The king of melody

Lucky Ali is based in Bangalore and performs frequently here — however, that doesn’t mean that the City takes him for granted. The large crowd that gathered to hear the musician sing at Phoenix MarketCity recently proved that the multifaceted artiste still has a fan-following in his hometown.

Expectations ran high among the audience but the singer didn’t disappoint. Dressed casually in trousers and a white shirt, he kept the environment informal by punctuating his performance with witty one-liners, directly addressed to the crowd. When he first took the stage, a cheer swept the venue and as he kicked off his performance, he promised to keep it laidback and cool — ‘We’re all Bangaloreans here,” he smiled. At one point, after taking a long swig from a bottle on the stage, he joked, “That’s haldi and ginger — please don’t think it’s anything else!”

He played a line-up of some of his most popular songs, catering to the tastes of his audience. Although he played the guitar for the first song, he put it down later and focussed his entire attention on his voice. Some of the songs he rendered included Dekha Hai Aise Bhi and Jaane Kya Dhoondta Hai, to which the audience sang along.

Some of the people who had gathered there urged him to sing particular favourites and he obliged, singing numbers like Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai and Anjaani Rahon Mein. He also dipped into his repertoire of Bollywood numbers, performing Ahista Ahista  from Bachna Ae Haseeno and Ae Khuda Hafiz from Yuva. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great music directors in Bollywood,” he said.

Towards the end of his performance, some of his more popular tunes were rendered — Na Tum Jano Na Hum and Aa Bhi Ja, in particular, were very well received. He was accompanied by some able artistes, including Sonu on electric guitar, Manoj on violin, Subhash on guitar and vocals, Kenny on drums and Muthu on flute.

A large crowd even gathered on the balcony of the mall, enjoying the show without picking up their tickets. Mahima, who had come to the mall for a bit shopping, admitted that she didn’t even know the concert was being held. “My friends and I heard some music so we decided to check it out. It was pretty exciting — I’m not the biggest Lucky Ali fan but I do like his music. It was quite a pleasant surprise,” she smiled.