It was entertainment in three doses at the Star Live concert at Dubai World Trade Centre on November 11. This journalist went expecting to see the three artists perform together, but although they performed individually, the musical night by multilingual doyenne Usha Uthup and singers Papon, aka Angarag Mahanta, and Mohit Chauhan was quite entertaining.
It was amazing to see Uthup perform so energetically, urging the audience to sing along with her. The Padmashri-award winner turned up in her trademark Kanjeevaram silk saree, rupee coin-sized bindi and her hair adorned with jasmine flowers, and set the tone for the evening with Mac Davis’ I Believe in Music.
Uthup, who said she kicked aside her stilettos for Kanjeevaram sneakers to match her silk saree, next sang the title song for the 2012 Bond movie Skyfall and Hai Ye Maya from Don 2 in her inimitable style.
She knew how to keep the audience charged up throughout her one-hour performance, moving from popular hits to regional language songs such as Why This Kolaveri Di in Tamil, Nenjinullil Neeyanu Fathima and Ente Keralam Ethra Sundaram in Malayalam, and a couple of songs in Punjabi, Assamese and Bengali. The rendering of Kali Teri Gut Te Paranda in several languages was well received by all.
Her repertoire included Bulleya from the recent Bollywood movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, the intoxicating Dum Maaro Dum from 1971 film Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Dosto Se Pyaar Kiya from 1980 film Shaan and Rambha Ho from 1981 film Armaan. Uthup spiced up the proceedings by throwing in a bit of Spanish with Senorita from the film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
Next, Papon took to the stage with a bang. While he veered mostly towards the Sufi style of singing, he also gave the audience a taste of Assamese folk songs. Moh Moh Ke Dhaage (Dum Laga Ke Haisha); Tu Jo Mila (Sultan); Maula Sun Le Re (Madras Cafe); Jiyein Kyun (Dum Maro Dum) and Kyon, the song that made him popular from Barfi!, were captivating.
When he started singing Moh Moh Ke Dhaage, the audience turned on the lights on their mobile phones, which looked like fireflies in the darkened Za’abeel Hall. Papon, who joked that people from his native Assam say ‘silly sicken’ instead of ‘chilly chicken’, said he had to learn Punjabi and Urdu words in order to sing lyrics accurately.
The show, which was supposed to begin at 8pm started close to 9pm and by the time Papon had finished, there was not much time left for Chauhan. Without wasting much time he sang in quick succession some of his hit songs — Jo Bhi Main, Sadda Haq and Nadaan Parindey from Rockstar; Tum Se Hi from Jab We Met and Dooba Dooba Rehta Hoon, from his album with the band Silk Route.
While Uthup and Papon involved the audience in their performances, Chauhan appeared too uncomfortable. For most of his time on stage he sang with his eyelids tightly closed. Perhaps he was too tired or a bit shy to face the Dubai audience.
