Mumbai, May 8 -- India's most prolific music composer and Padma Bhushan awardee AR Rahman will start his first round of gigs in India, post the Academy Awards, in Nagpur on May 15. This will be followed by a concert at Palace Grounds, Bengaluru on May 29.
The multiple Academy and Grammy awardee chose Nagpur for his first show because it is the central-most point in India. Rahman, who is currently in Los Angeles, was unavailable for comment, but Deepak Gattani, managing director of Rapport Global Events, which has organised Rahman's concerts for the past 16 years, says, "He (Rahman) wanted to start his new series from the heartland, and Nagpur lies at Point Zero. We will move outwards from here with the next show at Bengaluru on May 29. After this, the concerts will resume post monsoon, in October," he says.
Canadian-Italian singer Natalie Di Luccio, who shot to fame on the internet after her cover of 'Tu Jaane Na...' from Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) received over one million hits on YouTube, will also be part of a larger line-up of artistes performing with AR Rahman.
"I had sung a cover of his song 'Kahin To...' from Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008) and put it up on YouTube. His management must have seen it and shown it to him, because they got in touch with me and asked me to sing at his show," Di Luccio says. Although Di Luccio hasn't met or spoken to Rahman yet, she feels that he's every singer's inspiration. "Just the thought of meeting him in person, seeing how his mind works, and how he is on stage is very exciting for me. I only really got to know of him after Slumdog Millionaire (2008), but his song 'Dil Se...' is still my favourite," she says.
