Surfing through my facebook I came across a post which said Arijit Singh was going to be performing in Gurgaon, Leisure Valley. “Kyunki tum hi ho, bas tum hi ho, zindagi bas tum hi ho” the song started buzzing in my head and I got around to calling my friends who are crazy Arijit fans and all of us very excited to attend the concert.
Just as 17th February was nearing most of my friends backed out and I was worried as that I would have to go to miss the concert due to lack of company, when a cousin said she had gotten platinum passes for us and another cousin announced that she had gotten tickets for Mughal-e-Azam show at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium for the afternoon, what a dilemma it was but I decided to try to manage both the shows in one day.
The day arrived and I dressed up in sneakers and comfortable clothes which would carry me throughout the day and left for the concert, all determined to leave Mughal-e Azam and run so as to not to miss my idol Arijit Singh’s single song.
Nehru stadium was a spectacle to see in itself as young boys and girls in jeans and black kurta greeted us with “salaams and aadabs” and led us to our seats as if we were royalty themselves, I pretty much felt like Jodhabai.
It was quite a musical extravaganza in itself with extraordinary sets designed by Amar Veer and Ajay Kadam and costumes designed by Manish Malhotra.
The handsome and dashing Saleem was a treat in himself and beautiful Anarkali and Bahaar have such soothing voices that you almost felt it was Lata Mangeshkar singing. They have recreated the whole movie by K. Asif and the characterization is so perfect that you can almost see Dilip Kumar and Madhubala in the characters being played. The watch was getting close to 6 and I was so worried by the end that I would not reach the concert on time as I had to uber across the city but each moment was so engrossing that I could not get up. All the songs are sung very beautifully and Akbar’s justice must prevail so that he can uphold the title of Mughal-e-Azam. Finally, the show ended and we ran across to the car running to go to Leisure Valley.
The concert had already started and he had already sung two songs by the time we found out where we were supposed to sit. There was just rapture on everyone’s faces, Arijit Singh was weaving his magic.
It is feeling like an exotic massage by a sexy masseuse, I heard sixty-year-old Sadhna sitting next to me say, he looked into my eyes and it was like he was only singing for me said 12-year-old Vrinda, I am just lovvvvvvimg it, I heard 40-year-old Jayshree exclaim, he was so interactive that at he came a sat at the edge of the stage, I almost touched him said 30-year-old Dimple. Arijit Singh had all the women from 16 to 60 swooning all over him, eating out of his guitar. This 30-year-old who looks like a young unassuming simple boy, from Murshidabad, Bengal has won so many awards, with his soulful baritone was just touching everyone’s heart that evening.
Whether it was ” Tum hi ho, Chahun main ya naa, that sort of jump-started his career or Samjhawan, “Channa Mereya or Ae dil hai mushkil” everyone in the audience was spellbound.
He was all over the stage from the front to back giving attention the most to those who were in the stands where there was no seating, going to the back of the stage to bring his guitarist to jump and dance with him, or come strutting along like a model with his guitar and get people to sing with him or even leave blanks for the audience to sing. Such was his magic that everyone knew the lyrics to almost all his songs. He kept us spellbound for three straight hours while he sang 40 songs and as the evening was coming closer the stage was getting dramatic with the lighting and white streamers falling all over us, some red balls coming on the stage. Overall it was a stupendous experience one should not miss and if you have missed it doesn’t try to attend the next one as each of his concerts is worth every penny you spend on the ticket and every moment you stay there.
