High Five Concert heats up Atlanta Civic Center to raise funds for the Raina Foundation

An interesting combination of two incredibly gifted Indian and two Pakistani singers, one of whom is admired by old and young alike because of his immense talent and the other a teeny bopper heart throb, put together in an innovative concert by promoter Rocky, fulfilled the dream that Robin Raina had of continuing to build bridges between the Pakistani and Indian communities. June 8th saw a motley crowd of Indians, but even more Pakistani and Agha Khani audience not often seen in a concert organized by an Indian at the packed Atlanta Civic center for the Summer Beats Concert.

The underlying message was that poverty has no boundaries said Robin Raina before he declared the show open and gave people more than 4 and a half hours of entertainment, with the show going into overtime. The Foundation that has been helping underprivileged children, women and providing medical care all over India, besides supporting a medical ward in Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan’s Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore, is now raising funds for 6000 homes for slum dwellers in Bawana, near Delhi.

In quest of cleaning Delhi a million slum dwellers were swept out and dumped in Bawana the second largest slum in the country by the Indian government. Robin reiterated that there is no shame in accepting poverty and the issue should be addressed the world over instead of being ignored. With the help of some NGOs, the Foundation was able to convince the government to give slum dwellers 200 square feet of land per family. “It’s not a big space. Nine people, on an average live in two rooms, but these concrete homes that we are building for them are free. All they need is to have ownership of that land legally and to promise that they will send their kids to school.” The Foundation makes it easy by running a school in the area. The 15 million dollar project has been in full gear since a few months and Robin has personally donated 2 million dollars, apart from other expenses for which he often picks up the tabs.

The Foundation stages shows like these as a repeat reminder that all of us must reach out and try and put a smile on the faces of all the underprivileged around the world. Even helping one child, one person, makes a huge impact. Raina also honored Rani Sharma of Raneez boutique who adopted 20 children from the foundation.

After that it was music, all the way. The fifth performer item gal Rakhi Sawant was a no show but no one missed her. The show began with some talented dancers who continued rocking throughout the concert as the singers belted out their stuff. Soon after, the emcee Archana Mahajan sang a couple of songs to cover up for the delay that was happening before the entry of the extremely talented young singer from Pakistan Amanat Ali, who had rocked the Saregamapa show with a voice that seemed far too complete and well rounded, even then for a 19 year old. Many had felt that he should have won the competition and he probably would have if it had not become an India versus Pakistan issue in India, driving the voting. Amanat had swept the international segment. Still this charming young man said to me at dinner the next day that he remains overwhelmed by the love Indians have shown him wherever he has gone.. On the flip side a huge number of Pakistanis had emailed and called me to ask if the rumors flying around two days before the show that Kailash Kher was not coming were true as they were going to support him and listen to him. It truly brought home the point that music has no cultural or religious barriers.

The Pakistani and the Agha Khani community easily out numbered the Indians who came to see the show, but their love and support of the two Indian singers was evident in the screams and roars with which they greeted them and the never ending applause, whistles and cat calls that followed each song.

Amanat being a young talent who is just at the threshold of his career, had the advantage of being able to pick all the latest hits and sing them. He showed the versatility of his voice as he began with the tough Mitwa, which had blown Farah Khan in the Saregama finals and compelled her to say that he had sung it better than the original singer Shafqat Amanat Ali who had been accompanied by the brilliant Shankar Mahadevan.

He followed it up the block buster Darde disco and ankhon meir teri from Om shanti Om, and then with the soulful Jab se tera naina from Saawariya, and other popular numbers like Mauja ji Mauja, Soni de nakhre sone lagde, Khaike paan banaras wala, O jinne mera dil lutiya, finally ending with a song that had viewers from 132 countries in tears when he sang it during the Saregamapa competition- the soulful number Tujh se naraaz nahin zindagi from Masoom. Amanat has come a long way from the raw young man from Lahore, Pakistan who represented Dubai and won his place in the competition from there, to the confident singer with great stage presence who had some fun with the audience and got them involved quite effortlessly. This charming and down to earth singer is cutting an album which will be ready in a couple of months and is very much looking forward to that.

By the way for those who felt that he sang better at Saregamapa, one must realize that a singer will sound only as good as the sound system permits him and Atlanta Civic Center and whatever was provided there was not a match for the state of the art, controlled environment on the Saregama pa stage. Amanat did a great job with what he was provided.

The stage was then set for the amazing Richa Sharma whose voice had floored me more than a decade ago when she had come to Atlanta and sung the song Damadam Mast Kalandar. The song had become a world wide phenomenon, when sung by the Bangladeshi songstress Runa Laila. Richa had embellished the song with so many classical touches that she left Runa Laila far behind. Since then her soulful, earthy voice has turned many songs into chart busters and it’s obvious that Pakistanis know the good singers from the bad ones going by the welcome she received. Not only is she an amazing talent, she also has wonderful stage presence and she had the crowd eating out of her hand in no time.

As the lights dimmed, a beautiful melody from the flute carried on its wings, Richa’s voice as the seamless Saawariya, saiyaan daras bina nahin chain resonated through the auditorium. Richa Sharma walked in, resplendent in black and gold attire and was first gracious enough to acknowledge all the musicians, and the technicians including Atlanta’s own Sandeep Savla who handled a lot of the behind the scene technical stuff and sound. She then went on to belt out Mahi ve from the thriller Bhram which had sky rocketed on the charts even before the movie was released. She followed it up with the song that had floored me the first time I had heard it-Damadam must Kalandar but this time she brought a different flavor to it, singing a refrain with each instrument, getting the audience to clap before merging it all and adding her vocals to it.

