Who says that this world is out of sweet people?! Somehow reach the backstage of an ARR concert and I'm more than sure that the above question will be answered! The sweetest I've met are a part of the ARR family. This
should be a good starter, bear with me for being detailed-it's on the request of a few members. Friday, 16th November 2007-Rehearsal Met the first sweet person of the trip in the airport-Varun Nair of our group. Now that's what is called a coincidence, meeting a group member for the first time, that too in an airport going for the same concert in the same flight. After a series of lies and saving up money-I finally reached Delhi. And the first thing we see when we landed was this huge AR Rahman Live In Delhi hoarding!! It was convincing that the event was going to be big!! Thanks Varun for the wonderful hospitality, can't be greatful enough for your sweetness. The afternoon I met the group co-ordinator of the group Pawan (Pawancumarr). Needless to say another sweetheart-Thank you Pawan for all that you did, on behalf of the group let me thank you for receiving us well in Delhi and entertaining us ( Vijay, smile please!!). Varun and Pawan, to the two of them this was the first concert and the excitement was obvious, so was mine-but having worked in the Bangalore concert-I knew that much more than the actual concert the rehearsal day is more pleasant for the fans. It seemed like we were entering some fantasy land then-or should I say, It was a fantasy-to be walking and talking with the people who together with ARR give us what we get to hear and to be under this wonderful community. Forgive me again for writing this on a very personal viewpoint, but I hope you guys understand what it is to be with such people. The first one in the list was Sayanora Philip. Thankfully acquainted with her-the entry into the musical camp was even easier. We spoke for almost an hour-snapped photos, one of the best ever! For those who are not familiar with this name-Sayanora is the voice behind Sivaji's Athiradee and a few other popular non ARR numbers in both Malayalam and Tamil. We got introduced to Tanvi Shah- the stunning voice that sang Fanaaa fron Yuva/Ayutha Ezhutu complimentary to ARR's high pitched voice and numbers like Jillunu oru Kadhal to name a few. A few more clicks. A few more smiles and poses. Tons of satisfaction. But most importantly, it's the feeling that Humbles you down-that people who share the stage with ARR, are here with us for an hour or more-talking about our group, Rahman, the malls and the dust in Delhi!! I'm sure Varun and Pawan agree-it was almost like we knew Tanvi and Sayanora for ages. Artists entered one after another-Aslam, Hariharan, Blaaze, Murtaza and Qadir, Neeti, Kailash Kher and the rest made entry one by one. Most of them we were able to catch up with, talk to and take snaps with-while the others were just too busy rehearsing. Blaaze recognized me-all I had to say was Yahoo! And Bangalore and almost like lightning he comes up with " Aah Dude-Yo! I remember! How can I forgot you guys!??" He spoke to for us a long time again-and more interesting trivia on ARR-how he works and how he makes things work. He spoke about how he unexpectedly made his debut with B to the A to the B .and no looking back after that-rightfully as put by some newspaper "BLAAZE-Blaazing with Rahman!!" Guys don't shoot me for this one-Blaaze showed us and spoke to us about some upcoming surprises by ARR!! All I can say is I can't wait! And as promised to Blaaze, we won't talk about it. And let it all come as a surprise-worth the wait! By this time we were all lost in a new world-dashing shoulders with singers and bumping into media people who would just have one question " Has ARR Arrived?" Almost half past seven-A Black 5 series BMW, sleek and long makes an entry. And quietly putting his left foot down was the man whose music features in TIME's all time top ten, whose music lists as multiple entries in the oscar and the same man who brought us all together- AR Rahman. The first thought was-I can die right now and I'll