It was an encore all the way for AR Rahman as he performed the original Tamil version of his Urvasi Urvasi chartbuster for the IIFA Rocks audience in New York, as he celebrated his 25-year journey in the Indian film industry with a two-hour concert.
The scenario at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was far removed from his July 8 London concert, where fans reportedly walked away complaining that his performance was dominated by Tamil melodies, instead of Hindi songs.
"Once more, once more," shouted out the fans at the MetLife Stadium, even as the clock struck 2 a.m. here on Saturday morning.
"It's too late right...," commented Rahman, but broke into the rocking Humma Humma nevertheless.
The audience joined in as an ensemble of singers including Hariharan, Kailash Kher, Jonita Gandhi, Benny Dayal, Mika Singh and Neeti Mohan jammed it up with the music maestro on stage. With a list of songs largely dominated by Hindi tracks, Rahman also sang around three to four numbers in his mother tongue, and the audience wasn't complaining.
Rahman’s performance was every bit worth it. We had no problems that he sang in Tamil because we believe one should preserve their culture.Rajan Panda, a New Yorker
A Nepalese couple that has been staying in NYC for the last 15 years also said that language can never be a barrier in music.
We enjoyed the show very much. We came for Rahman. It’s music, it’s universal... It doesn’t matter what language it is in.Arjun Awaley, a Software Engineer who watched Rahman’s performance
Rahman kept saying “I love you friends” and “Love you too” to the crowd that swayed to, clapped to and even danced to his tracks. Even the rain which came pouring down right before Rahman took the stage, and mid-performance too, didn’t make the fans run for shelter.
In a silver sequinned jacket, the Mozart of Madras, who started his film career with Roja back in 1992, took over the stage. His set started with instrumental renditions of his popular songs, and then came Dil se re, Nadaan parindey, Jo bhi main, Dil hai chhota sa, Kinna sona, Mangal ho, Agar tum saath ho, Tu hi re, Nahi saamne, Aye hairathe, Tere bina, Kaise mujhe tum mil gayi, Heer toh badi sad hai, Maiyya maiyya, Tanha tanha, Yaayi re and Sachin -- tracks either sung and/or composed by him.
The crescendo came with Jai ho, which had won Rahman an Oscar for the Best Original Song in 2009. As a prelude to Rahman’s performance, singers Kamaal Khan and Diljit Dosanjh took the stage to belt out popular numbers and got the audience grooving.
IIFA Rocks hosts Riteish Deshmukh and Maniesh Paul were quite a damp squib with their tongue-in-cheek comments, toilet humour, some jokes around Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaigns and some audience engagement involving stars like Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif and Varun Dhawan.
All in all, IIFA Rocks rocked with the music, but more so once Rahman was on stage. The event was a part of the ongoing Bollywood extravaganza, the 18th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend and Awards, which will end with the final awards ceremony at the MetLife Stadium on Saturday evening.
(We all love to express ourselves, but how often do we do it in our mother tongue?
Here's your chance! This Independence Day, khul ke bol with BOL – Love your Bhasha. Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL at bol@thequint.com or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)