Bringing Indian music to global fame, Arijit Singh, "the small town boy who made it big,” is undoubtedly one of Bollywood's leading playback singers and is set to woo audiences in Pretoria and Durban this weekend.
Leading the playback pack, this will be Arijit's first visit to Durban on Saturday, February 10 at the Durban ICC Arena, and he returns to Gauteng the following night on February 11 at the Sun Arena Time Square, Menlyn.
Blu Blood and Showtime Promotions, both synonymous for bringing world-class entertainment to South Africa, are excited to be bringing out one of Bollywood's biggest driving forces who is continuously scaling new heights. "Arijit is one of the most versatile and successful singers of Indian music and cinema and we are so proud to be able to bring him back to South Africa. In fact, it was Blu Blood that brought out Arijit for his first ever international show. This is going to be the biggest Bollywood musical extravaganza to hit African soil," said Blu Blood's MD, Osman Osman.
Veesham Maharaj of Showtime Promotions added: "Bollywood lovers have been patiently waiting for Arijit's return to South Africa and we are excited to be able to add Durban to the tour this time. This is our biggest concert to date. Arijit's team has come earlier to ensure that all logistics and technical details are on track for the big show."
Arijit is more than just a singer, a jack of all trades, he is a musician and live performer, composer, producer, recordist and music programmer and he has an impressive string of credits behind his name. He has sung over 150 tracks, won more than 50 popular awards and his global fan base continues to grow every year. He has over 17 million Facebook followers alone.
His music career began when he participated in the reality show 'Fame Gurukal' in 2005. Although he only made it to 6th position, filmmaker, Sanjay Leela Bhansali recognised his talent and brought Singh on to sing Yun Shabnami for an upcoming film. The song was never released. Similarly, he was signed for an album, again, the album was never released. But this did not stop Arijit, he would soon become one of the most celebrated artists in the Indian music industry.
He participated shortly after in another reality show, '10 ke 10 Le Gaye Dil', which he won. He invested the prize money in building his own recording studio, where he started composing music for adverts and news and music channels. He spent the early part of his musical career as a producer, surviving in a big city like Mumbai.
On his early career struggles, Singh has been quoted as saying: "One has to suffer pain to reach their destination, those days when I failed to get work, I thought about quitting and going back to my hometown, but I realised that one should concentrate on one's work no matter what happens."
His break came in 2010/2011 when he started working on films. His debut as a singer in the film industry came with the film 'Kedi' with the song Neeve Na Neeve Na. In 2011, he made his Bollywood music debut with the Mithoon-composition Phir Mohabbat from 'Murder 2'. He also lent his vocals for Vishal-Shekhar's composition Duaa in 'Shanghai' where the song fetched him the Mirchi Music Award for Upcoming Male Playback Singer.
His major breakthrough came in 2013 as lead and key vocalist in 'Aashiqui 2' where his song Tum Hi Ho which fetched him several awards and nominations including the Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer. In 2015, he made his Tamil debut with the song Neeye Vaazhkai Enbena from the film 'Pugazh'.
2017 has seen Singh lend his voice for the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and rendered a romantic song duet with Harshdeep Kaur, Zaalima for the movie 'Raees'. He provided his vocals for the Salim-Sulaiman's compositions Kuch Parbat Hilayein and Babul Mora for the film 'Poorna', to name a few.
Arijit Singh – Live In Concert will be an unforgettable musical journey with Arijit's biggest chart-toppers, fan favourites and classics. His shows are renowned worldwide and this show will be no different.
Saturday, 10 February 2018
Durban ICC Arena, Durban
20h00
Sunday, 11 February 2017
Sun Arena Time Square, Menlyn, Pretoria
18h00
Tickets for both shows start from R300 and are available through Computicket online (https://online.computicket.com/web/event/arijit_singh_live_in_concert/1199527267/0/0) or Computicket outlets.
Another Bollywood extravaganza brought to you by Blu Blood and Showtime Promotions in association with Glow TV as the main sponsor, with the Laudium Sun also being a sponsor.
The lucky winners of the Laudium Sun/Blu Blood ticket giveaway: Sharmila Naidoo, Shereen Sulieman Moosa, Tasleeman Mohammad Khan Dirashvani Pillay and Yasmin Aboobaker Gani.