AR Rahman Defies Controversy With Sold-Out Concert at Etihad Arena
The stupendous success of his latest concert proves that his fandom's loyalty is intact.
AR Rahman's concert at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on January 23, was a sold-out affair. The nearly four-hour performance drew a capacity crowd of around 20,000 people. Rahman started with South Indian tracks before moving into Hindi hits.
Notably, the Mozart of Madras opened the concert with "Jana Gana Mana" (from Mani Ratnam's Aayutha Ezhuthu) and ended it with "Vande Mataram/Maa Tujhe Salaam" as an encore (after fans thought "Chaiyya Chaiyya" would close the show). He also performed his Oscar-winning "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire.
This occurred amid controversy sparked by Rahman's recent BBC Asian Network interview, where he discussed facing prejudice in Bollywood as a Tamil composer over the past eight years.
After a video clip from the interview went viral, netizens pulled out an old video in which a prominent playback singer was heard saying that the tunes for Taal were originally created by him and were later redesigned by Rahman. Video clips of Ram Gopal Varma saying unflattering things about Rahman also went viral. The stupendous success of his latest concert proves that his fandom's loyalty is intact.
