
BY KALYANI VASAN
LONG BEACH, CA - Two Bollywood powerhouse performers-Sunidhi Chauhan and Badshah- lit up the Terrace Theater here on Oct 27 with a record full house for the concert presented by Stage Paint Productions in association with Chateau Luxe, Phoenix Arizona and Holiday Inn of Hollywood Walk of Fame.
LONG BEACH, CA - Two Bollywood powerhouse performers-Sunidhi Chauhan and Badshah- lit up the Terrace Theater here on Oct 27 with a record full house for the concert presented by Stage Paint Productions in association with Chateau Luxe, Phoenix Arizona and Holiday Inn of Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Chauhan entered singing Dhoom ‘Machale, Dhoom Machale… Crazy Kiya re’ and that is exactly what she did-drive the crowd crazy! Clad in all black with a silver cape on and boots she did not look like she had delivered a baby at all. Her energy was sky-high and her dance moves with the song showed that she was every inch the performer and oomph girl of Bollywood. Her first five songs were all blockbuster songs hits that had a lot of sexiness for which she is famous for.
These included Dhoom Machale from Dhoom 2; Sajana ji Wari Wari from Honeymoon Travels; Shut up and Bounce from Dostana; Mein Saat Samandar from Chameli;Jawa Hain Mohobbat from Fanney Khan. After belting out these mega high-octane numbers, Chauhan began to mix in a few slow-paced and romantic songs. The crowd by this time was putty in her hands and dancing in the aisles. A gentleman sitting in the seat in the front of this reporter came dressed as a bridegroom and sang along every word that Chauhan sang and kept dancing until he was told to dance in the aisles and not block the view of others seated!
By this time the aisles were filled with swaying dancers and soon enough they were jumping up and down to ‘Tu Toh Awi Awi’ from the hit film Band Baaja Baraat’. But, the true icing on the cake was Chauhan’s rendition of ‘Desi Girl’ from Dostana. Then the audience got drunk on ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom Sharabi’ only to recover for a bit with ‘Be Intaha’ and ‘Bhumbro Bhumbro’. Chauhan then took off on a journey of romance belting out all-time favorites like ‘Pehla Nasha Pehla Ghumaa’, ‘Ti Yamo Mi Ti Yamo,’ ‘Ishq Sufia’ from the Vidya Balan starrer, ‘Dirty Picture’.
The next minute the fireworks began again with ‘Ek Main or Ek tu Hain…Kiska Bharosa’ and ‘Race Sason Ki’. By this point, there were very few people seated, most were either dancing wildly in the aisles or standing by their seats and swaying and clapping to the music. The stage was lit up with lights and patterns that gyrated with the music, the orchestra was kicked up a notch and the whole audience was experiencing Bollywood music that Chauhan had pioneered-tons of oomph, sexiness and power. If Asha Bhonsle was the queen of naughty lyrics in yesteryears, Chauhan proved that she can not only sing, she can dance, move and rile up an audience of 4,000 to their feet for a good two hours. Then came the last few block busters that truly catapulted Chauhan to a new level of success- songs picturized on Katrina Kaif’s item dances. ‘Kamali Kamali’, ‘Chikni Chameli’ and ‘Sheela ki Jawani’. When Chauhan sang ‘Sheela Ki Jawani’ the crowd just did not want her to stop and she obliged by continuing the song and singing it again and again. What was obvious and totally popular was her ability to garner audience participations: whether it was to dance along or even sing along. She had the crowd eating out of her hand throughout her segment of the concert and proved that Bollywood attracts and rewards the best of the best voices as well as performers. Chauhan captured the first half of the concert which was followed with an intermission. Badshah then made his entry along with Astha Gill singing, ‘Saturday Saturday’ from ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania; It was truly like it was New Year’s Eve for those in the Terrace theater, neon lights went off and on, the noise level was at an all-time high and it was as if on cue that all millennials rushed towards the aisles and area in front of the stage wanting to shake hands with the singers. Behind this reported a 30 -something female screamed, “Badshah! I love you! Please sing my favorite songs. I love you! I love you!” and she did this for nearly the next two hours that Badshah was on stage! It seemed like it was the 1980’s and John Travolta was on stage…
After the opening number Badshah asked the demographics of the audience: how many are Punjabis? and a big roar was heard. So, Badshah sang a Punjabi song, ‘Sang Wakhra Swag ni’ along with neon Bhangra dancers graphic in bright neon colors as a backdrop. Needless to say the Punjabis were thrilled and danced in tune with the graphics. The fog machine was turned on as the ultimate all-time party song, “Tu Ladki Bootiful Kargai Chul,’ Gill was in her top form as she sang and danced to this song. Dressed in a bright sweat shirt and no pants, her sneakers were definitely something to look at-they were bright orange and white and seemed really big and heavy. Her cute Barbie-doll looks complimented her sweet voice and expressions.
