THE LIPSINGERS

One of the most excruciating times for a fan is at the instance when he has to witness a venerable virtuoso commit fraud on stage;especially when the former had held the latter in high regard since childhood.And shattering the expectations of an exalted audience which was perhaps the first in the state to have been blessed by his enchanting presence,the national hero struggled and staggered,repeatedly failing on his attempts to move the crowd with improvisations which were futile and absurd.The question is,Did he (remember that "he" is a professional who had stayed in the industry for 15 long years,and even mesmerized music lovers all over the world with a solo in the academy award winner “Slumdog Millionaire”. ) really think he can play a hoax on the thousands gathered in the Open Air Theatre just to see him perform and walk away just like that?or was he just playing dumb?

On friday nights show,it was conspicuous that the songs were played from somewhere else and Sukhwinder Singh was faking it.Unfortunately,it's not the first time when a paid performer moves his lips in coordination with a previously recorded track,creating the impression that he is actually singing it.Those who practice this act of deception claim that it's impossible to sing continuously for 2 hours or so.But 2 years back,at Ragam '10,a true singing sensation, Kunnath KrishnaKumar better known as KK proved them wrong by performing live for two and a half hours.And from what I have heard,I gather that the same performers who say it's impossible make it possible when the show is for a corporate or when the stakes are high.If it's for a college festival,the budget is obviously low,and we can see singers turning into actors out of the blue.

Now we know why the legend who sang for us on friday night refused rights for the screening of his “show”.Sukhwinder Singh,looking older than ever,had hired a few singers to take the stage when he took breaks.Thanks to them,the show lasted for over an hour,and there was some live singing.To our distress whenever the limelight fell on the playback singer,he made a mess by giving humming lessons to the college's music club.At other times,girls were called upon stage to dance with him.In the end we look like a bunch of idiots who watched an old man having a good time and walking away with wads of cash.

The situation was somewhat better last year.Though Sunidhi Chauhan came up with something which a fastidious critic may call "average show",she also fell short of the expectations of the people.There was some lip singing,but she was brilliant enough to cover it up.Sukhwinder Singh was frantically fumbling with the mike from time to time,and it appeared as if he was trying to cover his mouth when he lost track of words.I should say it was a pitiful sight for anybody who loved his songs.I must also mention one man,Suraj Jagan,of whom most us were hearing for the first time.He took us by surprise on the previous night.The flamboyant artist  possessed certain charm and splendor which all the others lacked.I hope everybody noticed how he halted suddenly to let a swelling stadium with an ignited fervour take over and cry out in unison  "Give me some sunshine...".I believe it is one of those moments which will still haunt us many years later when we turn back to look at the good old days we had in college.

I guess we had our lesson.Ragam will be rated on the basis of Sukhwinder Singhs performance for he was the highlight of the fest.Those who saw the event at Ragam'12 will think twice next time,before coming here.So,to prevent our “actors” from cheating more people,we have to respond,and communicate to the masses what is happening around here.We are paying to hear them live.Well,if it is just about music being played at a tremendous volume,I'll go for sound systems and mp3 players which allow a choice of tracks,and won't pause in between to breathe.These are not the grumblings of a green-eyed lunatic who takes out his ire on celebrities.I am just another guy who lost his money,and I hope that explains it.