Kya karoon haye..

Ever the entertainer, Alka Yagnik doesn’t let little hindrances prevent her from having a good time on stage

BY PRIYAnk A TATeR

It is not often that organisers give a free upgrade to a better view of the stage, when you have already bought the low cost seats at the furthest corners. The VVIP seats were still to be filled in despite one of Bollywood’s most famous singers taking centre stage. If you were there, you probably have already gotten the drift.

On this Saturday afternoon the Athletic Centre (Sydney Olympic Park) was missing the footfall - it waited till the very end for the rest of the 4500 (approx.) seats to be filled, out of the 5000.

The crowds, though sparse, were there for the extremely talented and popular Bollywood singer Alka Yagnik. With a career spanning over three decades, 35 Filmfare nominations of which 7 wins are in her kitty, and 2 National awards, she is one of India’s most sought after playback singers.

The last time she performed in Sydney was with music maestro AR Rahman. But this was meant to be her first solo live concert in the Harbour city.

It began with a warm up by stand-up comedian Ashok Mishra tickling our funny bone and the wonderful voice of Chetan Rana remembering India’s first superstar Rajesh Khanna, with Mere sapno ki rani and Zindagi ka safar followed by hits from Dabangg and Rowdy Rathore.

Soon the wait was over as the sound of Kya karun haaye, kuchh kuchh hota hai… got the sparsely populated Grandstand a tad bit pumped. After all it was one of Bollywood’s most revered playback singers making an entry through the aisle, rendering that hit number.

Dressed in a beautiful baby pink sharara and long sleeveless kurti, her graceful presence managed to get my attention off the clumsily done make-shift stage.

And then after the usual greeting, she almost spoke my mind, when she said “Andhera nahi hua hai, I am not used to singing in daylight…” Oh, didn’t I tell you it was 4:30 pm. It is not often that you get to attend a musical evening in the afternoon! But that didn’t dampen brave Alka’s spirits. She was on a roll, churning out one number after another, promising to cater to as many requests as possible.

From Kisi roz unse mulakaat hogi (Pardes) to Gazab ka hai ye din (QSQT) to Dil ne ye kaha hai dil se (Dhadkan), Alka Yagnik got many of us nostalgic.

And yes, she did give us a taste of her sense of humour too, when she quirkily asked a man sitting in the crowd which one was his wife, the one on his right or left, trying to make sure that partners hold each other’s hands. This was just prior to the very romantic Dekha jabse tumko, bas dekha tumko yaara (Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Ghum).

With the very peppy Laal dupatta udd gaya re mera (Mujhse Shaadi Karogi) she pulled in the crowd to take over the dance floor (the athletic tracks in this case!)

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After Alka Yagnik excused herself for a bit after almost an hour-long performance, comedian Ashok Mishra took charge of the mike and had us in splits yet again. Soon enough, back came the melody queen this time dressed in her trademark salwar kurta all shimmery in black. And it was now turn for duets with Chetan Rana who was doing a Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan. As the two sang duets from Baazigar, Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke and Tere Naam, the sound of the orchestra got louder than their voice. Shoddy sound work prompted Ms Yagnik to repeatedly walk up to the sound man and get it fixed, but in vain. It was disappointing to see how even the best voices are at the mercy of the sound technicians who can make or break a performance.

This did break the tempo; it felt like a poorly arranged private ‘sangeet sandhya’ that somehow managed to rope in an artist of the calibre of Alka Yagnik.

Although I would have loved her to carry on, there were too many factors spoiling the event. And even if she were planning to sing a few more hits, the crowd just wanted her to count the numbers…yes, they kept asking for that cult song that catapulted her to fame Ek, do, teen. So while she gave the people what they wanted, the song that she was to wrap up the show with, my countdown for the show to end got over too… teen, do, ek !!!!!

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