“Chennai...Thamizha!” called out A.R. Rahman to the cheering audience as he began his live concert on Saturday evening. Throughout the evening, the music composer took the audience at the YMCA Grounds, Nandanam, through a mix of his old and new hits.
While the concert began with the Tamil anthem Semmozhiaana Thamizh mozhiyam, Rahman then launched into Ella pugazhum iraivanikke, a song from the movie Azhagiya Thamizh Magan.
“Performing in Chennai offers a special peace to me. I forget anything that’s bothering me once I see your faces,” Rahman told the crowd between songs. With the digital backdrop displaying photos of women from various walks of life, the crowd cheered on as Singapenney — a song that celebrates women — from actor Vijay’s upcoming film Bigil was performed.
Older songs including Veerapandi kottaiyile,Urvasi Urvasi and Humma humma were crowd favourites and the composer encouraged the crowd to join in with their mobile phone flashlights as he sang one of his most popular songs celebrating friendship — Mustafa Mustafa .
Accompanying acts
Singers Jonita Gandhi, Shwetha Mohan, Sid Sriram, Benny Dayal, Andrea, Haricharan and A.R. Ameen, and rappers Shiv, ADK, and Rajakumari were among those who performed. Introducing members of the brass section of the Sunshine Orchestra, Rahman said their performance was a special one. The young musicians performed an instrumental piece from the film Mersal .
One of the highlights of the evening was when young pianist Lydian Nadhaswaram took to the stage with the composer.
The young musician proved to be the perfect accompaniment on the piano as the male and female performers had a face-off while singing some of the composer’s most memorable Tamil songs.
