Jab I Watched Sonu Nigam Live!

It has been an extremely entertaining week for me. For two major reasons. The first, because I watched Jab We Met at Fun Cinemas here in Bangalore in the first week of its release. And a very entertaining movie it was. Well worth the money you spend on the multiplex ticket.

The second and the more important reason is that I got the chance to watch Sonu Nigam live in concert yesterday evening at the Cisco Family Day in KTPO, Whitefield. Having got passes for the event, me and Kaari reached there at around 7, well in time for the major attraction of the evening. Sonu Nigam finally came on stage at 9 30 and gave an absolutely electrifying performance for two hours. As is usual with such concerts, a grand stage entry was arranged for him and an assortment of screens marked with a huge “S” (which certainly did not stand for Superman or Slytherin) were held up hiding him until the precise moment. And when he emerged, the crowd went absolutely wild.

A couple of slow songs later, Sonu raised the tempo with a few dance tracks. And with the many fun tricks he had with him, he made it clear that he was not there just to sing songs – he was there to entertain. His “on the spot” brand new song composition with the words “Aloo, Gobi, Mooli, Mutter-paneer” later seemed to fit perfectly with the music of “Aaja nachle ve” (Ta Ra Rum Pum), much to the amusement and delight of the crowd (well rehearsed with the band it appears, but hey, I am not complaining!). More fun was in store when he pretended to forget which “Bijuria” song the crowd wanted, singing two completely different versions, one sillier than the other, then finally jumping down from the stage and asking a front row guy to remind it to him by singing it, which he gleefully obliged (damn those lucky front benchers!!).

For me, the best part of the evening was when he picked up a file of Kannada songs, asked the crowd (thrice) to forgive him for any mistakes and then gave an almost flawless rendition of “Mungaru Male” and “Anisutide”. The last song of the evening was the title track of “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, which he interrupted after the first stanza to thank the crowd, and then sang a completely westernized version of the second stanza (and it sounded beautiful!) to finish the day. Not since Jayciana have I enjoyed an evening so much. I had only two complaints though – one, Sonu did not sing my current favourite “Ninnindale” and two, the concert didn’t last all night, which if it did, I would have happily stayed there the whole night.

A zillion thanks to you, Jyothi, for the passes. I owe you one.