Is Farhan Akhtar a Legend in making? - Page 3

It's past midnight and Bollywood actor-singer Farhan Akhtar is doing push-ups, 15 of them at a stretch. No, we are not at his gym. It's his unique way of stretching his vocal chords, apparently. And it seems to have worked.

The Rock on!! star stole the thunder on the Bollywood Night of the six-day Dubai Music Week at the Dubai World Trade Centre Arena on Saturday.

Just as he finished his push-ups and hamstring stretch, the silence that engulfed the hall filled with listeners who were watching him do this unusual stage ritual was broken as he sung the remaining bits of his romantic ballad Tum Ho Toh in that trademark raspy, gravelly voice. Loud I love you Farhan' squeals and screams to take off his T-shirt followed as he brought the house down.

"I will charge you extra for that," said Akhtar with a laugh. Clad in a black t-shirt and corduroys, he was the poster boy for a sexy Mr Nice Guy.

"Maybe we can get Pritam to remove his T-shirt," he added alluding to the long-haired, abs-free but highly talented colleague who was part of his entourage. From the laughter that it evoked, something told us that the world wasn't ready for that, just yet.

We may not have seen a shirtless Farhan (sigh) but we got treated to a rather energetic rendition of his chartbusting numbers such as Sindbad The Sailor, Senorita, Pichle Saat Dino and Rock On!!. With veins popping, he raced from one end of the stage to the other. He crooned, he jammed, he jumped with his bandmates and did everything in between to make the night memorable for his fans who had been up on their feet since 7pm. Five hours and no sign of Akhtar had made a few crabby. But he made up for it when he sang a re-mixed version of Dil Chahta Hai. It was his homestretch highlight. The title track from the iconic film with the same name was an ode to friendships. Several bunch of friends bonded over all over again with this one.

Akhtar had modified the DCH track to make it more concert-friendly. It had more beats and guitar riffs.

"Where there's love, there's compassion. Where there is compassion, there's understanding. Where there is understanding, there's peace. Let's love each other and fight for peace," said Akhtar to his legion of fans.

While Bollywood fans enjoyed the energetic performance of Akhtar, singer Mohit Chauhan's no-show left many fans disappointed. Though Chauhan's name was announced a couple of times during the evening, the Peelo singer did not make it to the stage.

"What happened to Mohit Chauhan? We were looking forward to seeing him perform. There was no explanation and we waited till the very end hoping to see him perform. Why didn't they inform us about his absence?. It left all of us puzzled," said Kamlesh S, a Dubai-based businessman.

"We were around 40 of us. We love all his songs and we would have waited to see him perform live," he added.

When tabloid! sought a comment from the organisers about Chauhan's no-show, they said his act was cancelled due to "time constraints." The show, which began more than an hour late wrapped up around 1.10am.

Abu Dhabi-based singer Benny Dayal also did a good job of keeping the party alive with his robust singing of Badtameez Dil from the blockbuster Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. While music composer Pritam got the show on the road by belting out hits such as Kabira, it was his sunglasses that were the talking point.

"You may be wondering why I am wearing these Rayban shades at night. It was gifted to me by Shah Rukh Khan and I heard it's a trend in Dubai. So when Dubai does it, the world will follow," he joked. It's debatable if wearing sunnies at night will be universally accepted, but there's no question that Dubai embraced their music whole-heartedly on Saturday night.