The Mozart of Madras made his presence felt in New Delhi Sunday. In other words, the 60,000 strong crowd at the glitzy Commonwealth Games opening ceremony danced with joy when A R Rahman rendered the theme song 'Jeeyo Utho Badho Jeeto…'.
The Oscar-Grammy winner, clad in a white bandhgala jacket, black pants and white shoes, belted out the CWG anthem, and the aerostat came alive in a bluster of colour and graphics. Fireworks shot out furiously, signalling that it was time for the spaceship to go.
Flanked by dancers in red and white, Rahman also performed his international hit 'Jai Ho…' which won him an Oscar last year. During the entire song, fire crackers went up in the air illuminating an otherwise dark sky.
The 'Jai Ho…' chant at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, many would swear, was magical. The audience included Prince Charles, his wife Camilla Parker Bowles, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Patil and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and an estimated two billion people who watched the ceremony on live television around the world.