Javed Ali performs at the Times Noida Festival

Rain brought some relief to parched Noida on Sunday, making it very ‘suhana mausam’ for singer Javed Ali to perform in on Day 3 of the Times Noida Festival.
“Baarish se raahat mili aapko? Main jab aa raha tha, toh suna ki yahaan bahut garmi hai. Toh main apne saath baarish le aya. Mumbai mein bahut baarish ho rahi hai. Ab mausam suhana ho gaya hai yahaan,” Javed told the audience at the Amity University Campus.And taking a cue from the pleasant weather, he began with romantic numbers like Jashn-e-Bahara, Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Deewana Kar Raha Hai, moving on to his signature Sufi numbers like Kun Faya Kun and Arziyaan. Manisha Jambotkar from Javed’s group also performed on the occasion. The rain had left the concert ground wet and muddy, but the audience seemed to enjoy nevertheless, swaying to the Sufi numbers and clapping at the peppy ones.
Avani Srivastav, a housewife from Indirapuram, who had come for the concert with her husband, said, ‘I’ve never seen such a concert in Noida before. Most of the concerts happen in Delhi. We had even turned up for the comedy show on Friday. Times of India should organise more such events here.” Meena Kumari, who had come to watch the show with her family, said, “This is the first time that I am attending any show of Javed. Very few stars come to Noida. It was a golden opportunity to see my favourite singer perform live. Did you see how he got the audience all charged up?”
Javed’s rendition of the Ishaqzaade title track had the maximum number of people singing along, and it ended to chants of ‘Once more’. His taraana at the end of Tum Tak made the audience give him a standing ovation. While singing Jashn-e-Ishqa, he stepped down from the stage to interact with his fans. Throughout the concert, the audience kept requesting for Guzaarish from Ghajini, which Javed finally granted in the end. “His voice is magic. I loved how he threw teasers at us to guess what he was going to sing next, and even danced on stage. I enjoyed the show a lot,” said Snigdha Mahajan, a third year student of Amity. Vijay Singh, a BTech student who lives in Noida, said, ‘I love Javed Ali’s songs. Despite the rain, I decided to come with my friends.”
The singer himself seemed to have enjoyed as much as the audience did. ‘When the audience interacts with you, your own enthusiasm gets doubled. Mujhe aisa lag raha tha jaise main apne liye gaa raha hoon. They enjoyed all my songs. In fact, mujhse zyada toh audience gaa rahi thi. This is my first public performance in Noida. I have previously done some private performances here. Times of India ke saath mera bahut lamba association hai. Bahut mazedaar experience raha aaj. End tak audience rukne ko raazi nahi thi. Main usually Guzaarish gaata nahin hoon, par audience ki request pe mujhe gaana pada. The venue and the ambience were so good that I had a lot of fun performing here. I’d love to come back here again,” Javed said.