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India’s music maestro A.R Rahman rocks Washington.
Around 9,000 people turned up on Sunday night as India’s music maestro A.R Rahman held a concert in a Washington suburb.
SHOWS:
WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (JUNE 13, 2010) (ANI- NO ACCESS BBC)
1. INDIA’S MUSIC MAESTRO A.R RAHMAN PERFORMING ON STAGE
2. RAHMAN SINGING AND PERFORMERS DANCING ON THE STAGE
3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) A.R RAHMAN, MUSICIAN, SAYING: “I think people have been really kind. They have showed us too much of love in all of the three cities. We are very thrilled. We are still tweaking a bit but on the whole it’s a great vibrations are there. I don’t know whether it’s a Bollywood production but for us we wanted to push the boundaries and make it all very cohesive and a complete show. And we are almost there and people love it. Yeah, the theme is India. It is an Indian show. It is modern India, traditional India, progressive India and the cultural India, so it’s all together.”
4. ARTISTS PERFORMING ON STAGE WITH LIGHTS ON THEIR COSTUME
5. RAHMAN SINGING
6. OTHER DANCERS PERFORMING (TWO SHOTS)
7. SINGERS PERFORMING ON STAGE (TWO SHOTS)
8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALACHI COHEN, HIP-HOP ARTIST, SAYING:”It’s a great experience. He’s a really great guy and he’s an amazing artist so I had a great time.”
9. MALACHI COHEN PERFORMING ON STAGE
STORY: India’s music maestro AR Rahman kicked off his ‘Jai Ho’ World Tour with back-to-back-to-back performances in three cities in the United States during the weekend.
Organizers said that around 35,000 people watched the shows in Long Island (New York), Atlantic City (New Jersey) and Fairfax (Virginia).
Around 9,000 people turned up on Sunday (June 13) night at George Mason University’s Patriot Center auditorium in Fairfax, a suburb of Washington DC.
Rahman and his troupe mesmerized the audience with a medley of songs, including some vintage Rahman numbers, such as ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ from the movie ‘Dil Se’ and ‘Humma humma’ from the movie ‘Bombay’. Jai Ho, the hit song from Slumdog Millionaire that captured the imagination of music lovers worldwide, was the finale.
The concert is a blend of new technologies with dance arrangements and acrobatics. A major theme of the concert series is the heritage and traditions of India.
“I think people have been really kind. They have showed us too much of love in all of the three cities. We are very thrilled. We are still tweaking a bit but on the whole it’s a great vibrations are there. I don’t know whether it’s a Bollywood production but for us we wanted to push the boundaries and make it all very cohesive and a complete show. And we are almost there and people love it. Yeah, the theme is India. It is an Indian show. It is modern India, traditional India, progressive India and the cultural India, so it’s all together,” said the Oscar winning Rahman.
Singers who are part of the show include Hariharan, Blaaze, Javed Ali, Benny Dayal, Shweta Pandit and Neeti Mohan.
The show is being directed by Amy Tinkham, who has created shows for pop stars such as Britney Spears, Mariah Carey and Paul McCartney. The concert is produced by Deepak Gattani from Rapport Productions. Most of the dancers are U.S.-based artists.
“It’s a great experience. He’s a really great guy and he’s an amazing artist, so I had a great time,” said Malachi Cohen, hip-hop artist.
At least 11 more concerts are planned in the current North America leg of the tour. Overall, 40 shows are in the pipeline as part of the tour. 104 people are involved in the production. To transport people and equipment from venue to venue, nine buses and eight 18-wheeler trucks have been hired.
The show is expected to be the biggest Bollywood production of its type in the United States.
Organizers said that the groundwork for the concert began in September last year.