It was a great miracle that we got the tickets for the show at the last minute, but need to admit that the show did not turn itself into a miraculous one. We were 30 minutes late, but sonu niigaam had not taken the stage till then. Not sure who was singing as the time filler, but she was doing a decent job. First impression on listening to her was that, her voice was not heard properly! The music was so loud and was dominating her. poor thing…

Then was the time for Sonu’s entry. He came in, the good thing was he found the imbalance in the music instantly and to increase his mike voice. Good! we came to hear his voice after all. He asked them to set it right… And removed the monitors from the stage giving a hand himself. He apologized and started the show again. But the speaker arrangement was bad till the end, he couldn’t be asking them to adjust it every time. It failed to create the magic that usually engulfs the listener, especially when we are hearing to a live show, in a open air theater – that too performed by a very talented singer.

Sonu did a very entertaining and a charming performance, but his selection of songs did not suit our crowd. Most of the songs he sung, the audience were hearing it for the first time. Except for Rang De Basanti, and Soniyae, Nach le, every thing else were unknown ones. I was thinking that, probably i have not heard to these songs, but later came to know from the general feedback, that I was not only one to have felt so. The end result could have been much better if there was a powerful female singer who could have paired with him for duets, some nice melodies and his all time hits. Sonu was active on stage moving here and there, did some good dancing, and the finishing touch for every song with increased tempo which was great. There were two powercuts and other interruptions disturbing his performance. He left the stage around 10 with a simple namasthe and stepped down. You could have done that better sonu!

Next was Benny dayal on stage. He started with the Dil Se Re congratulating AR for his Golden Globe and went on to sing tamil numbers. The speakers and balance of the instruments were much better this time. But the sad part was many people started to leave once time ticked 10.30. People were shouting for Pappu can’t dance, and he sang it, but guess what… with the karoke bg. That was bad, we did not come this far to hear him sing with karoke and same was with “taxi taxi”. Even Benny was doing a good job dancing, moving to the ends and dancing, and he was sweating so much towards the end. Unlike Sonu, he had few nice duets from ATM and Vaaranam Aayiram. People wanted him to sing more songs and he was eager too, but there was no time 😦

Popular Nite at Saarang – People who missed it, do not feel so much it was not a lifetime chance and experience. And if you had been there, Ok it was not that bad that you regret the decision. But surely the IIT people need to set their speakers right, so that they do not disappoint the crowd every time.

Jaya.