(From top) Abhijeet Sawant has a blast; Himesh Reshammiya in performance; Vineet, Himani and Abhijeet join Himesh on the Salt Lake stadium stage on Sunday. Pictures by Pabitra Das

Sitting at the airport in Mumbai, Himesh Reshammiya’s mind was in Calcutta. “This will be my biggest show. It will be a huge challenge to make a one-to-one connection in a one-lakh gathering,” he mused.

Panned by critics and scorned by fellow-singers, but adored by fans, the capped crooner was en route to the city he had chosen to open his first music school in, and where he faced on Sunday night the acid test in Asia’s biggest stadium.

Outside Salt Lake stadium, the gates were a couple of hours from opening. Yet, a queue was curling out from the mouth of each entry point. The Aap Kaa Surroor show was traveling to Calcutta after having done the rounds of the US and the UK. The city’s disc floors had been abuzz with plans for a party for nights in advance. Only the venue would be shifting to the galleries and the ground.

The stage was set to the right of the oval ground, where 20 years ago Calcutta had its first taste of song and dance, Bollywood style, with a starburst for Hope ’86. But Sunday night belonged to a composer-singer-about-to-be-actor, touted from Toronto to London as “India’s first rock star”.

If there were three opening acts at the November 19 concert presented in association with The Telegraph, they were just meant to keep the crowd interested till Himesh landed at Dum Dum. Of them, Vineet (who had earned the sobriquet ‘topiwale’ by aping his mentor’s sartorial statement at the Challenge 2005 Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contest) came first with a couple of songs from Tere Naam and Aksar. The crowd was still settling down. Then it was Vineet’s fellow contestant Himani, who started with the serene Purab se (Banaras) and lilting Jia dhadak dhadak (Kalyug). As she shifted gear to the racier Nachoon odhni odhke and Dumadum mast kalandar, the crowd started taking an interest. The pace picked up further with the entry of Indian Idol Abhijeet Sawant who started with his signature number Mohabbatein lootayunga. By the time he put in a bit of local flavour with Chirodin-i tumi je amar, the crowd had warmed up.

When mimicry artist Ravi Raj took over, the three youngsters were still in a daze. “It was like I was in a match. Every time the crowd liked a song, it was like I had hit a six,” gushed Abhijeet, his eyes shining as brightly as the platinum studs on his earlobes.

The real thing

Then, enter the man of the moment, straight from the tarmac at Dum Dum. The trademark cap in place, black overcoat flung over the shoulders, a sprinkle of water on the locks under the cap… and the rock star was ready to rock.

The lights went out, the electric guitar strummed out the opening notes of Aap kaa surroor, an explosion happened in the middle of the stage and amid a burst of ticker tapes and fairy lights strode in Himesh Reshammiya, microphone in hand. “Aashique banaya aapne, Kolkata!”

The response was like Bhaichung Bhutia had volleyed one into the East Bengal net. Green laser beams cast a dancing web of myriad formations to Mohabbat ki guzarish. It was a night of promises to keep. “Jhoom bhi hoga, aashiqui bhi hogi, par uss se pehle surroor hoga,” the all-rounder announced, playing to the packed galleries.

“H-e-e-e-mesh, H-e-e-e-mesh,” the ramps above gates 4 and 5 started the chant that is normally the preserve of sport stars in Calcutta.

Reason enough for another round of showmanship. “Surroor ka matlab intoxication. Aap ne kabhi kisi se pyar kiye hai? Usko yaad kijiye aur mere saath gaiye...” If that was meant for the Romeos, the next one was for another loyal vote bank — children. At UK’s Wembley Arena where he had performed last month, Himesh had asked for 10 kids to come on stage and got only one (for security reasons). In a country of a billion, he got a full baker’s dozen, with superintendent of police (SP) Praveen Kumar ordering his men to form a protective ring to keep surging parents and kids at bay.

“You dance to my songs in parties, in weddings… now I have come from so far. Won’t you dance with me, Kolkata?” And how they roared and rocked!

Abhijeet and Vineet peeped from the backstage to see how the thousands in the distance were dancing in the dark, punctuated by paper flames, as “sir” belted out Aashiqui mein teri.

By then, little Payel Singh and Shweta Shah had made it back to their seats, breathless in the ecstasy and exhaustion of dashing to beat the rest to the stage and then keeping to the beat of Yaad sataye teri. “I was so lucky,” screeched the Class VI girl of Balika Shiksha Sadan.

Backstage, Himesh’s manager Prashant Chadha was beaming as bright. “In Indore, we had drawn 40,000, which was the capacity of the place. But that was nothing compared to this…”

By police estimates, the Sunday night crowd count at Salt Lake stadium was 70,000.

By then, police were getting worried at the rising excitement level and word went out to wind up. That is when Himesh pulled out his trump card — Jhalak dikhla ja. Cue for Calcutta bhabijis in shimmering chiffons to jive away in the VIP front rows!

By the time Himesh stepped off the stage, he was on a real high. “Lakhon log jhoom rahein hain… aur humko kya chahiye? Calcutta has made history,” he blurted out, beads of sweat trickling down the capped forehead.

At 10 pm, when his white Lancer was cruising out of the grounds, there were yells all round of “ Himesh daaaa”.

Himesh Reshammiya had made his one-to-one connection with Calcutta.