Gig Review: Usha Uthup Live in Concert, Mumbai
The singer recently performed at the city-based Nehru Centre Auditorium
Singer Usha Uthup. Photo: Krupasindhu Muduli/Wikimedia Commons CC-BY-SA-3.0
After a long absence in Mumbai, Usha Uthup returned for a concert for a fund-raising event by Alert India, a worthy cause for the eradication of leprosy.
The show had even more dimensions to it than science has discovered so far!
Uthup was a powerhouse entertainer for the sold-out concert. Her stage presence is awesome and the audience was enthralled throughout the two hours plus of break-free performance. Uthup had the listeners eating out of her hands. She was at once a raconteur, stand-up comic, humanist, mimic, singer in several languages (and accents) and involved the audience at each opportunity.
From singing the complex theme from the 007 movie “Skyfall” through a gamut of popular western and Bollywood songs to Tagore’s inspirational “Eklo Chalo Re,” Uthup reached every taste in the audience.
Uthup invited her sister, Indira Srinivasan to join in one song as well as Kavita Sheth on stage to sing a couple of duets with her. The audience was often invited to join in the chorus. The highlight of the entertainment came from Uthup inviting a few volunteers from the audience on stage to dance to the new sensation “Naatu Naatu” which recently won an Oscar award.
From years of communicating with nightclub audiences, Uthup has mastered the art of holding an auditorium full of fans spellbound by her performance; she did exactly that at the Nehru Centre on March 29th.
The only discordant aspect of the concert was that it started late and then went on without an intermission. It tests the endurance of a large gathering to be sitting for 150 minutes without a break.
It is a measure of Uthup’s charming presence – in her trademark Kanjeevaram saree, large bindi and the new addition of embroidered sneakers – that very few in the audience left midway through her performance. It is a good bet that each one in attendance that night left a happy and satisfied person.
Sunil Sampat is a jazz critic and Contributing Editor of Rolling Stone India. Write to Sunil at jazzwala@gmail.com
