AR Rahman rocks Bukit Jalil to celebrate 30-year musical journey 

By Sankara Subramaniam Venkatachalam and Maizatul Jamny Muhammad Rosli

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- Oscar-winning Indian music composer AR Rahman celebrated his 30-year musical journey with a fun-filled and power-packed mega concert in front of a 60,000-odd crowd at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, here, tonight.

The ‘AR Rahman - Secret of Success: Live in Malaysia 2023’ concert, which started at about 8.30 pm, saw the renowned Indian singer, songwriter and music producer performing hits like ‘Jai Ho’ and ‘Oh Sayo’ from the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

The 56-year-old also sang a number from the famous Tamil movie ‘Sivaji The Boss’, in which he was the music composer.

In addition, AR Rahman, whose full name is Allah Rakha Rahman, performed a medley of different Indian raagas including Reeti Gowla, Chalanatai and Dharmavati, besides several of his hit Hindi and Tamil numbers as well.

The concert, organised by DMY Creation, was also attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Also present were Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil and the High Commissioner of India to Malaysia, B. N. Reddy.

The concert also featured a list of notable artistes, including playback singers Hariharan and Shweta Mohan as well as percussionist Drums Sivamani.

After almost two hours, a thundering round of applause erupted in the stadium when Malaysia’s No. 1 singer Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin appeared on stage to perform a duet with Haricharan, singing the Tamil song ‘Munbe Vaa’.

Siti Nurhaliza captivated the audience with her near-perfect enunciation of the Tamil lyrics.

The concert, which marks AR Rahman's return to Kuala Lumpur after six years, ended after more than three hours at 11.50 pm, with a rendition of the songs ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’, ‘Urvasi Urvasi’ and ‘Vande Mataram’.

AR Rahman began his career in the Indian film industry in 1992 and has since become one of the most successful and influential musicians in the country.

The music composer and singer also won two Academy Awards - Best Original Score and Best Original Song - for his work in the 2009 Danny Boyle film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

-- BERNAMA