A long-awaited glimpse of Indian showmanship with Darshan Raval
No other Indian artist has received such a welcome in Dhaka in recent times — his fame was apparent and he brought a sort of charm to the stage we had not seen in a while
The recent flurry of Indian artists coming to perform in Dhaka, and their shows often falling short of expectations, has inspired a generally muted response from their ardent Bangladeshi fan base — mostly belonging to the 'Gen-Z' crowd.
This time round, it was Darshan Raval, live in Dhaka on 14 September, at International Convention Centre Bashundhara (ICCB). And the response to his show was anything but muted.
The least that can be said about this show was it stole the spotlight from all the past Indian artists in Dhaka and became the most successful and cheered-to concert in that list. Twenty2 Events and JA Events from India, along with Adventor Communications, organised the event titled 'Let's Vibe with Darshan Raval'.
Darshan is a singer, composer, and songwriter known for songs in different languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi and even in Bangla. In 2014, he participated in the StarPlus music reality show, India's Raw Star, finishing as the first runner-up.
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Officially, it was a two-performer show. But that did not stop young and rising singer Parsha Mahajabeen from opening the show with a few Ayub Bachchu and Anupam Roy covers – 'Shei Tumi', 'Amake Amar Moto', 'Beche Thakar Gaan', etc.
The official opener was supposed to be Tanveer Evan, a rising star and cover artist from Chattogram. Evan's set included some Bangla and Hindi originals. 'Oviman', 'Judaiyan', 'Maine Royaan', 'Tomake Chai', 'Chere Jeyona' were some of his originals and covered Bollywood tracks as well.
Then arrived Darshan Raval. But his musicians were not present when Darshan's set was supposed to begin, at around 7:30 pm. His musical ensemble was on their way to the concert while Dhaka traffic gave them a taste of the catastrophe we live day in and day out.
They arrived, at long last, at 9 pm. Ninety minutes of waiting had done the show some significant damage. Darshan took to the stage around quarter past nine, rocking a bedazzled white dress. He looked the part. The moment Darshan got up on stage, all the waiting and all the long boos instantly faded away.
Darshan was oozing confidence. The big stage was not alien to him, for he has been doing this for a very long time. Truly, no other Indian artist received a welcome as such in Dhaka in recent times. His fame was apparent, as bright as daylight. He brought a sort of charm to the stage we had not seen in a while and most importantly for the crowd, performed for nearly two hours straight!
For what it's worth, it was like Darshan brought Arijit Singh as well. Not literally but through covering many well known Arijit originals like 'O Bedardeya', 'Tere Hawale', 'Kesariya', 'Apna Bana Le', among others.
Everyone – literally everyone, every soul – knew all the songs by heart and had them memorised and were singing.
Darshan's backing vocals had very little to do as the crowd backed his vocals. Darshan brought an amazing team of musicians along with a remarkable set of instruments, which included tabla, bongos, drums, bass, keys, and guitars. But the most fundamental instrument to this show was the flute. Mid-set, he introduced the instrumentalists and all exhibited a tiny show of their talents. The bongos sounded absurdly good!
The other covers were 'Kabira', 'Pasoori' (thanks to him for singing the original Pashton version), 'O Hasina Zulfowali', 'Mehfil Mehfil', 'Woh Chali Woh Chali'. He covered 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh' in his own style, more like a remix cover.
Darshan opened his set with 'Tera Zikr'. His originals were sandwiched between cover numbers. However, he sang four lines of 'Tera Zikr' in Bangla; A+ for the effort! It was nice how effortlessly he transitioned between originals and covers, like with 'Asal mein' followed by 'Kya Hua Tera Wada' and 'Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage Hum'.
Some songs felt straight up like it was the '90s wedding scene. Then again, Bollywood songs are raw wedding ceremony materials; can't blame Darshan.
'Mahiye Jinna Sohna', from his latest album 'Dard', was there. 'Chogada', 'Kamariya', 'Tu Mileya', 'Pehli Mohabbat', 'Ek Tarfa', his originals, were all there.
