Short,to the Point

The set that lasted a little less than an hour mostly drew from Sawhney’s latest works. He stuck to his Spanish guitar and did not play the piano,otherwise a fixture in his gigs. Nadiya Bairi Bhai Re,a track based on Raga Mishra Khamaj had the semi-packed Blue Frog swaying. In the front row were author William Dalrymple,MP Sachin Pilot and his wife Sara.

After a while,Sawhney took the backseat and let Srinivasan and Durvesh perform solos. When he did return,the star musician stuck to a set track list and did not entertain any requests,like for his hit Heer. The short performance ended quickly,leaving everybody asking for more. This time Sawhney complied,delighting the crowd with an impromptu encore titled Prophecy. This piece was rewarding in another way — it had Sawhney at his best on the guitar,revealing the mind-boggling finger-work that he is famous for.