A.R. Rahman takes 25,000 concertgoers back to the ’90s
Old is indeed gold. Those were the sentiments shared by the 25,000-strong crowd at A.R. Rahman’s Aug 31 concert as he performed his old-school Tamil greatest hits from the ’90s.
Back in Singapore for the fourth time, the prolific 57-year-old Indian music maestro brought out the big guns with a medley of both current and classic Hindi and Tamil songs at the National Stadium.
The Republic is famously the first country Rahman travelled to outside of India in the mid-1980s, and he last performed here at smaller venues – Gardens by the Bay in 2014, Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2005 and Marina Bay Sands in 2011.
While waiting for the gig to start, local radio deejay Joakim Gomez and actor Jay Nesh kept the audience engaged. Former Singapore president Halimah Yacob was spotted in the front row with her husband.
Gomez and Nesh led the crowd – which were divided into two teams named after Rahman’s hit songs Mukkala Mukkabala (1994) and Urvasi Urvasi (1994) – in the Kallang wave, before introducing the opening act, local musician Shabir Sulthan.
Rahman’s entry was then teased by a series of visuals, including of concerts held in other countries – the latest being in Kuala Lumpur on July 27 – before the celebrated composer-musician-singer took the stage at around 7.30pm.
Welcomed by a sea of thunderous applause, whistles and cheers, he strategically opened the show with Jai Ho, the theme song from Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire (2008) that catapulted him to overnight fame in the West. He was joined by a 31-member team of singers, dancers and band musicians, including his son A.R. Ameen.
Throughout the three-hour gig, special guests such as Indian playback singers Mohit Chauhan and Rakshita Suresh entertained with Rahman collaborations – Nadaan Parinde (2011) and a rendition of Minsara Poove (1999), respectively.
A man of few words, Rahman brought his 21-year-old son onstage while looking visibly proud – “I want to introduce you to a shy boy from Chennai, A.R. Ameen.” Father and son performed Ninaivirukka (2023), before being joined by Indian vocalist-composer Shakthisree Gopalan.
The crowd, however, turned especially fanatical when the opening bars of ’90s hit songs Mukkala Mukkabala and Veerapandi Kotayyile (1993) were played. Fans either dashed to the ground level or the stairs next to the seated section, where they were allowed to stand and dance. Whoops and singalongs enveloped the stadium, bringing a smile to Rahman’s face.
Bollywood fans were not left out either, as Rahman, Chauhan and other singers crooned Kun Faya Kun (2011), a highly requested song by fans on social media. Notable numbers such as Tere Bina (2006) and Agar Tum Saath Ho (2015) also emerged winners among the North Indian attendees.
Another crowd-pleaser that got everyone on their feet again and roaring the lyrics was 1998’s Jumbalaka, which Rahman sang with home-grown veteran Mohamed Raffee.
A sudden burst of energy followed as rappers like India’s Blaaze, Malaysia’s Sri Rascol and Sri Lanka’s ADK took the stage with Indian-American singer-musician Shuba to perform a medley of nostalgic Indian songs such as Taxi, Taxi (2008), Ponmagal Vandaal (2007) and Magudi Magudi (2012). These were tunes that dominated Indian charts in the early 2000s.
This segment was received with non-stop merriment, with people whipping their phones out to record it.
The concert concluded at about 10.30pm with fan favourite Urvasi Urvasi, with many mimicking its choreography behind the stands. In total, 35 songs were performed.
Concertgoer Alok, who declined to give his full name, said he had watched Rahman many times in India, where he is originally from, but this was his first time seeing Rahman in Singapore, where he now lives.
The 47-year-old raved about the visuals, stage set-up and theatrics, describing the production values as “very impressive”.
Mr Alok was there with his 47-year-old Polish wife Monica, who was first introduced to Rahman’s work by her husband after watching Slumdog Millionaire. She was excited to see the award-winning icon in the flesh, saying she “did not know what to expect at all, but everything was executed brilliantly”. The couple said they enjoyed the Hindi songs and wished there was more of it.
Another spectator, Singaporean Kavina Vijayan, was left amazed by the concert, even though she had seen Rahman just a year ago in Kuala Lumpur in January 2023. She liked the latest show better, as he played more Tamil songs here in comparison.
But it was the rap segment that brought the 33-year-old media analyst back to her younger days. “It felt very nostalgic and I enjoyed it very much.”
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