Shreya Ghoshal keeps fans dancing to her tunes in Abu Dhabi

Belts out some of her popular duets and solo hits to a packed audience in Abu Dhabi.

Shreya Ghoshal performs at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Victor Besa for The National

Shreya Ghoshal played to a packed house of delighted fans at Emirates Palace on Saturday night as part of the Abu Dhabi Summer Season concert series.
Wearing a beautiful green and orange anarkali, the playback singer started off by performing a few of her popular duets, including Saans (Jab Tak Hai Jaan), Manwa Lage (Happy New Year), Samjhawan (Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya), Saibo (Shor in the City) and Hasi (Humari Adhuri Kahaani).
She performed most of them with Rishikesh, but sang the last one with up-and-coming composer and singer Ami Mishra, who is definitely someone to look out for in the future.
Ghoshal then performed some of her solo hits, including Barso Re (Guru), Yeh Ishq Hai (Jab We Met), and Nagade Sang Dhol (Goliyon Ki Raas Leela Ram-Leela).
She sings in many languages, and in a bid to please her fans from the south, also sang a Malayalam song, Khalbil Ethi (Anwar), after which she took a short break.
Returning to the stage wearing a more western-style outfit, Ghoshal paid tribute to some of the stalwarts of Indian music - RD Burman, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.
This was easily the audience's favourite section of the concert, with many singing along to popular hits such as Chaudhvi Ka Chand, Woh Shaam Kuch Ajeeb Thi, Kabhi Kabhi, Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha and Piya Tu, to name but a few.
The segment ended with a performance of the upbeat Dum Maro Dum. Ghoshal ended the night by taking requests from the audience, who were thrilled that the singer sang her most popular hits, as well as a couple of Bengali and Malayalam songs.
It was clear that the audience loved her, with every song beginning and ending with loud cheers, applause and whistles.
The singer sounds even better live than on recordings, and it is easy to see why she has come such a long way since her debut 13 years ago.
That said, she played it very safe, sticking to the original versions of the songs she sang. There was no playing around with the tempo or the style, unlike Sunidhi Chauhan at the same venue last year.
And even though Ghoshal did interact with the audience, occasionally calling out to those who were dancing to her tunes, the passion was missing.
Another thing I found a little strange was the flow of the concert. There was a point at which she hit a peak performing her biggest hit, Chikni Chameli, but then brought down the tone rather abruptly, instead of slowly lowering the tempo.
These small complaints aside, Ghoshal put up an impressive show, with the audience screaming for encores at the end.
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