Tamil stars come out to play in city
Mahadevan in much-anticipated concert at the Durban ICC
CELEBRATED Tamil stars will perform in Durban next Friday in a much-anticipated concert, Star Vijay Nite.
The Tamil language TV channel, Star Vijay (DStv channel 455) hosts its one-night showcase at the Durban ICC with popular artists including world-renowned star Shankar Mahadevan.
The Independent on Saturday chatted to Mahadevan about his upcoming visit to South Africa.
“I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this.
“The last time I came to South Africa for a Tamil show, there were heavy rains so I couldn’t perform there. Travelling with the team and doing this together is going to be great fun,” said Mahadevan.
Other stars include celebrity couple, Senthil Ganesh (winner of Super Singer 6) and his wife Rajalakshmi, together with popular celebrities from the hit reality show Bigg Boss, Mahat, Aishwarya and Yaashika Anand.
Well-known anchors, Dhivya Dharshini, popularly known as DD, and Ma Ka Pa will play hosts for the evening.
In terms of the massive following that Star Vijay invites, Mahadevan believed it was the honesty of the show that made it so popular among Tamil audiences across the globe.
“It’s also the entertainment value and the involvement of every single department in the show, where their energy is focused towards the show being a good show. You know, it’s not like people are doing the show because they’re getting money. People are fully into it.
“Overall, every episode is looked into with great detail and every aspect of entertainment is taken care of so it’s a very wholesome show with high production value. There’s a perfect balance of great music, great entertainment and great humour.
“The talent of the contestants and the two wonderful hosts hold them together beautifully, where you feel as if they’re your next door neighbours and you’re part of the show.”
Having worked as a software engineer for many years, Mahadevan said he eventually had to follow his true passion, music.
“It’s a passion that you decide to follow eventually after a bit of introspection and it’s kind of following the call.
“At some stage, you need to step back and internalise stuff and check what it is you want to do for the rest of your life whether that’s being a computer software engineer for somebody else or do you want to do music, which is my passion, my TWO lucky readers will win double tickets to the Star Vijay Nite concert at the Durban ICC on Friday. To enter, SMS TIOSConcert followed by your name and surname to 33258 (SMSes charged at R1.50). Competition ends 9am on Tuesday, February 26. Terms and conditions apply. Winners will be informed telephonically.
love and, you know, I enjoy doing it every day. So, I asked myself that question and decided to follow that path,” he added.
The one-night spectacular, Star Vijay Nite, will be televised worldwide as a weekend special with Durban’s audience having the opportunity of experiencing the excitement live.
“The audiences already know the songs. The minute you have a show that is full of well-known songs that you can connect with, the show is already a super-rated show. And they (artists) are all wonderful performers so I think people are going to have a great time,” said Mahadevan.
◆ Star Vijay Nite takes place on March 1 at the Durban ICC.
Ticket prices range between R300 and R2 500 through Computicket.