Musical Nite of widely acclaimed musician draws huge crowd on the fourth day of Yuva Dasara

Mysuru: Internationally acclaimed music composer A.R. Rahman enthralled the music lovers to the hilt, casting a magical spell on the fourth day of Yuva Dasara at the open grounds near Uttanahalli Outer Ring Road (ORR) junction in the city yesterday evening.

A maverick musician that he is, Rahman didn’t disappoint the youthful crowd, who were waiting to get lost in the din. For three hours, the spotlight was on Rahman, who with his troupe of singers, belted out a medley of hit numbers from the trendsetting films like Slumdog Millionaire, Kadhalan, Dil Se, Swades to name a few. Fully clad in black, Rahman, who hit the stage with a bang, sang the hit song Jai Ho… from Slumdog Millionaire, with the audience joining him in chorus. Mukkala Muqabla… the foot tapping song from Kadhalan, that has become an inseparable part of dance shows, was also recited by Rahman along with singer Shwetha, and the audience had no option than shaking their legs, trying to imitate Prabhudeva, like in the flick.

Dil Se Re… the title song of Dil Se and Ye Jo Des Hai Tera… from Swades were the other songs composed by Rahman himself, that filled the air.

Noted playback singer Vijay Prakash, who was earlier in the troupe of Rahman, sang the Hindi version of his maiden song of the career — Rama Nanna Manadalli, Rama Ninna Manadali and the title song of ‘Roja,’ Roja Jaaneman… both in Hindi and Kannada versions.

Singer Rakshita Suresh, the Mysurean, sang the song Kirunage Kirunage… from the film ‘PS-2,’ another singer Shwetha recited the song Jiya Jale… from ‘Dil Se,’ singer Mohit Chauhan sang Masakali song from ‘Delhi 6.’

Mysurean Vijay Prakash: Singer Vijay Prakash, also a native of Mysuru, became emotional, recalling his association with Rahman, with whom he has staged many live concerts.

“However, it is my good fortune that I have been performing along with Rahman sir at the land, where I was born and brought up,” said Vijay Prakash.

Earlier, renowned drummer Sivamani entertained the gathering for about 10 minutes, with his innate skill on sticks, to the huge applause of the gathering.

Fire mishap: Even as the concert was on, fire broke out on the right side of the stage, but Fire & Emergency Services personnel, along with the help of Cops, were quick to douse the flames.

Large crowd: A sea of crowd had descended on the ground, to soak in the rain of music from the blessed musician Rahman. The vehicles had been parked up to a distance of 3-km on the Outer Ring Road and the Police who had been deployed to facilitate parking arrangements from 5 pm itself, had a tough time in handling the task. The seating arrangements made in various galleries for VVIP, VIP, Gold Card and Diamond Card holders were also full, with some of them forced to catch the action on their foot, throughout the concert.