have no regrets, the happiness you get when one sees this man is multi-himalayan in heights! But No! Wait for the rehearsals. The stage was not completely ready- the production team was working-hammers and tools. The musicians were busy tuning their instruments and Mr. KJ Singh and H Sridhar were busy checking for minute specifications, whilst ARR dressed in a black Formal Blazer supervised the whole stage. It looked chaotic- everyone one stage running about-the mics kept on and you can hear commands in Hindi English and Tamil. There is a sudden silence and there was a familiar sound-it sounded like JA-or was it running in your mind-again it played and yes it was-Marhaba!! 40 drummers and a huge chorus lead by Rahman played this masterpiece Marhaba-over and over again. And each time they played, we wanted more and each time they made a mistake Rahman restarts and we so prayed they make mistakes-just to hear this over and over again. However the audio will release soon, but the effect this piece of musical arrangement gave-nothing satisfies us better! This turned out to be a medley, Marhaba plus rukkumani plus veerapandi kottayile!! The best ever performance in a concert. The rehearsing continued breakless. All songs except VM was rehearsed. The clock showed way beyond twelve. Rahman calls for a break-and comes down. After seeing the intensity with which the entire crew worked, the technicalities and the fractional perfection, the sounds the lights and the singing-you realize the truth behind an ARR concert. Without disturbing him-we just spoke a few words to the magician. The one thing that caught his attention was-when we mentioned we were from the Y! group-he turns around in an instant and " OH!! Is it!? Lovely!!" And the smile that followed was enough-million dollars and the satisfaction to reach home to look forward to a better tomorrow. Almost 2 in the morning. I don't wish to comment on the difficulty of reaching somewhere in Delhi if you don't have a car of your own!! But no doubt-the entire day I made a big list of really sweet and down to earth people. Saturday!!! The morning was not much. The addition of a few more sweet people to make the list bigger made the afternoon. Vijay Gopal Shiva Sirish Ravi and Prabhu (who had just left his Ferrari back home!! ;) Sorry!) Lunch at the TDI mall. Concert Venue. I really don't feel like writing about the difficulties Gops and Vijay and the group had in entering the venue initially because what followed was worth every second of the waiting. Dear readers-patience is the mother of all virtues! Nevertheless, good luck enough, we all got oursleves into the venue. The stage was complete and looked stunning. It commonly reminded us of the Bombay Dreamz stage set and production. Please Excuse me for not elucidating the entire Saturday schedule as all that we did was wait and wait and wait. But again, it was all worth it. The crowd filled in slowly, surprisingly the dearer tickets filled faster than the lighter ones. Slightly later than schedule the concert kick started with Jaage hain. Let me tell you in common, each and every song rocked (self explanatory!!) It goes without saying that the quality of songs performed was unmatchable. The list of songs performed are as : >1. Jaage Hain Der Tak - Chitra, ARR > >2. Khalbali - ARR > >3. Mangal Mangal - Kailash Kher > >4. Roja Jaaneman - Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam > >5. Vaaji Vaaji (Hindi and Tamil) - Hariharan, Madhushree > >6. Paathshalaa - Blaaze, Naresh Iyer, Mohd. Aslam > >7. Kehna Hi Kya - Chitra, ARR > >8. Yunhi Chala Chal - Kailash Kher, Hariharan > >9. Chanda Re - Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam > >10. Roobaroo - Naresh Iyer, ARR > >11. Kabhi Neem Neem - Madhushree, ARR > >12. Barso Re - Neeti Mohan > >13. Dil Se Re - ARR > >14. Athiradi - ARR, Sayonara, Dr. Narayan, Naresh Iyer, Mohd. Aslam, Chinmayee, Tanvi > >15. Chaiyya Chaiyya - Rayhana, Kailash Kher, Naresh Iyer, Mohd. Aslam, Aslam Khan > >16. Azeem O Shaan Shahenshah - ARR, Naresh Iyer, Vivek Agrawal, drum ensemble > >17. Veerapandi Kottayile (Bit) - ARR, Naresh Iyer, Vivek Agrawal, drum ensemble > >18. Pray For Me Brother - ARR, Blaaze > >19. Unplugged - Shauk Hai - Soumya Rao > >20. Unplugged - Tu Hu Re - Hariharan, Chitra (Hindi and Tamil) > >21. Unplugged - Naina Neer Bahaye - Sadhana Sargam > >22. E Hairate Aashiqui - Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam > >23. Saiyyan Chhodo Na Mere Baiyan - Parul Mishra (Fever 104 FM Voice Hunt winner) > >24. Maiyya Maiyya - Neeti Mohan > >25. Ni Main Samajh Gayi - Neeti Mohan, Kailash Kher > >26. Chupke Se - Sadhana Sargam, Ghulam Murtuza Khan, Ghulam Quadir Khan > >27. Tere Bina - ARR, Chinmayee, Ghulam Murtuza Khan, Ghulam Quadir Khan > >28. Chandralekha - Tanvi, Neeti Mohan (Hindi and Tamil) > >29. Ghanan Ghanan - Hariharan, Chitra, Sadhana Sargam, Aslam Khan > >30. Ik Omkar - Chitra > >31. Rang De Basanti - Chitra, Aslam Khan > >32. Humma Humma - ARR, Blaaze > >33. Vande Mataram - ARR, all artistes The stage had moving roll over props which brought artists on moving objects. It also had different elevations where artists were given a chance to make entries from these levels. Altogether it was pleasant to watch the whole appearance. Initially the crowd seemed dull-being in the north and majorly Punjabi they needed some peppy numbers and not melodious but not for too long-before we could hear the roaring we definitely heard comments like "Aunty" and "uncle" and "himesh better hai" , the man gave them what they deserved-A mouth shut! Khalbali just took them off the ground. The mindset changed. They danced-from six to sixty!! It never stopped till Humma Humma!! As mentioned by Gopal and I, the medley was the best-you cant have enough of it! Neeti's performance was commendable. More than just applaudable!! Every singer contributed in gigantic proportions and every song was just too good. The highlight was PFMB followed by ARR's dedication to Y! fan Club. Vijay and Gopal were called on stage and were honoured. It was so touching yet exciting. We shouted on top of our voices. We jumped!! We looked up!! It seemed like the heavens were smiling at us!! Well , it was-ARR was talking about us. Gops and Vijay-kudos! Three cheers for u-here goes HUMMA HUMMA HUMMA !! We sank into his music-gave us a high and we were just lost!! There was no better feeling in this world!! Humma humma was another variated song-super performance, Rahman almost went breathless with the chorus. He closed with Vande matram and this song gives me a mixed feeling-the happiness in hearing my most favorite composition and the sadness in knowing that this extravaganza ends. We ran backstage soon after the song-to salute to the man who gave us a night to remember for a lifetime! True-like all other multiples of tens of thousands of people who came for the evening-This was easily the best ARR concert ever!! And I should say-I'm destined. No more to explain what this meant to me.The Tamil numbers performed made the crowd go mad-they understood no lyrics and the tune was maiden to them-but they danced to athiradee as though it was their lifetime favorite.So much did the crowd love the song that they began asking us about the release and the lyrics-we'll all that we said was "WAIT!!" This was the best day's of my life. Thanks to all who made this possible. From Rahman to you fellow Rahmaniacs. Gopal And vijay for being such great friends and you guys made us proud. Vinay and Pawan for the hospitality. Shiva Sirish Prabhu and Ravi for putting up and bearing with me. Thanks again. I'm sorry if I've missed anything or forgot to mention anyone-it's unintentional and it's exams. In few hours from now-I hope to sit in the middle of an engineering college that say's MOBILE PHONES NOT ALLOWED. Haa! But who cares-I'm lost in the middle of West gate mall ground rajouri gardens where Marhabaaaa reverbrates and resonates!! I Don't like the Delhi Police.(ban them all!! Blaaze im singing this with you!!) Vijay , thanks for the wonderful company and the secrets shared.I'm Zipped!! Comments anticipated. Love Nazeef [EMAIL PROTECTED]