Badshah, was as expected dressed like a rap singer-baggy black pants with a chain hanging down from his waist, an oversized wind cheater jacket and of course the big sneakers! The singing went on for nearly 90 minutes nonstop and it was as if half the audience had left their seats to dance with the singers in the front. Both Badshah and Gill shook hands with their clamoring fans. The young fans sang along with the singers with the two finger gestures that accompanies rap music. However, it was not all rap music, Bashah did Bollwood numbers such as A.R. Rahman’s ‘Hamma Humma’ with a twist as well as ‘Dildar Rachna’ followed by a song he dedicated to a toddler named Nishana in the audience. The connection between the fans and Badshah was tremendous and when he announced that the party was about to start and belted out ‘Abhi toh Party Shuru Hui Hain’ the audience went into a trance like mood and began to imitate the singers movements. The song ‘Have Mercy on Me’ was a little slower and seemed to give the singers as well as the screaming fans a little time to calm down before going into another frenzy with ‘DJ Waley Babu Mera Gana Chalado’ and ‘Kala Chasma’ the song featuring Katrina Kaif on screen. The night ended on a high note with fans still dizzy with Badshah and Astha’s magic still strong in their veins.
Stage Paint Productions streamed their sponsors, advertisers, supporters and volunteers identities on the screen pre-concert, during the intermission and at the end of the concert. Badshah invited the organizers, band members and Chauhan to the stage and thanked everyone for their efforts, time and talent.
The Terrace Theater venue was suitable for such a large crowd and what was significant is that with the number of concert-goers increasing in droves, so have the food vendors.The hungry audience, some of whom must have traveled long distances for the concert did not need to just gulp down the familiar samosas and chutneys-they had many choices of entrees as well as chai and desserts that they were all available before, during and even after the concert.
These included Dhoom Machale from Dhoom 2; Sajana ji Wari Wari from Honeymoon Travels; Shut up and Bounce from Dostana; Mein Saat Samandar from Chameli;Jawa Hain Mohobbat from Fanney Khan. After belting out these mega high-octane numbers, Chauhan began to mix in a few slow-paced and romantic songs. The crowd by this time was putty in her hands and dancing in the aisles. A gentleman sitting in the seat in the front of this reporter came dressed as a bridegroom and sang along every word that Chauhan sang and kept dancing until he was told to dance in the aisles and not block the view of others seated!
By this time the aisles were filled with swaying dancers and soon enough they were jumping up and down to ‘Tu Toh Awi Awi’ from the hit film Band Baaja Baraat’. But, the true icing on the cake was Chauhan’s rendition of ‘Desi Girl’ from Dostana. Then the audience got drunk on ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom Sharabi’ only to recover for a bit with ‘Be Intaha’ and ‘Bhumbro Bhumbro’. Chauhan then took off on a journey of romance belting out all-time favorites like ‘Pehla Nasha Pehla Ghumaa’, ‘Ti Yamo Mi Ti Yamo,’ ‘Ishq Sufia’ from the Vidya Balan starrer, ‘Dirty Picture’.
