Water was distributed for free at the venue, symbolic of Global Citizens’ humanitarian initiative
“Whoa, her outfit’s right out of Coachella!” At the Global Citizen Festival 2016 India, frothy banter kept the crowd company as they waited for the sun to drop a few baritones and the most awaited act of an impressive, diverse line up, UK band Coldplay, to amp up the volume. Those in the green, yellow, blue and silver zones were seen snaking up their way towards the barricades that divided each zone, aiming for a strategic view of either the main stage or the giant screens that zoomed into performing stars who did a quick but nifty jaunt of reminding all us global citizens of our responsibilities in battling the “common enemies” of poverty, lack of education, lack of sanitation and gender inequality. True to Global Citizens’ humanitarian initiative, water was distributed for free at the venue.
Eighty thousand music-enthusiasts from what appeared to be the most electric demographic of Mumbai kept their anticipation alive by dropping some incredible moves to Rahman’s ‘Hamma Hamma’, or whistling in tandem to a desi Jay-Z opening his act to Chhaiya Chhaiya. Amitabh Bachchan’s rendition of his song Atrangi Yaari from Wazir and Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s Breathless were clear indications that while many in the crowd were there for Coldplay, there was no dearth of love for the other performers. At the time of writing this, girls and boys were seen enjoying a performance by the very relish-worthy actor Ranveer Singh, only sporadically punctuated by chants of “Coldplay–Coldplay!”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted lines from Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan’s iconic “The times they are a-changin’,” a song which had apparently become an anthem of change, to make a veiled reference to the political situation in the country in the backdrop of the demonetisation move as he addressed the Global Citizen Festival in a video.
The festival officially begun with performances by megastar actor Amitabh Bachchan, American Pop Star Demi Lovato, singer Arijit music composers Singh, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, actors Sonakshi Sinha, Shraddha Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar. Actors Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor announced the opening of the festival and Shah Rukh Khan made hearts flip by taking over as the host later. Arijit took to the stage and set the mood right as he crooned the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil title track and then went on to sing his other popular tracks. Lovato’s act was followed by Bachchan’s performance with the Shillong Choir. Farhan took the stage by storm with his performance of the Rock On title track.
The high point came when UK band Coldplay took to the stage, belting out hit songs like Yellow, Fix You and Paradise for over two hours. The band moved on to some beautiful mellower numbers like Midnight, Don't Panic and Everglow, lulling the crowd in a psychotropic spell. The song Charlie Brown, from the band's 2012 album Mylo Xyloto, saw Chris Martin turning a guitar breaking mishap into an opportunity to see his crowd "jump, jump, jump!" one more time. The man of the show orchestrated some synchronised moves for his audience, making all eighty thousand fans "go down, low, low and 1-2-3 up!" as they found themselves dancing to their favourite rock star's tunes, quite literally. The crowd broke out in wild cheer as Martin briefly addressed his Indian fans in Hindi, and began his duet of Maa Tujhe Salaam with A.R. Rahman. The night came to a close after he sang Channa Mereya from Ae Dil Hain Mushkil, thanking his fans and urging them to "never give up". For many Mumbaikars, watching Coldplay live under a sky full of stars was nothing short of magic.
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