Bollywood melody queen Alka Yagnik returned to the Canadian stage after a three year absence. Fans across the GTA gathered at the Rose Theatre for the opportunity to listen to the songstress belt out her classic hits including “Choli Ke Peeche” from the film Khalnayak, “Meri Mehbooba” from the film Pardes, “Taal Se Taal” from the film Taal and “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” the title track from the film.

The show opened up with local area singers and a Bollywood dance troupe before Bollywood playback singer Chetan Rana warmed up the crowd. While he was getting the crowd going, I made my way backstage to chat with the woman everyone was buzzing about. I overheard several fans laughing with excitement and singing (off key) “Choli Ke Peeche” and “Laal Duputta” as I made my way, so I stopped and chatted with a few fans to find out why they were such die hard fans. I even took a couple of their questions to ask her on their behalf. When I finally arrived at Alka’s dressing room, Alka ushered me inside the cramped dressing room and was surprisingly very media friendly. In fact, I would say she was a bit shy. It felt more like I was coming over for a cup of chai with a new friend than conducting an interview with a celebrity. We chatted about many things, from her nerves on stage to her career to why she was now a reality show judge. When I asked her about the recent loss of Yash Chopra, Alka responded, “It’s a huge loss for the industry. It’s like losing one of our strongest pillars so I think the film industry is on shaky ground as of now. He was a superb director, producer and a very warm down to earth genuine man…the entire industry loved him. Of course it’s a very big big loss and for the era of romance. He made romantic films as no one else did. So the way he portrayed romance made you feel like falling in love over and over again when you watched his films. So I think the era of those really intense romantic films has gone and it’s very sad.”

After our interview, Alka came out to perform and she opened up in an interesting manner. She made her way from the back of the packed Rose Theatre and slowly made her way through the mob of fans to the stage while singing the title track from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (LOVE that film!). Her fans, of course, went crazy for the chance to have Alka sing practically right next to them. Talk about up close and personal.

Alka sang a wide selection of songs but the general theme seemed to be about love and romance. She repeatedly encouraged fans to grab the hands of their loved ones to fully enjoy the romantic songs and teased the crowd about making sure they kept romance alive in their relationships. I think Alka will forever be connected with what great legendary Bollywood films are based on and that is epic romance. The biggest, more memorable Bollywood films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai brought to life songs that were simple and just inspired you to fall in love.

With the loss of Yash Chopra, the ultimate romantic film maker, we may never get the same type of epic Bollywood films that just made you believe in love, but at least we still have the great Alka Yagnik to take us back to a time when all you needed with Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, and a song filmed on a snowy mountain top to remind you that nothing is a better feeling than when in love.

Here’s a few photos from the show! Enjoy!

Making her grand entrance.

 

Mesmerizing the audience