Himesh Reshammiya will translate five of his popular Bollywood numbers, from Hindi to English and perform to them at his to-be-held concert at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam on December 1. Bollywood insiders claim that the musician-turned-actor is not content with being a desi rock star and wants to become an international performer.
"Himesh, in his concert abroad, will perform in front of a mixed crowd of NRIs and locals, who don't understand Hindi yet love his numbers. It is to please his spectators that the singer has chosen five numbers to be sung in their original Hindi versions as well as translated English ones. The five songs are — Aap Kaa Surroor's title number and two more from same film — Tera Mera Milna and Assalaam Vaalekum, his Red (2007) hit number — Aafreen and finally the song that catapulted him to stardom, the Aashiq Banaya Aapne title song," says an industry source.
The English lyrics of these songs have already been prepared and Himesh is busy practicing them along with the dance steps. "Himesh wants to give it his best. After all, he will be the first Indian to perform live at the prestigious venue (Heineken Music Hall) where big names like Pink Floyd, Beyonce, Norah Jones, Nelly Furtado, Lawrence Hill, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Lionel Richie, Boys II Men, Bob Dylan, Tiesto, Rian Ferry, Pink and Rihanna have earlier performed to packed houses," the source adds, "Himesh is also on a strict diet regime and doing rigorous work outs, aiming to lose 8-10 kilos in 2 months before he starts work on his next acting assignment, the Karz remake and the foreign tour he is setting out for."
Bollywood songs were first translated from Hindi to English by the Rajashris for their English version of Maine Pyar Kiya. But they didn't turn out to be as popular as the original ones. Himesh's numbers are mostly laced with heavy Urdu lyrics which are also not easily fathomable by an average listener. Also, majority of his hit numbers' opening lines carry repeated wordings. One just wonders how their English translations would sound.
Hill Road Media
Lost in translation?
Aashiq banaya, aashiq banaya, aashiq banaya aapne: Lover you made me, lover you made me, lover you made me yours.
Yeh tera mera milna, yeh dilon ka machalna, yeh hai khuda ki marzi, tu bhi na jaane yaar: This meeting of ours, this pulsating heat beats of ours is all god's wish, don't you know about it!
Aafreen tera chehra… Aafreen tera manzar: Ethereal is your face, Ethereal are you over all.
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