A Sonu Nigam concert comes with the entire package. The veteran of innumerable concerts now can operate even at a mechanical level and still deliver what the audiences seek. The ‘High on Music with Sonu Nigam’ concert attracted a big number of music fans even though the Balayogi Stadium in Gachibowli is another world away for music lovers in the other part of the city, who also have to beat the peak traffic on Friday.
Nevertheless, for those who turned up, Sonu Nigam delivered as always. His fans, who have seen him perform on numerous occasions would say he wasn’t as exuberant as he usually is, but that dip in form was only visible to the trained eye.
An excellent mix of peppy numbers and slow melodies made sure everyone went back home happy. There were the occasion warnings, one of them really stern, to those being a nuisance. There was the humour, delivered with immaculate timing that made his fans laugh aloud. There was the complimenting, and the dancing – he is really good with his moves – that the crowds thoroughly enjoyed.
He started with Deewana Tera , followed by the delectable Hans mat pagli pyaar hojayega from Toilet , with the wisecrack toilet humour that finally, something good has come out of a toilet. There was Kabhi Alvida Na Kehana , which very few sang along leading him to remark that very few in the audience were probably born when the song was released. The decibel level really turned up with Suraj Hua Maddham , and after raising the bar higher with Ye Dil Deewana , he cooled things down with Tune jo pal bhar mein. After following this up with Soniyo , Sonu sent the audience into raptures praising them for the way they tunefully sang his lyrics unlike in a lot of concerts, where the intent is there but not the rhyme or rhythm.
Things got really romantic under the cool winter evening with Mere haath mein tera haath ho, which was slowly built up into Hum hai rahi pyaar ke. This was followed by a mashup of old numbers like Jai Jai Shiv Shanker and Mere Sapno ki Rani , getting huge cheers from the audiences. There was Mujhse Shaadi Karogi , where Sonu improvised with rap and bhangra beats. There was some fun too, where after Main Agar Kahoon ’s tune, Sonu used his trademark mimicry to make the audience, waiting for one of the most anticipated songs of the evening, laugh at Babul ki dawai leti Ja.
The highlight of the evening was probably the rock version of Saathiya , one of the highlights of Sonu’s career. Soneya Dil Se Milale Dil ensured the energy was high enough right till the end.
All in all, it was just another brick in the ‘wall of fame’ for Sonu, who could probably sleepwalk through such two-hour concerts. Nevertheless, it seemed, for most people in the audiences this was a memorable evening, spanning songs across couple of decades that they could sing along and even be praised by their idol.
