What did people do before smart phones and tablets? Paid attention to what was happening around them. And Benny Dayal made sure people did exactly that at the fun-filled concert, an event by The Hindu, on Saturday at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall. People weren’t just glued to their seats; they danced, feet tapping and hands swaying to the lively beats belted out by his funk band FunktuaTion.
The evening started with Shakthisree Gopalan — dressed in a stylish, all-black ensemble teamed with a glittery silver jacket — singing ‘Kadhal ara onnu vizundhuchu’ from the film Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, setting the pace for the rest of the concert. After songs from films Madras and Maryan , both melodies, she sang the number she is best known for: ‘Nenjukulle’ from Kadal, which was received with tremendous cheering. At times, however, Shakthisree’s voice was overpowered by the music.
By the time she was done with her set, the audience began to get restless; two ladies seated in the front repeatedly yelled out for Benny and when he did arrive, it was to deafening applause and hoots, to the point where we could not hear him sing. Benny turned out in black pants (think Justin Bieber’s saggy pair), a white T-shirt and a black hat. Opening with soothing numbers such as ‘Kaise mujhe tu’, ‘Paani da’, and ‘Dil kabhi ganda’ he moved on to ‘Dil se’, which he cited as the reason he became a singer. The bilingual song started off slowly and suddenly transformed into a heavy metal number with a Carnatic touch in the middle. The other star performer of the night was Joshua Satya, who played the electric and acoustic guitar and also sang backing vocals.
An hour into the concert, Benny’s energy never seemed to wane; his tireless act made it seem like we were stuck in a time warp. His rendition of ‘Omana penne’ was completely different from the original — in Benny’s voice, it transformed into a jazzy, blues number that melded into a Western classical tune.
During a 10-minute break, some members of the audience (read girls) shouted out their appreciation for Joshua’s flowing, lustrous mane. Not to be outdone, some boys followed suit.
Benny didn’t restrict himself to singing; after the break he opened with the spirited ‘Chikku bukku rayile’, performed like a rock song. His dance moves were infectious, and while they don’t scream Prabhu Deva, his energy sure did. From jumping in sync with Joshua to head-banging at the back of the stage with drummer Alok and running to take a turn at the bongos along with percussionist Alwyn — Benny was just all over the stage. When there was a request for ‘Lungi dance’ from the crowd, he replied straight-faced, “You’ve to ask Honey Singh for that, my name unfortunately is Benny Dayal,” and laughter ensued.
This concert could be summed up in one word: experimental. And it was entertaining to boot. Very rarely did the band play songs true to their original compositions. The crowd head-banged to ‘Andha Arabi kadaloram’; the performance of ‘Lat lag gaye’ made the auditorium resemble an electric, happening discotheque. It would’ve been better, though, if the audience were standing up; it’s a concert where people would’ve taken to the dance floor almost immediately and the last song proved just that. ‘Darling dambakku’, one of Benny’s more popular numbers, saw the audience get off their seats, everyone dancing like nobody was watching.
