Rahmania rocks Chennai

From rap to fusion, carnatic to sufi double, Oscar winner A R Rahman used every genre to keep his audience mesmerized at a live concert. The event drew close to 75,000 fans.

From rap to fusion, carnatic to sufi double Oscar winner A.R. Rahman used every genre to keep his audience mesmerized at a live concert here.

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AR Rahman

All roads in Chennai led to Seekinankuppam village near Mahabalipuram where the concert was organised on Sunday to raise funds for Shakti Foundation that works for the welfare of the disabled.

The concert, which was a part of Rahman's world tour, brought an eclectic mix of songs right from his debut film Roja to the forthcoming release Blue. Billed as a crowdpuller, the event drew close to 75,000 fans.

Khalbali, a song from Rang De Basanti, was a rather laid back starter but soon the maestro who is often called the Mozart of Madras pepped it up by choosing a couple of hits from Sivaji-The Boss.

The rocking fast numbers were followed by a series of rock and crossover hits and with each rendition the cheers kept growing until they nearly drowned Rahman's voice out. Other singers like Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam and Benny Dayal too treated the crowd by belting hit numbers composed by Rahman.

"If music makes you think, moves you to action; then I think the music is working," Rahman told the crowd.