Part 37
We were all tired by the end of the day and wrapped it up so we could have dinner. Anu had told the hotel that we would be working so we did not want dress-up meals. It was an animated bunch that sat down to eat. Anu was flanked by Anna and Joyce while I had Gaurav and Jill.
The two girls ran through their notes and let us know what things we needed to talk about after dinner. We let everyone have the meal in peace and then we stayed at the table while Anu went through the list, allocating tasks to people if needed. This became the normal evening as we worked through the set. The hotel staff kept us well hydrated.
Next day we had extra levels on the stage with the Dhawanees set the highest with the orchestral guys off to one side and the electric ones to the other. There was a pathway between them so the singers could move up or down stage and even back up the middle to reappear on a side. It was simple but effective. We also had more lights pointing at us and some more among the band that could be swivelled. I could see how these would work, having seen enough shows on video. I was starting to think that our show in the UK must have looked pretty poor.
Each day was an improvement on the one before. The sound was getting fuller, the stage was getting ritzier, the songs were coming together and the dancers became a part of the scene, all of them getting a workout. We worked at it every day and, on day eight, we had the added interest of our stage costumes. We also had been given the music and video of the first three guest singers so their songs were added to the play-list with one of us standing in for them. Jill and Joyce had taken to their task like a duck to water and we were ticking over nicely with everyone having any query answered or request fulfilled. Aganee was kept busy making sure that everyone kept to the older Hindi when we sang in it. On day ten it was decided that we would go for a full show, without the guest spots, and the cameras were set up that night.
The next morning we arrived to see the stage surrounded by cameras and the director called us to listen. “I have changed my mode of recording” he said “I want you to play the show as you will when you open. That way you can pick any weaknesses yourselves. I will record it on film and on the portable recording unit. Then, this afternoon I will ask you to do it all again and I will have some changes in the camera positions.” By the time we were ready there was quite a big audience and I could see Sabhya getting Mr Singh a comfortable seat with a good view. The biggest difference today was that we were going to do the complete package, lighting and some pyrotechnics as well as smoke machines that had been set on the side with some fans. They thought of everything as we had extraction fans on the other side.
We started with the slap-board to synchronise the sound and video in post-production and then we started with the keyboards and the first tune. As I sang the second line someone dimmed the lights over the audience and we were off. By the halfway mark of the song we had all the instrumentalists adding their part and Anu joined me on stage singing the last verse together. At the end of the song there was a sigh from the audience and then Anu and I did one of our Hindi love song duets before I left him on the stage to work through the works that made him what he was. I stood beside Gaurav until it was his time to join Anu on stage for their song together and we finished the first half with us all on stage and singing in harmony.
As the music faded there was spontaneous applause and we all had a drink before heading back onto the stage, going through the slap-board ritual and doing the second half with the band starting with the music and Gaurav and I coming in from opposite sides and singing our duet. We certainly made that one sizzle. For this show I had a solo number and Gaurav followed me and the Anu joined us to work through more of his songs. We still had not heard the one that was being written as an encore but the last song was extravagant enough to finish the show on a high. Our audience was very generous with their applause, even if most of them could now sing every word themselves.
As we stood on the stage discussing our attempt, Mr Singh came up to us and hugged everyone, thanking us for working so hard. He said he had come today to see for himself what we could do and that we had exceeded his expectations. When he left we all went back to the hotel dining room, still in our costumes, to have lunch. Ajay had given his orders to his cameramen and, when we went back there had been a few changes. That afternoon we did it all again and I felt that it had a bit more edge to it. We had better be good by now as we would be opening in Poona in two nights.
The following day we did it all again and it got a bit better each time. Ajay now had four complete shows to choose from and we were given news that the venue in Poona was ready for us and we would be going there tomorrow, with a guest singer to rehearse with, before the first show the night after. Ajay told us that a complete stage set was already set up and the one we were using now would leapfrog us to the following venue. A truck with our stage costumes had already left and we just needed to take our own luggage. Our dirty clothes would be shipped back to the hotel each week for cleaning and we would be kept dressed as we went around.
