26th April 2014 will always be a legendary day for me. I grew up listening to ARR sir’s songs mainly, perks of having an elder brother, Saravanan (@ravanans) who has a huge collection of ARR sir’s cassettes and CDs right from Roja to the very latest Kochadaiiyaan (mostly Tamil albums). The first film with ARR sir’s music that I’ve watched in cinema was Kadhalan when I was 7 years old. Yeah, I missed Roja, Gentleman and Pudhiya Mugam because I was just turning 5 when those films were released and too young to even understand what does a music composer even mean. After the film, appa (who is also a huge fan of ARR sir) gifted brother with the Kadhalan audio cassette and ARR sir’s image was printed on the cassette cover. Later that day, I learnt that he was the man who created the songs of the film that I’ve watched earlier with his magic box, maybe. Slowly, listening to the song played by my brother on our (by then) Aiwa stereo system, I learnt about Roja. And that was how I was introduced to the legendary, AR Rahman sir 20 years ago. Skipping to today, I can proudly say I’m a fan of AR Rahman sir whom had finally watched him perform LIVE on the 26th April 2014 at Stadium Merdeka!
The ARR’s Infinite Love Live in KL concert was officially announced in January and based on the list of performers it was pretty obvious that it will be featuring ARR’s Rahmanishq team with few more other artistes and it will be the best of both worlds, Tamil and Hindi. Bought the ticket in February as soon as the ticketing information was released and kept calm until the slated day arrives. It drizzled slightly while we (brother, sister, me and love) were on the way to Stadium Merdeka as early as 3.30pm. We joined the long queue at about 4.10pm and waited until the gates were opened at 6.20pm. My brother was fortunate enough to attend ARR sir’s first ever live concert in 1996. Infinite Love is his second opportunity to watch ARR sir perform live, whereby this was the very first time for the other 3 of us. The concert started slightly 30 minutes later than as promised, but I was too busy being excited and snapped quite a number of amateurish photos rather than complaining.
The genius made his entry with the ever energetic Dil Se Re (Dil Se), which I have expected based on his previous Rahmanishq concerts. The crowd, 15K people went crazy the moment he appeared. Not sure if anyone did cried at the glimpse of him but I, personally screamed my heart out with joy.
After a short and swift speech addressing the fans, he performed Karma Veeran (Kochadaiiyaan) together with AR Raihanah, the crowd was thoroughly cheering for him. I decided to jot down the songs/performers and the sequence for future writing but I gave up after these two songs. A complete out of the world experience.
The following are the list of songs performed by the singers. (Credits to Silambarasu (@SilamSiva) for his blog post which I have referred to in order to get the sequence of the performance. His blog post can be viewed here. )
A medley which ‘summarizes’ ARR’s Tamil hits was performed by Mano and Vijay Prakash. It was a similar routine as done in ARR Thai Manne Vanakkam concert where Mano and Hariharan jointly performed the medley. Here however, Hariharan’s portions were covered flawlessly by Vijay Prakash. The medley covers : Veerapandi Kottaiyile (Thiruda Thiruda), Thillana Thillana (Muthu), Singanadai (Padaiyappa), Maanuthu Manthaiyile (Kizhaku Cheemaiyile) by Mano where else Anbey Anbey (Jeans), Kuchi Kuchi Rakkama (Bombay), Kannai Katti (Iruvar), Vaaji Vaaji (Sivaji) by Vijay Prakash.
The finishing touch of the medley was Ballelaka (Sivaji) by Mano, Vijay Prakash and ARR sir. Mostly covering Rajinikanth sir’s song (**whistle**), the whole stadium was roaring in excitement.
Mohit Chauhan did his first appearance with the ever charming Phir Se Udd Chala (Rockstar) and later Vijay Prakash crooned Ennavaley (Kadhalan) with utmost softness. Both the performances brought the hyper active audience into trance.
Following this Chitra ma brought the concert into a whole new level with Nenjiniley (Uyire), a song which appears regularly whenever Chitra ma performs with ARR sir. The backdrop of the stage and graphics were exceptionally too good for this particular performance.
