Nita Ambani came in with son Akash for a performance by band ‘Remember Shakti’ which was in concert after a gap of six years. Shabana Azmi with Javed Akhtar and Kumaramangalam Birla were seen in rapt attention as musicians including Zakir Hussain and John McLaughlin performed. Bhupinder and Mitali Singh, Bijal Meswani, Ranjit Barot, Hariharan, Sheldon D’Silva and Gino Banks were among the spectators. Zakir said about his association with buddy John, “I never feel like I’m working with someone strange from a different tradition and he doesn’t feel that way either.”  The restructured band onstage included U Srinivas on the mandolin and V Selvaganesh on the kanjeera.

Shankar Mahadevan (centre) with V Selvaganesh and U Srinivas