Then came all her super hits – Mahiya ve Soniya ve, Tauba Tauba Ishq main kariya, Zindagi mein koi kabhi aye na rabba, Dil mile bina hi lut gaye, show me your Jalwa and Billo Rani. The auditorium was lit with hundreds of cell phone lights being waved at her request when she sang Zindagi mein koi Kabhi Aye na Rabba. Richa also belted out Kali teri gut te paranda tera lal ni to a powerful dhol accompaniment adding Kajra mohabbat wala into it. She told me the next evening that she was completely floored by the love and response of the audience in Atlanta.

The stage was now set for the man who I think is an unparalleled talent amongst male singers in India with a unique voice. He is a soulful composer, and writer as well and the applause was deafening when Kailash Kher’s voice rose from behind the stage to pay homage to the late singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who Kailash adores. Mainu ik pal chain na aavey sajna tere bina, pulsated throughout the hall. He also sang tere bin nahin lagda dil mera dholna to honor the late maestro.

Kailash Kher then rocked the house with many of his block buster numbers Teri Diwani, Tauba Tauba, Joban Chalke, the unforgettable Saiyyan one of my personal favorites and Chak de phattey . But the song that was the show stopper of the night was Bam Lahiri from his album Kailasa Jhoomo re. Kailash Kher brought his band Kailasa with him and it had outstanding musicians in it. Kher is an immensely gifted musician whose talent soars high as the mountain after which he has been named, and people were still talking about him the next day going by the emails and phone calls we received as his being the performance of the night with requests to have a solo show with only him there. Many people left as soon as he relinquished the stage. Kailash Kher said that he wanted to let the audience know he was completely stunned by the love and accolades. He has performed in Atlanta before to a full house last year for Robin’s show but this audience was the one that left him speechless. He was very touched by the love non Indians have for singers like him and how well they knew his music.

Finally, it was the turn of the man all the teeny boppers and young Pakistanis had been waiting for- a man who wanted to be a pace bowler in cricket but was destined instead to be the Prince of Pakistani fusion music setting his own pace to stardom. The man is 25 year old Atif Aslam-an untrained singer whose interest in music began late in college when he seriously started listening to his brother’s collection of music from different genres.

Today he just has to walk across the stage and all hell breaks loose amongst the die hard young fans. I don’t think anyone was listening really to what he sang, because his vocals were blurred, the music was too loud, but it didn’t matter as long as he stayed on stage, and they caught a refrain. For over an hour Aslam mixed his hit numbers with some Indian blockbusters, which included Mahi ve, doorie, Hum kis gali, mahiya ve soniya ve, tere bin, ai zindagi gale laga le, bheegi yaadein, kuch is tarah, meri kahani, beedi jalai le, inteha ho gayi intezar ki. He seemed to really like the crowd because he continued singing even after being told by his brother who is also his manager, several times that it was time to pack up.

The young adoring crowd was screaming out words of the songs and dancing to the numbers. Aslam’s musicians were quite outstanding. I do wish however that he learns to be more coherent. Not just in Atlanta, I watched clips of other concerts on youtube and he was as incomprehensible there as well. It was the same issue with Adnan Sami. Legendary songstress, Asha Bhosle has commented time and again on this lack of commitment on the part of many young artists to learn how to pronounce words clearly and succinctly in their performances. Still the inebriated crowd didn’t seem to care and later much to their joy Robin let the concert go more than an hour over time. It ended only when Atif Aslam decided to end it.

On the flip side, there were also many who were very disappointed by Aslam’s performance. However, if you listen to his studio recordings you will realize that Aslam sings simple soulful lyrics set to simple soulful melodies, that are perfect for easy listening and will be liked by the majority of people who don’t go into the intricacies, or haven’t the time or the knowledge to figure out of who is a really gifted singer, what is the range and tonal quality of his voice. Aslam perhaps needs some training in classical music, but he obviously has the charisma and what it takes-the looks and pleasant demeanor both on and off stage to be a heartthrob of the young.

There were many who complained that this concert was a mish-mash of different genres. Also unlike what everyone presumed, the choice of the artists in one show, had nothing to do with Robin Raina or his foundation-it was put together by the promoter and then you buy the act if you want to. I personally felt that had Aslam’s voice and music been projected clearly the older crowd too would have liked it. His musicians incidentally were outstanding. It was the noise and inaudible aspect of his performance that left everyone dissatisfied. It may have also not been a good idea to send him after Kailash Kher who is in any case a very very tough act to follow by any artist.

The concert was marred by the terrible security arrangements by Atlanta Civic Center. These guys really need to put their act together. A vastly drunk and uncontrollable section of the younger group got into fist fights and there were scenes of bloody noses, people rushing forward obstructing everyone’s view and climbing and standing on top of chairs for a long time. There was a section between the artists and the seated audience that should have been opened for the people to dance as was done at the Fox theater in a previous show by the Foundation that had a packed house as well, but obviously the over weight security men and women at the venue didn’t want to chase down people or watch the artists or even tackle the drunk section that was very abusive to people around them. I have seen shows where people have been over enthusiastic about the artists, I have also been to shows where close to 50,000 people were in the audience but never have I seen such badly handled arrangements by any venue as I did on June 8th. Robin usually pulls all the stops to make sure the show is enjoyed by all. Perhaps one lesson to learn is to hire extra security if the venue permits.

I still think it’s never a good idea to mix alcohol with music especially on an empty stomach because food is not allowed at Atlanta Civic Center. While the idea is to have a good time, there has to be a line drawn on what is respectful and what is not.

On the positive side, many Pakistanis have stepped forward and sponsored homes and children and shown support to the Foundation and that has been gratifying for Robin Raina who now has global goals set for his charity.