The board over the box office proudly says “House Full” and 30 minutes before the show is set to begin, a long queue wends through the gates to the road. Natarani is ending the season with a big bang Usha Uthup concert and Mallika Sarabhai greets everyone at the entrance to the amphitheatre with a happy grin. Inside, Natarani’s staff has been deployed in full strength to manage the crowd.
I thought the concert would attract a Gen X audience, but no. At 77, Usha Uthup still has universal appeal and her shows draw people of all ages. As she makes her entrance, clad in a black and gold Kanjivaram sari, with shoes to match, it is easy to see why. Starting with the classic I Believe in Music, always her opening song, Ms Uthup quickly shifts gears to Adele’s theme from Skyfall. Powerful stuff and the audience is instantly hooked.
Having started off as a nightclub singer in Kolkata in the 1969, Ms Uthup is a performer par excellence, with a charm that is impossible to resist. You may try, sitting stiff with your arms crossed over your chest, but a few songs in, you find yourself loosening up, swaying, stomping, and maybe even singing along. And why not? The songs are all familiar and everybody knows the words: Stand by Me, I Just Called to Say I Love You, Fever.
Ms Uthup is a master at engaging the audience and keeps up an easy banter all through the show. She does a series of film medleys, starting with songs from the 70s like Dum Maro Dum and Duniya Mein Logo Ko and then older numbers like Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo and Bar Bar Dekho. In between she sings a medley of her own playback hits like Ramba Ho and Shaan Se.
A Selection of Photos from the Event:
The concert happens to be on International Women’s Day and the Natarani ladies, including Mallika Sarabhai, are all dancing on an upper level of the stage when Ms Uthup belts out her version of Bindiya Chamkegi, very different from Lata Mangeshkar’s little-girl version. Main na baithoongi doli mein, keh doongi babul se I want a Ferrari, she sings.
Ms Uthup is famous for being able to sing in many languages and after she performs Pankhida in Gujarati and Laung Gawacha in Panjabi, she takes spontaneous requests from the crowd to sing in Malayalam, Tamil, Marathi, Oriya and Bengali (Ekla Chalo Re). Then she plays a game with the audience where they must sing the Hindi film version of a song after she sings the Spanish, Italian or English song that it is copied from.
Ms Uthup has lost none of her trademark verve and she is still “with it” when it comes to music. Along with oldies like I Will Survive, she also sings Daft Punk’s Get Lucky and Miley Cyrus’ Flowers. The 140-minute concert ends with Hava Nagila, the old Ukrainian melody that has become the theme song for Jewish celebrations around the world.
Also Read: Natarani Stages Two Minimalist Performances
Highly Distinctive Voice I Say.