ARR sir made his re-entry through Yeh Jo Desh Hai (Swades), one of his best patriotic songs. The song was sung majorly in Hindi and followed by Tamizh verse.
Naan Yen Piranthein, a song which was featured in Coke Studio @ MTV Season 3 Episode 1 was performed by the genius himself together with AR Raihanah. I’ve listened to this song before yet, the lyrics somehow got attached to me during the concert.
Javed Ali performed Raanjhanaa (Raanjhanaa) title track flawlessly together with the terrific dance routine.
Followed by Mano and Chitra ma’s Ottagatha Kattiko (Gentleman). Both songs had brilliant stage setup and dancers. Especially for the latter, the local lion dance were utilized and made the whole show a colorful fiesta.
Mohit Chauhan’s Jo Bhi Main (Rockstar) was a crowd-pacifier.
To boost the energy of the already excited audiences, Lady Kash made her entry with a short bit of Wanna Mash Up (Highway) and the rap portion of Pettai Rap (Kadhalan) which made most of the audience ( if not all) to join in and sing along to the ever famous-and-fun song. Lady Kash was a surprise factor of the concert.
Harshdeep Kaur ‘balle balle-ed’ the stage with Neeti Mohan by crooning Patakha Guddi (Highway) and the whole stadium transformed into the Punjabi-folk-mode.
Harshdeep continued with her masterpiece, Katiya Karun (Rockstar) together with Ranjith Barot, whom had been playing a huge role throughout the concert. Harshdeep is such a charm on the stage, with her signature turban. Loved her!
Then comes in the jamming session of ARR sir on the piano and Pandit Sri Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on the slide guitar. Together, they performed the instrumental version of Chinna Chinna Aasai (Roja) and Uyire (Bombay). Divine moment.
Adding the ice cream to the cake, Chitra ma joined the two geniuses and did an unplugged version of Narumugaiye (Iruvar). Smooth as silk.
Irumbiley (Endhiran) by ARR sir, Neeti Mohan and Lady Kash elevated the calm mood into an energy pumping portion. Two thumbs up!
I believe many would have be rooting for Vijay Prakash to performed his masterpiece, Hosanna (Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya) and yes, he DID! He sounded just like a breeze, too good.
As any ARR sir’s fan would have been aware of, his concerts will definitely covers a small portion of Sufi and Qawalli based songs. Infinite Love Live in KL was not an exception and I was immensely hoping that he would perform Khwaja Mere (Jodha Akhbar) and Kun Faaya Kun (Rockstar). He DID!! ARR sir performed both the songs together with Javed Ali and Mohit Chauhan and the whole session was impressively soothing. The entire stadium became calm and soft after a series of heart pumping performances back to back.
Just when I was about to whisper why isn’t Shwetha Pandit performing, she made her entry in an attractive silver/pink attire like a bright star! Her request to the audience to light up their hand phones received tremendous feedback while she sang a short portion of Saans (Jab Tak Hai Jaan).
She continued to mesmerize the audience with Mera Gham (Kochadaiiyaan), a heartwarming and intense song. She was amazingly good and was backed up by Javed Ali on the male portions. How I wished Chinmayi was there performing together with Shwetha Pandit in Tamizh and Hindi, back-to-back. It would have been a dream come true for me and a few of my dear friends to watch Chinmayi performing live in concert.
Malargaley (Love Birds) was performed brilliantly by Chitra ma and Vijay Prakash who left the audience in awe with Chitra ma’s enchanting voice.
After a short break, ARR sir was back on stage with Nenje Ezhu (Maryan) and the happiest face that I saw while it was being performed was love’s. He is super attached to the film and the soundtrack of Maryan all together.
This Neeti Mohan is a bundle of energy, I say. She sings, she dances, she performs… such a complete package she is. Jiya Re (Jab Tak Hai Jaan) was performed with whole lot of energy and I could hear the audience going Ooo Oh Oooooooo with her all through the song.
Javed Ali made a comeback with Tum Tak (Raanjhanaa) while Shwetha Pandit covered the female portions.
