The hoopla surrounding the Rock Stars concert before the tour even began was as much of a newsmaker as the tour itself. First came the shocker about Salman Khan being convicted in the black buck poaching case and being sentenced to 5 years in prison.
And as if that wasn’t enough, the show’s other big attraction actor John Abraham had a motorcycle accident where he ended up injuring his leg, trying to save two cyclists with whom he collided.
As every one scrambled to get grips on the situation, a few hiccups later, Salman Khan was out on bail. Even then rumors ran rife-he isn’t coming, they are trying to find a replacement, the other stars have said if Salman doesn’t go we don’t go-the show may be cancelled. Then more news filtered in-that Salman’s visa had been revoked because of his conviction. It was a harrowing time for the star and even worse for the promoters who had spent months advertising, planning and promoting the tour. Many setbacks later Salman Khan finally got his visa and his groove back and went out of his way to accommodate the media, to make up for lost time. The tour got postponed by a couple of weeks but every one used that time to rehearse some more.
Finally on May 12th, Mark Premji and Klub Klassics presented the much talked about concert at the Arena at the Gwinnet Center for the Arts.
You have to hand it to the Moranis and whoever else was involved in choreographing the Rockstar concert-their keen eye for detail, their choice of actors to perform the pieces and of course getting all the current heartthrobs of Bollywood films together on one stage made the much talked about Rockstar concert quite a dazzler.
The best thing about the concert was the first half of the show. It sizzled with music, rocking numbers, footwork, spectacular entries the fact that there was no emceeing. Also many songs were picked up from films that the stars had not acted in but have been blockbuster numbers.
Some singers and film actors will not perform the songs of other singers/actors no matter how popular the song has become.
The stars arrived on stage in order of seniority. The first one to sashay in was Esha Deol. Esha has had a sketchy rise to stardom, bearing the burden of being the daughter of two exceedingly good looking superstars of Indian cinema, Hema Malini and Dharmendra, and what stood out in her performance was her fabulous dancing and choreography that created a perfect balance between western and Indian classical moves. Certain difficult postures that Esha could perform only because she is so fit and flexible, gave a rocking start to the concert. In fact in the second half when she performed the number “ Kajra re’ that has been made famous by Aishwarya Rai and the two Bachchans Amitabh and Abhishek, Esha actually danced better that Aishwarya. She performed to a medley of songs from her films ranging from Dhoom to Dus and then hooked up with Zayed Khan to songs from Main Hoon Na. If there were any nerves at this being her first tour abroad, they weren’t visible at all, either in her dancing or in her communication with the crowd when she insisted someone serenade her with a song, encouraging the guys who came up, laughing with the crowd and charming people with her quick wit.
Zayed Khan has become a big heart throb of the teeny bopper crowd, since Main Hoon Na and the screams that welcome him as he arrived in a green and black ensemble were pretty deafening. It was nice to see Atlanta give a warm welcome to Zayed who said the stage floor was very cold but he was warmed by the enthusiasm and affection from his audience and that kept him going. Zayed says he loves the martial arts, and dancing so his first segment began with a performance that combined graceful dance and martial arts moves before he hit the floor performing to the chart buster Dus Bahane from Dus along with other populars numbers from Main Hoon. Na. Zayed later got a girl from the audience and sang the title song of Main Hoon Na himself – very much in tune.
The show stealer was Shahid Kapoor, by far the best dancer in the show. As his name flashed in the dark, he took a pretty high leap from a stage set up above the main stage. You needed stairs to go up there otherwise. He landed on his feet and set the stage on fire with his electrifying foot work, great moves and grace, as he performed to songs from his mega hit Ishq Vishq and from the Hritik Roshan block buster Kaho na Pyar hai among others.
Mallika Sherawat came next on stage after a tantalizing introduction on screen, with images of her in skimpy bathing gear, striking several sensual poses. She was the least interactive star and could actually have been excluded from the show and not missed. While she has been lucky that some of the movies she has acted in have beautiful songs, her performance was a yawn.
Kareena Kapoor was next-it is interesting to see how much she has improved since her first tour in 2002. She looked gorgeous and it was obvious that she had put her heart and soul in to her performance as she danced to her block buster numbers from Chameli-Behta hai man kahin and Sajna ve Sajna, interacted with the audience, and moved through the show obviously having a good time. Kareena and shahid Kapoor look great together and the chemistry showed between the duo who has been together as a couple for the past 3 years.
Non stop screams were reserved for John Abraham as he made an entry on a motor bike. John is one of the nicest people you’d meet off stage. John told me backstage he is still not fully recovered from the accident and unable to dance as much as he would like. It didn’t show however because he still went out and gave it his all. He got a woman in the audience and went through a very graceful and intimate rendition of Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai from his first film Jism.
The song is very beautiful, and I’m glad all the moves were executed sensually but elegantly. There was a monologue and music to dance to from some of his films-an interesting mix of music, mime and talking to the audience. While every one wore interesting outfits, John in white performing a monologue was a very ethereal sight.
Then it was the turn of the man whose arrival was in jeopardy for a while, The introduction to Salman Khan was a homage to the people who stood by him as images of his conviction, and release from jail, the aftermath were all encapsulated in a film that flashed through the auditorium.
From there on it was up, close and personal with the star who left no stone unturned to dance his heart out, stay on stage as much as he could and add a 20 minute interaction with the audience, where people were given microphones and the opportunity to ask questions-any question, or come up on stage to get a hug or a kiss from Salman.
The second half had more musical skits, and the stars came out together as couples, the pace was kept sizzling with great choreography and the finale had all of them come out to dazzle the audience. The only negative thing was the introduction of the emcee Shweta, who couldn’t get the crowd going, in spite of Salman’s endorsement of her.
A better idea would have been to keep the acts going as the Moranis had done with Temptations concert where the stars introduced each other as part of the ongoing show lending it a smoothness and fluidity that was missing here. The audience likes to see its stars and having an emcee who isn’t welcome takes away from the time the audience wants with the celebrities they have come to see. It is also not fair to the emcee, who can sense the apathy and has to still grin and bear it.
Backstage everything was peaceful and well managed. Mark Premji looked pretty relaxed for someone who had spent a fortune on what must be one of the most expensive shows to stage this year. The crowd was pretty appreciative outside and every one had their favorites.
I do feel however that while Rockstars had been created in a very polished way since the Moranis are veterans and know the pulse of the people, I wonder how long these kind of exorbitantly expensive shows can last to even pull in a decent audience. I hear Zee TV shows these concerts in their entirety a few months down the road.
Instead of every entertainment company jumping on the band wagon and bringing their own stars, it would be a better idea to let those who know what they are doing to come up with one stellar show in the entire year so people can plan and save for the expensive tickets. It would give the promoters a chance to break even, and the stars to see a full house inspiring them to perform well.