Hariharan, Javed make crowd sway to Rahman tunes

SAIFAI (ETAWAH): Melodious tunes by A R Rahman and his 300-member strong troupe played on the occasion of 76th birthday of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and left public spellbound on Saturday night.
The ancestral village of the SP chief also witnessed some popular film singers, including Hariharan and Javed Ali crooning some of their popular Hindi film songs.Residents of Saifai asked for more and Rahman did not disappoint. The venue was crowded well before the show began. They complied when they were asked to scream ‘Jai Ho’ at the top of their voices but their loudest cheer was reserved for Rahman as he came on to the stage in an open doli. Clad in a white long coat, Rahman started the show with a track from ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ and followed it up with ‘Jai Ho’ from Slum Dog Millionaire. The next track, one of his famous hit ‘Khalbali hai khalbali’ from Rang De Basanti got the crowd singing along.
Singers Hariharan and Javed Ali 's entry on the stage caught everyone by surprise as they immediately belted out the song ‘Roja jaaneman’ much to the delight of everyone, as the crowd hummed along. But it was Rahman’s ‘Dil Se,’ the title track from the film that got the crowd on their feet. “His entry was superb and so is the event. Also, the police is doing a great job,” said Mahendra, who was there with his group of friends to enjoy the show. It was not all music and dancers in the troupe put up a splendid show too.