Dubai: With songs such as Kal Ho Na Ho (Kal Ho Na Ho), In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein (Jodha Akbar), All Izz Well (3 Idiots), Tanhai (Dil Chahta Hai) and Sanchi Sanchi (Dabangg) in his list, Sonu Niigaam entertained Dubai on Monday evening at a houseful Madinat Jumeirah Arena.
The show, organised by Shashi and Naresh Oberoi of Oberoi Middle East Events, also marked the tenth successful show with the singer, who thanked them for the immense part they've played in his success in the UAE.
Unlike most Bollywood events, the show, surprisingly, started on time. Ten minutes after the stipulated start time, an audio-visual presentation with clips from Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai re-introduced the audience to the achievements of the evening's performer. And soon after the stage was taken by Gunjan, a little known support singer of Niigaam's. Mansi, the compere, couldn't decide between her beauty or singing talents.
Beauty aside, as a singer she is seriously underrated, as she smoothly glided from a soulful romantic oldie into Sheila Ki Jawaani (Tees Maar Khan) and the English version of the A.R. Rahman blockbuster Jai Ho.
She has cut a couple of albums with Bally Sagoo and Niigaam himself. I'm sure the audience would have loved to hear more from apart the six songs and the one duet she sang with Niigaam. "She's an extremely good singer. Why doesn't he sing more duets with her?" queried my neighbour.
But the evening, after all, belonged to Niigaam. Known to sing live with no lip syncing, he rendered slow numbers Palkon Ke Leke Saaye (Kal Ho Na Ho), Shukraan Allah (Kurbaan) and Rabb Raakha (Love, Breakups, Zindagi) before launching into racy ones such as Just Chill (Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya) and Bijuriya.
By half time he had the audience singing and dancing to his tunes. Even the little ones were not immune to his charm as he sang All Izz Well - the "children's song", as he says - with his son Nevaan and others on stage.
"I pre-empted my audience's mood this evening and came with these numbers, and I'm glad I did it right," said Niigaam. He also commended the crowd on its pitch and tune as audience members completed his stanza. "I've never had such a talented audience who carries the ‘sur' [musical note] with me".
Even by 1am, after three hours of singing (with only a 15-minute break) just like the audience, the singer seemed in no mood to leave the venue. The evening ended with the anthem Kal Ho Na Ho, which brought tears to his eyes.
Midway through the song, he said, "In December 2010, my mother was diagnosed with a serious illness and I was shattered. Though I'd sung this song innumerable time I never really realized the true meaning of these lyrics until then. You never expect something so grave to happen to you".
The second half was dedicated to singing legends such as Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar and contemporaries Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu. Audience requests were not missed and he regaled them with Dil Deewana (Pardes), Do Pal (Veer Zara) and countless songs.
As one fan put it upon leaving the venue, "he knows he's a rockstar and knows to sing all types of songs. He's the next legend after the ones he sang of".
