Roving Eye — Pune

Three cheers!
Hero Honda got Mika Singh, Shaan and Sagarika down to Pune for a concert on May 1 as part of their `Good Luck Campaign’ to cheer the Indian cricket team for the World Cup. So enthusiastic were they that they broke a part of the PYC ground wall to make a temporary parking space! At the beginning of the concert, they played the song Josh of India on the two screens placed on the stage. The compere asked the audience, “You would like to cheer your team, na?” And all he got were a few groans. So much for the audience’s josh!

Then Mika appeared on stage, and after an initial lukewarm reception, got the audience’s josh going with his hit number, Sawan Mein Lag Gaye Aag. After that, there was no stopping him as he kept up the tempo. Would Shaan and Sagarika be able to keep pace with Mika was the important question. But the two came on stage, and after a few numbers, put the audience’s mind to rest. They conversed with them in Marathi, sang Mungra and made friends with them. And even as the audience kept screaming `more lavni,’ the duo continued singing numbers like Disco Deewane, and Q-Funk, throwing in hits by R.D. Burman. Shaan ended the show with his recent hit, Musu Musu Hasi, from the film Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi. Apart from the occasional problem with the sound system, the show was rather good, if not great!

Two down, more to go
Jazz Garden, the hot spot for live jazz, pop and rock concerts, celebrated its second anniversary recently. Homi Bathena and Anand Shankarnarayan, the entrepreneurial spirits behind this novel concept of live weekend shows at their restaurant located on ABC Farms, indeed have their finger on the pulse of the city’s youngsters. And it was hospitality at its best at their anniversary celebrations as a variegated fare of continental and Indian dishes was laid out. The star attraction was the rendition of instrumental and vocal numbers by some of the bands who generally play here.