We took the helicopters to Poona and landed in the forecourt of the hotel. The guest singer was already there and we all were taken to the venue where we worked through his items. It was odd as all he had to do was replace Gaurav as we had everything else down pat. The other part was to take him through his part in the last song. He had already been given the track to learn so it didn’t take us long at all. Back in the hotel we relaxed for the first time in two weeks. Janet and her husband, Guptar and Birgitta joined us that afternoon after having been helicoptered in from the airport in Mumbai. Guptar said that the ride was fantastic. We all rested the next day and had an early dinner before going to the venue.
The opening night was everything one could want. The venue was about ten times bigger than anywhere I had sung before and was filled with a crowd eager to see their hero. I opened up and there was a roar as his voice joined mine and it went onwards and upwards from there. Gaurav and I were very well received and the local guest singer was appreciated as well. When we finished there was a standing ovation and we had to take at least four curtain calls. We were all on a high back at the hotel and I found it hard to sleep. At least I had Gaurav beside me to help me relax.
The next three nights were just as good and, when our family and friends left us on the Monday morning, they all said that they had been blown away by the experience. That Monday we had the lovely experience of being interviewed and then we got back into our helicopters to move to the next venue. Over the next weeks we played four smaller cities before hitting the southern cities of Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. Then we worked up the eastern coast to Kolkata before working through the north east to Lucknow and Delhi. It was hard at times but was also fun. On our off days we got to visit the best that India had to offer and were feted wherever we went.
It was also getting hotter as we were now in the middle of summer and the days in Delhi were over a hundred degrees every day. We then worked through the west of the country before arriving at Jodhpur. At this point we were just about the biggest thing around and the huge venues were at capacity every night we played. It was hard to even step outside the hotel and when we did we needed guards. Just another five weeks saw us back in Mumbai in early December. It had been an absolute blast and we were all household names by that time, from the dancers on up through to Anu, now classed as a god by many.
Jill and Joyce had done very well, keeping us well in hand and getting in a lot of sightseeing but even they were noticed and had fans. The video of the show had been on the TV at least six times and the DVD that had been produced from it had gone through the roof. All the albums had been number one during the year, even my one with the Four Winds once the fans got the link from the first song. I hoped the boys back home were enjoying the income. Our last four shows were to be in a big venue in Mumbai and Lajpal informed us that the four had become eight as we needed to add another full weekend to cover the demand.
By the end of the tour we were all on a first name basis with most of Indias’ ruling class, its business world and the cream of the entertainment world. It had been a roller coaster ride and, when we took our last curtain call in Mumbai, it felt as if it should never stop but it now had. Anudeep Dhawan was now officially retired from the music business and really looked like he needed a year off. Anna kept close to him at the after-show party and took him off early to rest. I think that the last few venues had him reaching his limits.
As for the rest of us, Damini, Husnia and Kajari had started going steady with dancers and were saying that they would be staying in India now. Tavleen and Balnoor also had ideas to stay. Everyone was now well off enough to get a good dwelling and they may be required to be in the film the next year. Jenianna and Bill announced her pregnancy a few weeks before the end of the tour and had already arranged to lease a house on the coast south of Mumbai. I had asked Jill to remain as my PA and Joyce had gradually become Gauravs’.
One day we were joined, at lunch, by Mr Singh. He thanked us both for getting the tour finished and said that everyone had made a lot of money. He said that he hoped that we had enjoyed our holiday but it was now time to talk about our next step.
He said that he was sorry to be the one to give us the news but Anna had told him that Anu was now too frail to do the film and would be taking a total rest until he got better. They had moved to a secret hide-away they owned and would not be able to be contacted. I asked him if he could pass along our heartfelt good wishes and he nodded. He then motioned to Sabhya who came over to the table with a briefcase. He took two contracts out of it and gave us one each. When we looked at them our jaws dropped as they wanted us to sign on as film stars at an unbelievable amount each. I was pleased that Janet was still listed as our agent and that our musical output would go through her hands.
Mr Singh said that the ‘Singing Rajah’ may be shelved for the moment but he had been inundated with scripts and requests for us to get in front of the cameras as the year had gone on. I looked at Gaurav and asked “What do we do now, my love?” and he just asked Sabhya if he had a pen on him.
Marianne G 2021
