NYF concludes as Vasundhara Das rocks Mangalore

The 17th National Youth Festival that started with a bang ended with a bigger bang with Vasundhara Das performing live at Mangala Stadium on Monday.

Dressed in black, the singing sensation started the show with ‘Santhoshakke’ getting memories of Shankar Nag back, the star of this song.

However, she created a party mood in no time with “Where’s the party tonight”. When many danced, some even went to an extent of climbing their chairs.

Saalam, she screamed to the audience who screamed Naamaste back. The crowd sang along with her when she sang ‘Saalam Namaste’ which was followed by another hit ‘Shaka Laka Baby’ from the film Nayak.

However, when she sang the song ‘Iktara’ from film ‘Wake up Sid,’ the audience mellowed down and started waving their hands. But they were back, dancing on their heels for the songs ‘Delhi hai meri yaar,’ ‘Jhoom Le Jhoomo Zaara’ and others.

The crowd went wild when Das stepped down from the stage and started running in between the crowd singing ‘Ru ba roo’ (from Rang De Basanthi) and ‘Galipatta’. Many stretched their hands, in hope to shake hands with the star. However, the cops were cautious and did not allow the people to cross the barricade.

What should I sing for you people? questioned Das and there was a unison reply ‘Kolaveri’. When the band started jamming the song, the stadium echoed with people singing the Dhanush hit.
Earlier, Kudroli Ganesh made the audience awestruck by appearing from fire. The star who reached national fame with a reality show recently performed various tricks.

People were shocked when he pulled out a girl from an empty box and later made her levitate in mid air. He also made money from plain paper and joined a cut rope with the trick ‘Magic scissor’.
Before concluding, he announced that many think magicians have supernatural powers. “I am a magician but all my magic is based on science. There is nothing supernatural,” he said.

A special performance by Indian Navy Orchestra was well appreciated. The Navy played melodious music and ended the performance by hitting a patriotic chord with ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha’.

Team Karnataka, who won the first place in folk singing competition at NYF, performed their winning song. Team Assam, the runner up team of folk dance competition presented ‘Bihu’ dance on the stage. National Youth Festival which was held for the first time in Mangalore was a refreshing experience for many but will definitely be memorable for all.