Rap to sufi music - Rahman charms Chennai

CHENNAI - From rap to fusion, carnatic to sufi double Oscar winner A.R. Rahman used every genre to keep his audience mesmerized at a live concert here.

All roads in Chennai Sunday led to Seekinankuppam village near Mahabalipuram where the concert was organised to raise funds for Shakti Foundation that works for the welfare of the disabled.

The concert, which was a part of Rahman’s world tour, brought an eclectic mix of songs right from his debut film “Roja” to the forthcoming release “Blue”. Billed as a crowdpuller, the event drew close to 75,000 fans.

“Khalbali”, a song from “Rang De Basanti”, was a rather laid back starter but soon the maestro who is often called the Mozart of Madras pepped it up by choosing a couple of hits from “Sivaji-The Boss”.

The rocking fast numbers were followed by a series of rock and crossover hits and with each rendition the cheers kept growing until they nearly drowned Rahman’s voice out.

Other singers like Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam and Benny Dayal too treated the crowd by belting hit numbers composed by Rahman.

An intense performer, Rahman showed no signs of tiredness and his smile stuck to him till the very end. And even after four hours, the crowd couldn’t have enough of his music.

The maestro’s Oscar winning song “Jai Ho” brought the curtains down on what turned out to be one of the biggest musical events the region has witnessed in recent times.

“If music makes you think, moves you to action; then I think the music is working,” Rahman told the crowd.

Marg, a leading construction company, tied up with Rahman for the concert.