acronym for "Charities through Indian Arts in Australia" )... They did a few minutes of talking and thanking and then... There was an announcement that there were a couple of special guests sitting in the audience amongst us... So here they are... Drumroll... Steve Waugh (Australian Cricketing Great), Baz Luhrmann (massive Hollywood director, Moulin Rouge being one of his recent famous films), Shankar (massive Kollywood director) & Ganapathi (Counsel General of Aus... (how boring... ;) lol... ))...

M1, Steve Waugh, AR Rahman & M2

Steve Waugh was here for supporting the organisation Charindaa and to see the great AR Live in Concert... Baz Luhrmann says, "I had come to the music of AR Rahman through the emotional and haunting score of ' Bombay ' and the wit and celebration of 'Lagaan'. But the more of AR's music I encountered the more I was to be amazed at the sheer diversity of styles: from swinging brass bands to triumphant anthems; from joyous pop to West-End musicals ('Bombay Dreams'). Whatever the style, AR Rahman's music always possesses a profound sense of humanity and spirit, qualities that inspire me the most." Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge is said to have been inspired by Bollywood themes... So now wonder he was at the concert... But how about director Shankar??? Does that mean AR is the music direction... I think the possibilities are extremely high... So a high chance that the music director for the next hit flick from Shankar is... ***AR! AR! AR!*** :)

Ok well this part of the revue ends now... More to come a little later... Soon hopefully... Just past the half way mark.. After this the rest should be smooth sailing... And hopefully really quick and efficient sailing as well! I need to finish these reviews and get back to good old regular blogging... :)

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