SAN JOSE: Popular Bollywood singer Benny Dayal enthralled over 2,000 music lovers with his extraordinary vocal virtuosity and mesmerizing stage presence at the “Bang Bang Diwali Concert” brought to the Jubilee Center Nov. 13 by Wells Fargo, which marked the debut of this talented playback singer in the San Francisco Bay Area and the United States.
The concert was organized to commemorate the late founder of Mahima Creations, Mahima, and was promoted by GiG Gurus, an entertainment and event company comprising Excel Test, NRI Wealth Management and Media Mahima.
“Benny just came to do this concert as a memorial for Mahimaji. She saw him at the ‘Jai Ho’ tour in 2010, and had said that he is extremely talented, and, if we do a show in the Bay Area, we should bring him. He would not be performing anywhere else,” the executive director of Media, Mahima Kavita S., told India-West.
“Following her tragic demise in December last year, we decided to honor her sentiments and move ahead with this show, which was long due. Our aim is to create good musical experiences for the people and bring in good artists, which essentially was her idea.”
The evening commenced with a beautiful rendition of “Carry Me Away” by Isaac and Archana Wilson, and, when the show hosts, Kavita S. and Kishan S., announced Dayal’s arrival on stage, hysteria roared throughout the arena.
Dayal took center stage dressed in black and white attire, sporting his trademark fedora and a shiny pair of white and gold shoes.
The “Badtameez Dil” singer opened his performance with “Locha Ae Ulfat” from the film, “2 States,” to thundering applause, setting the tempo for the evening.
His first few words to the eager crowd, “I have so many songs to perform tonight. So, we are just going to have so much fun. Are you guys ready to have fun with me?,” were engulfed by loud cheers and claps after which he rendered his break-out hit in Bollywood, “Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gayi” from the film “Ghajini.”
He serenaded the audiences with breezy romantic songs like “Tu Hi Toh Meri Dost Hai,” from the Salman Khan-starrer “Yuvvraaj,” and the fast-paced “Nazrein Milana Nazrein Churana” from the 2008 film “Jaane Tu Ja Jaane Na.”
An hour into the concert, Dayal’s energy never seemed to wane. The music man was at his best throughout the evening, displaying his incredible vocals that swept up his listeners, many of them Indian Americans, into the music.
He got the audience moving and grooving when he rendered an extended version of “Dil Se” from the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer film of the same name, where he effortlessly blended in the Tamil version, “En Uyire” and also gave it a classical twist, proving his mettle as a singer.
The prolific singer was as much at ease with Tamil numbers as Punjabi songs, and rocked the arena with his free-spirited singing against a projection-mapped backdrop and colorful flickering lights.
Flanked by his funk band FunctuaTion, the singer churned out hit after hit, bringing about several rounds of high-decibel cheers.
Playing crowd favorites such as “Dum Dum Dum Mast Hai” from the film, “Band Bajaa Baarat,” and “The Disco Song” from the film, “Student of the Year,” the 31-year-old singer, who is considered a perfect livewire at open-air gigs, transformed the entire venue into a club. And while most fans were singing along to every song, a few-die-hard fans wearing the trendy Dayal style hats went wild dancing at the dedicated dance area set up close to the stage.
A journalism diploma holder from Madras Christian College, Chennai, Dayal struggled for many years before he could finally pursue playback singing as a profession. And opportunity came in 2007, in the form of A. R. Rahman, who roped in the singer for the Tamil film, “Sivaji.” His career got a fillip in 2008 with the super-hit “Pappu Can't Dance Saala” (also by Rahman) from the film “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.”
Since then, he has carved out his own niche in Bollywood and also lent his voice to numerous Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu songs.
The multilingual singer won the prestigious R.D. Burman Award for New Music Talent at the 54th Filmfare Awards in 2009 for his song “Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gayi” from the film, “Ghajini,” and since then has won a number of accolades for his music.
The show also featured Shakthisree Gopalan of “Jab Tak Hai Jaan” fame, and the duo provided thorough entertainment for three straight hours with songs like “Daru Desi” from “Cocktail” and “Tu Meri” from “Bang Bang.”
Gopalan, dressed in black pants and a red blazer, delighted the audience with her many Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam hits, and also belted out some Bollywood numbers.
Gopalan also started her film career with A.R. Rahman, as a back-up vocalist for the musician. She rendered her super-hit Tamil melody, “Nenjukkulle,” from the film “Kadal,” for which she has won the Filmfare Award and the Vijay Award for Best Female Playback singer.