Bollywood’s Ayushmann Khurrana drops into Sydney for a song and some banter
Maan na maan, yahan hai Ayushmann!
Musician, actor and writer Ayushmann Khurrana came by this week to check out Sydney’s paani da rang and feel our own mitti’s khushboo. While he took in all that Sydney has to offer as a travel destination (tweeting ‘Sunny Sydney!’ and periscoping from the Harbour Bridge, ooh la la!), the trip was ultimately all about his Australian fans.
Nearly 800 of them got together at the Ivy Ballroom to catch some of the stardust. As promised by the host Raj Khanna, Director of Bollywood Club, it was all about partying with the star and hearing him sing his trademark soulful songs.
The night kicked off at 9pm with plenty of naach-gana (dancing-singing) and some peena (drinks) with a fairly long wait for the show-stopper. Most did not mind, thanks to the three in-house DJs, DJ Sunil, DJ Saby and DJ Nissan, magicians of music, who effortlessly kept Sydney thumakda, without prompts of DJ wale babu mera gaana chala do!
Eventually, just shy of 12.30am, the man himself arrived, as the crowd welcomed him with loud cheers. The grand entry with the ladies from the Allana dance group had everyone hooting.
Dripping in cool, our desi-munda looked smashing in a sleek brown kurta with a scarf and black pyjama, flaunting designer brands Antar-Agni, Manish Arora and Koovs. But much noticed was his nose ring (which has been sceptically contemplated on social media), for which he even apologetically made a passing remark during his banter. Well, that’s a separate debate in itself!
A quick greeting and the creative genius immediately took to the task, starting off with his infamous ‘Saadi gali aaja’.
The opening song was just a peep into what was to come. The fans going crazy as he shook hands and took selfies, also chiming in to sing ‘hoooooookah’ with him, which he certainly loved, responding with a huge smile: “You guys are amazing!”
His chatter was just as heart-warming, as he asked which cities the fans come from – Delhi, Mumbai or his home town Chandigarh? It was time for Mitti di khushboo! He dedicated it to “all you guys who miss their motherland”.
There was a good display of dance moves from the diminutive star, plenty of selfies, and of course, singing along with the over-excited crowd. An absolute crowd-pleaser, he finished the song saying, “Aapko dekh ke sachi mein mitti di khushboo aa rahi hai.”
As he briefly paused to re-hydrate, the requests came thick and fast for his signature tune ‘Paani da rang’. But the best was saved for last, as he bantered along and sang ‘Yahin hu main’ instead!
But when he finally came to it, he began by saying he never believed, as a child, his teachers’ words about water being colourless or odourless. And that was enough to bring on the frenzy. The fans were out of control, so much so that he could not hear the track to be able to sing. Lucky for everyone, they almost got to hear the song twice, as Ayushmann kindly stopped mid-way to start the song all over again.
Speaking about the event, Raj Khanna rightly reviewed, “Ayushmann’s performance was electrifying and the crowd was super energetic. It was a fantastic event at Ivy.”
Bollywood Club celebrates music, dance, and life in Sydney, engaging diverse artists across the city and beyond. Celebrities like Madhur Bhandarkar, Ashmit Patel and DJ Suketu have attended their events in the past.
Ayushmann’s performance was short but power-packed, and he made time to mingle with the fans later.
All we can say is, Ayushmann Bhava (long-live), Mr Khurrana!
