Dilliwale went all out on Sunday night as rapper-singer Akon kicked off his India tour at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Thousands poured in, some waving glow sticks, others sparkling with glitter from pop-up stalls. But this was not just the scene. Even before Akon stepped onstage, the audience had started singing his hits.
The show started with sisters Prakriti and Sukriti Kakar, who got the crowd moving with viral hits like Levitating X Woh Ladki Jo and Woman.
By the time Akon appeared, phones were up, screams went through, and the Capital felt like it had travelled back in time. He opened with a mix of old faves like Gangsta Bop and Ghetto, moving across the stage with his signature smile and hyping the crowd with “Hell Yeahs”.
The vibe wasn’t high through the evening — the crowd was silent during some songs only his core fans would know, and jokes flooded social media, with a comment reading: “Thoda out of syllabus ho gaya!”
But the energy hit its peak as Akon asked, “Tell me where are you from, babe?” and the crowd screamed back, “Delhi!” This is when he dropped classics like Lonely, I Wanna Love You and Smack That.
Fans went especially wild for Chammak Challo, his Bollywood hit sung live with singer Hamsika Iyer, who revealed onstage that this was their first meeting after recording the 2011 song. Speaking to us after the event, Iyer said, “Sunday night was pure magic! There was absolutely no rehearsal. We met for the first time ever directly onstage. We’d recorded the song separately. Akon reached only minutes before going onstage because of a flight issue. I was so stressed, but the moment he started singing Chammak Challo, it fell into place! Even rehearsals couldn’t create a moment like that. It felt like destiny had orchestrated it.”
{{/usCountry}}Fans went especially wild for Chammak Challo, his Bollywood hit sung live with singer Hamsika Iyer, who revealed onstage that this was their first meeting after recording the 2011 song. Speaking to us after the event, Iyer said, “Sunday night was pure magic! There was absolutely no rehearsal. We met for the first time ever directly onstage. We’d recorded the song separately. Akon reached only minutes before going onstage because of a flight issue. I was so stressed, but the moment he started singing Chammak Challo, it fell into place! Even rehearsals couldn’t create a moment like that. It felt like destiny had orchestrated it.”
{{/usCountry}}Following this, Akon now heads to Bengaluru on November 14 and Mumbai on November 16 for his India tour.