KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — It's been almost a week since legendary music maestro AR Rahman performed in front of a thunderous audience of 72,000 over fans in Kuala Lumpur, but fans are still raving about his powerful performance.

Rahman has set standards high for other Indian music performers with his performance here, showcasing a different side of him rarely witnessed by fans.

The award-winning composer as a serious musician means business when he is performing, with his focus on his singers, musicians and his technical team ensuring they are at the top of their game.

While these traits are perhaps the core reasons for his success, his fans got to see the fun side of him at the Secret of Success: Live in Malaysia 2023 concert, organised by DMY Creation's founder and chairman Datuk Mohamed Yusoff last Saturday.

The man of few words was in the moment the entire show.

Smiling, grooving, dancing and even constantly snapping photos of the audience. His aura was automatically transferred to his fans.

Concert-goers even started posting videos on social media post-concert calling Rahman "cute" and mostly amused by his expressive side.

From the moment Rahman appeared, the crowd was whipped into a frenzy with his award-winning song Jai Ho.

Rahman who began his career in the Indian film industry in 1992, belted out some of his hit songs both in Tamil and Hindi including Yakai Thiri, Dil Se Re, Take It Easy Urvashi, Mustafa Mustafa, O Saya, Ella Pugazhum and many others that brought the audience to their feet.

The concert also saw a perfect combo of cameo performances from his talented troupe comprising notable playback singers such as Hariharan, Rakshita Suresh, Shweta Mohan, Jonita Gandhi, Haricharan, Hriday Gattani, AR Ameen and New York-based rapper thoughtsfornow.

On the keyboards, drum, bass and strings were notable names like Ranjit Barot, Nilanjana Ghosh Dastidar, Drums Shivamani, Yash Pathak, Karthick Devaraj , Nakul Abhyankar, Keba Jeremiah, Naveen Kumar and Rahman’s orchestra team- The Sunshine Orchestra.

When introducing Hariharan before he came onto the stage, Rahman described the veteran as the greatest of all time.

According to Mohamed Yusoff, Rahman expressed that he was very happy with the outcome of the concert, especially the perfect weather for the outdoor show.

Rahman initially sold 60,000 tickets, before the addition of another 10,000 following huge demand not just local fans but also those travelling from overseas which DMY said accounted for some 18,000 attendees.

Orchestrated as a celebration of his 30-year journey in the music industry, the concert was graced by Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, along with wife, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

The grand production was billed by many as the greatest of all time Indian concert in Malaysia.

Gigantic 24k resolution screens were placed on both sides of the stage, allowing even seated fans an amazing view of the spectacle which included synchronised lighting and a fireworks display at the end of the show was a bonus.

The show was curated by Rahman’s show director, Nazeef Mohammed from BToS production while local sound and technical direction for Malaysia was spearheaded by Team Sound & Light (TSL) who also secured a spot in the Malaysia Book of Records for organising the largest concert production.

TSL spearheaded by Daryl David and Dennis David as the technical directors are known as one of Malaysia’s most experienced and respected entertainment industry suppliers along with prominent names like audio engineer, Suren Deran Balakrishnan who was the head of audio at the concert.

Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza who was a guest performer received a standing ovation after her outstanding performance at the concert, wowing concertgoers with a duet of the popular Tamil song Munbe Vaa.

A DMY member who was part of the backstage technical told Malay Mail during the rehearsal session that Siti had asked singers and other team members to explain the meaning of each word in the Munbe Va song, just to be sure.

"She learned all the meaning of the words to ensure she can perform the song at her best, seeing her enthusiasm to perform was really exciting,” he said.

He said it was amazing to see Rahman working with Siti, coaching her during rehearsal.

"It was surely a surreal moment for us. She was so down to earth and took in tips from Rahman himself during rehearsal ....even from his playback singers,” he said.