Right before Maahi Ve (Highway), ARR sir requested the audiences to call their beloved ones and to let them listen to the song. Such a lovely thought that was!
Mano Sir mesmerized the audience with his all time rocking song, Mukkala Muqabala (Kadhalan) together with Neeti Mohan. Adding to the brilliance of the song, Mano sir was in the Kilimanjaro-ish attire which made the whole performance a sheer success. While he sung in Tamizh, Neeti Mohan covered the female portion in Hindi with perfect balance. This is one of my favourite performances of the day!!
Following this, ARR sir performed Nadaan Parindey (Rockstar), a regular in his recent concerts together with Mohit Chauhan. The graphic of the stage which showcased the wings of an eagle was super apt!
Sadda Haq (Rockstar) followed right after and it brought the whole stadium down! The audience were screaming and singing along in delight. AAAAHHH! A killer performance it was.
I’ve watched Neeti performing Tamizh songs during ARR Thai Manne Vanakkam concert and was hoping that she would perform one Tamizh song and yes, she did! Athiradee (Sivaji) with ARR sir was indeed athiradee! With this song, ARR sir announced that it was the final song of the concert, AND that was when my heart sunk with the thought of going back to reality after 3 magical hours.
As always, Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire) was the grand finale of the massive concert whereby ARR sir together with all the performers sang the ultimate Jai Ho with utmost respect.
I wished the concert were much moreeeeee longer, but I was grateful whole heartedly to Him for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Thank you God. Thank you Rahman Sir.
Special note to the massive stage setup, brilliant graphics, sound system and lightning effect. Credits to Lizron Sg. It was worth every buck spent on the ticket, a KILLER I would say. The dancers complimented the singers and the stage setup amazingly!
In short, the concert was a GRAND success and I’m eternally happy that I have been a part of this legendary event. I really hope it doesn’t take AR Rahman sir another 18 years to perform in KL. Please, do come back soon, sir. Malaysia loves you and your music unconditionally!
Peek-a-Boo
I missed Humma Humma (Bombay), and Pudhu Vellai (Roja), how i wish these two songs were somehow squeezed into the medley.
I’ve been hearing quite a number of comments on how they were bored and disappointed by the Hindi songs which were performed. In my humble opinion, the list of performers which was announced has made it very…VERY clear that it will be a complete package of Tamizh and Hindi, thus, expecting only Tamizh songs during ARR’s sir world tour is pretty childish. Second, there were equal number of Tamizh and Hindi songs performed, thus, allegation that the concert were more Hindi-ish doesn’t make sense. Plus, the Hindi songs were mainly from Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Rockstar, Raanjhaana and Highway (His latest Hindi films). Third, regarding the list of songs performed. If he is expected to perform his 90’s hits mainly, then where could the latest releases are to be stuffed in? Or he would have to perform 6-7 hours concert which is close to impossible. ARR Sir pretty much covered the Tamizh songs from most of his hits eg : Kadhalan, Uyire, Love Birds, Gentleman, and few more during the medley. Thus, personally, I am wholeheartedly satisfied with the song selections and performances.
Dear organizers, it would have been flawless if barricades and string lines were setup at the entrance for the public to queue up. We were there around 4.10pm, with about 70-100 people ahead of us. As there were no crew members dealing with the queues, public started to create their very own lines (despite having only 3 entry doors), cutting the queues and forcing themselves in and made the whole scene embarrassing and uncontrollable especially for the kids and the elderly. Very sorry but you’ve got to understand that some…. i repeat, SOME people don’t really follow the rules and their common sense just flew out of the window when there’s no one to managing them.
Else, ARR’s Infinite Love Live in KL was one AWESOME concert that will be forever imprinted in my life’s diary.
List of songs performed :
Credits :
[1] Arrahman.my and Bravography for the eye-catching photographs. The complete albums of the concert can be viewed here : Arrahman.my and here : Bravography
[2] Silambarasu’s TheUnnamedBlog
Love, SJT
Colours and Puzzles 
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