Mika’s Tunes and Sunny’s Moves Turn Houstonians On

 

 

By Vanshika Vipin

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HOUSTON: This was the third city on Mika Singh and Sunny Leone’s US tour and judging from the huge fan base that Singh has here, it was obvious why the city had to be included in the tour.

Mika Singh is a singer, composer, performer and songwriter with a wide catalog of songs, the most popular being “Singh Is King” (Singh Is King), “Mauja Hi Mauja” (Jab We Met), “Ibn-e-Batuta” (Ishqiya), “Dhanno” (Houseful), “Dhinka Chika” (Ready), “Desi Beat” (Body Guard), “Subah Hone Na De” (Desi Boys), “Pungi” (Agent Vinod), “Ganpat” (Shootout at Lokhandwala), Gabru (album), “Chinta Ta Ta Chita Chita” (Rowdy Rathore), “Main tere agal bagal hun” (Phata Poster Nikla Hero) and Sawan Mein Lag Haye Aag (album), Gandi baat (R…Rajkumar) and his latest “Jumme Ki Raat” from Kick, to name a few. Accompanying him was Sunny Leone, an American model and now a Bollywood actress. She rose to fame in India with her appearance in the TV show Big Boss, where she was approached by Bollywood film-maker Mahesh Bhatt who entered the house briefly to offer her the lead role in Jism 2. She then went on to sign her next movie Ragini MMS-2, which features the famous song “Baby Doll”.

The duo and their contingent of artists arrived in Houston after performing in Washington, DC and Chicago, celebrating India’s Independence Day on Friday August 15 at the NRG Arena (formerly the Reliant Arena) in an event organized by Rehan Siddiqi of Hum Tum Shows. In the past Siddiqi has brought many big name performers to Houston like Adnan Sami, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ghulam Ali, Atif Aslam all of which have had huge turnouts. Like those previous shows, this show was also fully packed, and the audience danced non-stop during the performance.

The performers arrived in Houston on Tuesday, August 12, to prepare well in advance for the show. On Thursday, August 14, a special meet and greet was organized at the newly opened Chowpatty Chat on Hillcroft at 7 pm. The mostly young crowd flocked to the venue to meet Mika Singh and interact with him while enjoying delicious chat, the trademark of restaurant owner, Nirman Shah. Mika arrived on time and he signed autographs and patiently met with and took pictures with most of his fans.

The following day, the day of the concert, avid fans of Mika Singh’s jammed the NRG Arena, eagerly waiting on the edge of their seats for him to appear. His warm up artists Romy Khan, Raman Kapoor and the very young and talented Houstonian resident Chloe Choudhury, kept the crowd entertained with wonderful performances.

When Mika appeared onstage he absolutely set it on fire with his commanding voice and powerful stage presence. He sang his new hits, which enticed the crowd out of their seats, making the aisle way their dance floor. Mika showed off both his vocal and drumming skills when he played the drums on his popular song “Dil mein baji guitar”. He also paid tribute to Kishore Kumar by singing “yeh shaam masatani” and “jitney bhi to karle sitam”, to which the audience waved their smartphone flashlights, giving an appearance of a sea of lights.

It was a concert for the young and the young at heart. Mika was unpretentious as he willingly accepted his fans requests. His showed inexhaustible stamina even as he kept pace with the ravishing Sunny Leone, the latest Bollywood heartthrob, who heated up the stage with her sexy moves and killer looks.

After the intermission Rehan Siddiqi came onstage to bring out the other organizers, thank and acknowledge all the sponsors and media partners. Mika especially said that he was very happy by the response from the enthusiastic Houston audience. He showed his appreciation to Siddiqi by inviting him on stage and thanking him for organizing the show.

Mika went on to sing more songs while the audience danced nonstop till the wee hours of the morning and kept asking for more. He ended the night appropriately with the Indian national anthem, which filled everyone with positive energy as they left.

For upcoming shows contact Rehan Siddiqi at 713-545-4115 or visit Hum Tums Shows at www.humtumradio.com

(Article contribution: Seema Gupta)