Musings: Anu Kapoor and Shaan live in Dubai

I am sure that there are many Indian and Pakistani members in this list and is to them that this posting is addressed.

One of the nice things about Dubai is that many Indian and Pakistani musicians wend their way here – they cannot afford to ignore this important oasis of fans in the Arabian Gulf region.

Of late a lot of games shows and musicals are being shot here. Anu Kapoor (of Antakshari fame) was here filming a game show at the Ajman Independent Studios in Ajman. The show was looking for an audience and were offering free passes. My wife and I jumped at the offer and there we were, at the studio, one chilly evening (it’s really COLD in Dubai these days!).

If this show had been held in India, there would have been zillions of people vying to be a part of the audience. There would have been police posted at the gates and there would be fans trying to scale the studio walls surreptitiously to make their way to Studio 2 to be a part of the audience. Here, tickets were going abegging.

We had scarcely settled down as part of the audience – and there were very few people in the audience – when a worried studio hand approached us and asked us whether we would like to a take part in the show. This was incredible and a little worrying. He explained that two of the participants had failed to show up and wished to induct us in their place.

The “game show” being held that day was in honor of the great music director Roshan. (I hadn’t even heard of him!). The studio guy promised that he would give us a brief biography of Roshan to memorize and we could participate confidently. He was so sure that we would succeed that he even called the make up man to start applying the make up.

My wife was all for it. She is basically a very enthusiastic person and is willing to participate in most events; however, the voice of caution kept screaming in my head “DON’T DO IT!” I’d rather be non-participative than famous in worldwide as the guy who knew nothing about Roshan!

Most Indian wives (most wives?) tacitly concede that their hubby has the right to veto every now and then, and so the resolution was firmly vetoed (and sullenly accepted by my wife) and peace reigned. We reverted again to the role of spectators.

Roshan, for those of you who may not have heard of him, was a famous music director in the 1960’s. He wrote the music, for example, of the hit “Taj Mahal” soundtrack (Jo vaada kiya, etc). He is also Rajesh Roshan’s brother (? – someone pl correct me if I am wrong) and Rakesh Roshan’s father.

Anu Kapoor needs no introduction to Indians and Pakistanis. He is an encyclopedia as far as music is concerned. An actor par excellence and above all a great performer Anu Kapoor, has always looked at music more than a medium of entertainment. For him music is a stimulant for the soul and that’s the reason he has been hosting India’s most successful musical shows ever - Close-Up Antakshri - on Zee TV.

What Anu Kapoor adds to the atmosphere is his intense and extempore showmanship. You have him tap dancing one minute to falling on the floor in excitement the next.

And of course, he is a great singer regaling the audience with past hits – in this case of Roshan.

All in all it was a great performance and a great show and we went every day till it concluded.

More recently, as early as last week, we learned that the favorite “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” hosted by Shaan was shooting in Dubai Media City amphitheatre and they too wanted an audience and passes were available at the Jumbo Electronics outlets all over the UAE.

This was good news, because there is a Jumbo show room within a few minutes of walk from my home. I visited the showroom several times but each time they lamented the fact that they had not yet received the passes (though by now all the other showrooms had). When they finally got it, they felt so obliged towards me that they gave me what I asked for – two passes for every show. When I returned home, I found that in their haste and excitement to please they had given me four passes for some shows!

I later learned that other Jumbo showrooms had been very conservative in issuing the passes and had given each visitor only two passes in toto.

Shaan is a Bengali (Shantanu Mukherjee). Not many Indian know that, do they? Shaan does have a fairly illustrious musical background. His father was composer Manas Mukherjee, who has scored music for films such as Shaayad and Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai.

Shaan made his solo debut with the album, Loveology in 1996 - a commonplace pop album that did not do his career much good. But lady luck at last decided to smile down upon Shaan in 2000, and the singer delivered Tanha Dil, an exceptionally promising album, featuring some soulful ballads, as well as catchy tunes. The album finally established him as a serious singer of considerable worth. He remains a self-taught musician, who has received no formal training.

The show happens at the Dubai Media City Amphitheater and the stands overlook the CNN and the Reuters Buildings. There is a beautiful lake in the backdrop and everything is a lush green. Palm tree lined stone paved paths wend their way hither and thither. All the palm trees are lit up with small colourful bulbs. There is a wooden bridge across the lake. It leads to the CNN building. The bridge too is gaily decorated in lights.

The approach to the amphitheatre is fenced off and there are security guards every where. Incongruously, they are all tall, well built Africans. This serves as a forcible reminder that Dubai is multicultural – 140 nationalities live in harmony here.

Five minutes before the show a “crowd control director” (Jitenderji) tells the audience where the cameras are located, how they must clap etc. and what they must NOT do during the show.

The show starts without much fanfare. Messages are audibly exchanged amongst the director and crew members over the PA system. Shaan indicates that he is ready and the show starts with the director exhorting every one to maintain silence.

Shaan’s Hindi is atrocious. That’s because Hindi is not his mother tongue. This causes several re-takes when shooting. Shaan often says something that is grammatically wrong and the director shouts “Cut cut cut!” like all directors and the scene is re-shot to get it right. This means that Shaan and the director do not do their home work. If they did, and had a script, things would move much faster. But that’s my own humble opinion.

Though the participants are all of Indian origin and singing songs in Hindi, many do not know to even speak a word of Hindi or to even understand it!

There was this teenager from South Africa. He sang very well (though at times one could detect a South African accent). The judge (Abida Parveen) started talking to him in Urdu and he couldn’t decipher a word she said! Finally Shaan had to act as an interpreter.

The moment the show starts, many in the audience pull out chips packets and give it to their children. Dubai crowds have voracious appetites and everyone seems to be eating all the time. The wrapper of the chips packets make a lot of loud rustling. Cell phone rings every now and then (though the crowd control director had asked everyone to switch them off, most do not comply). People talk loudly amongst themselves in violation of the instructions. That’s why, anywhere in the world, Indians (meaning Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Nepalis.) will be Indians and behave as if they are still in India (in the Indian subcontinent). They forget that they are here for a purpose; that the free admission is for them to add credence to the show and that they have a role to play to make the shooting a success. It takes great patience on the part of the organizers to handle these louts if I may use the word).

There is a different judge every day.

The first day that we went Abida Parveen was the judge. I quote BBC here “Long feted as the heir to the crown of the late Qawwali legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistani singer Abida Parveen is the owner of one of the most remarkable voices on the planet. The “World Village review wrote: Parveen could sing a shopping list and have an audience weeping.... “The fervour of gospel, the emotion of soul, the abandon of rock and the vocal flexibility of scat.’ That’s how the Los Angeles Times has described the singing of Pakistani Sufi singer Abida Parveen. And her song, at the end of the show, had the audience mesmerized. When this program airs, on Zee TV, look at Shaan when she is singing. He looks completely amazed and bowled by the flexibility of her voice and her gestures when singing!

The next day, the judge was the venerable Ghulam Ali, the ghazal maestro. The man behind timeless classic ghazals like "Chupke chupke..", "Hungama hai kyon barpa...", "Kal chaudhavi ki raat thi..", "Dil me ek laher si", "Dukh ki laher ne..", "Karoo na yaad magar..", and so many other unforgettable ones. Ghulam Ali originates from Pakistan, and has sung over the years in various countries in many live concerts. Many international music labels have produced his albums in various forms. He has learnt his singing from Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and also from Ustad Barkat Ali Khan.

The finals are on Saturday. That’s two days left. I hear that the judge today will be Jagjit Singh. I will keep you guys posted on what happened.