The next minute the fireworks began again with ‘Ek Main or Ek tu Hain…Kiska Bharosa’ and ‘Race Sason Ki’. By this point, there were very few people seated, most were either dancing wildly in the aisles or standing by their seats and swaying and clapping to the music. The stage was lit up with lights and patterns that gyrated with the music, the orchestra was kicked up a notch and the whole audience was experiencing Bollywood music that Chauhan had pioneered-tons of oomph, sexiness and power. If Asha Bhonsle was the queen of naughty lyrics in yesteryears, Chauhan proved that she can not only sing, she can dance, move and rile up an audience of 4,000 to their feet for a good two hours. Then came the last few block busters that truly catapulted Chauhan to a new level of success- songs picturized on Katrina Kaif’s item dances. ‘Kamali Kamali’, ‘Chikni Chameli’ and ‘Sheela ki Jawani’. When Chauhan sang ‘Sheela Ki Jawani’ the crowd just did not want her to stop and she obliged by continuing the song and singing it again and again. What was obvious and totally popular was her ability to garner audience participations: whether it was to dance along or even sing along. She had the crowd eating out of her hand throughout her segment of the concert and proved that Bollywood attracts and rewards the best of the best voices as well as performers. Chauhan captured the first half of the concert which was followed with an intermission. Badshah then made his entry along with Astha Gill singing, ‘Saturday Saturday’ from ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania; It was truly like it was New Year’s Eve for those in the Terrace theater, neon lights went off and on, the noise level was at an all-time high and it was as if on cue that all millennials rushed towards the aisles and area in front of the stage wanting to shake hands with the singers. Behind this reported a 30 -something female screamed, “Badshah! I love you! Please sing my favorite songs. I love you! I love you!” and she did this for nearly the next two hours that Badshah was on stage! It seemed like it was the 1980’s and John Travolta was on stage…
After the opening number Badshah asked the demographics of the audience: how many are Punjabis? and a big roar was heard. So, Badshah sang a Punjabi song, ‘Sang Wakhra Swag ni’ along with neon Bhangra dancers graphic in bright neon colors as a backdrop. Needless to say the Punjabis were thrilled and danced in tune with the graphics. The fog machine was turned on as the ultimate all-time party song, “Tu Ladki Bootiful Kargai Chul,’ Gill was in her top form as she sang and danced to this song. Dressed in a bright sweat shirt and no pants, her sneakers were definitely something to look at-they were bright orange and white and seemed really big and heavy. Her cute Barbie-doll looks complimented her sweet voice and expressions.
Badshah, was as expected dressed like a rap singer-baggy black pants with a chain hanging down from his waist, an oversized wind cheater jacket and of course the big sneakers! The singing went on for nearly 90 minutes nonstop and it was as if half the audience had left their seats to dance with the singers in the front. Both Badshah and Gill shook hands with their clamoring fans. The young fans sang along with the singers with the two finger gestures that accompanies rap music. However, it was not all rap music, Bashah did Bollwood numbers such as A.R. Rahman’s ‘Hamma Humma’ with a twist as well as ‘Dildar Rachna’ followed by a song he dedicated to a toddler named Nishana in the audience. The connection between the fans and Badshah was tremendous and when he announced that the party was about to start and belted out ‘Abhi toh Party Shuru Hui Hain’ the audience went into a trance like mood and began to imitate the singers movements. The song ‘Have Mercy on Me’ was a little slower and seemed to give the singers as well as the screaming fans a little time to calm down before going into another frenzy with ‘DJ Waley Babu Mera Gana Chalado’ and ‘Kala Chasma’ the song featuring Katrina Kaif on screen. The night ended on a high note with fans still dizzy with Badshah and Astha’s magic still strong in their veins.
Stage Paint Productions streamed their sponsors, advertisers, supporters and volunteers identities on the screen pre-concert, during the intermission and at the end of the concert. Badshah invited the organizers, band members and Chauhan to the stage and thanked everyone for their efforts, time and talent.
The Terrace Theater venue was suitable for such a large crowd and what was significant is that with the number of concert-goers increasing in droves, so have the food vendors.The hungry audience, some of whom must have traveled long distances for the concert did not need to just gulp down the familiar samosas and chutneys-they had many choices of entrees as well as chai and desserts that they were all available before, during and even after the concert.