IANS
Los Angeles, Jul 19: Hollywood studios like Warner Bros, Fox and Universal were so impressed by a recent AR Rahman concert at the famous Hollywood Bowl that they may be actually contemplating giving a Bollywood touch to the next Oscars night.
"The American audience was completely blown away by the show. They had never seen anything like it. Many Americans came dressed in Indian outfits and danced enthusiastically. People were saying 'move over Britney Spears and J-Lo, Bollywood rocks'," founder of www.hollywood.tv, Sheeraz Hasan said.
Hasan attended the concert on Sunday with his friends from Warner Bros, Fox and Universal Studios and said they were totally bowled over.
There were more American fans (70 per cent) than Asians (30 per cent) to hear the music maestro at the show titled "Bollywood Night with AR Rahman", organised by the KCRW World Festival.
Tom Schnabel, who is the programme director of World Music, hosted the show.
Rahman opened the show by telling the audience, "When I left Chennai for London several years ago to work on the musical Bombay Dreams, everyone congratulated me for going to Hollywood. I tried to explain that I was going to London, not Hollywood, but they didn't understand. So those people who misinterpreted London for Hollywood, would be very happy to see me here today."
Several Indian artistes have performed here in the past, but this was Hollywood Bowl's first night completely dedicated to the music and culture of India.
The Rahman extravaganza with its arsenal of instruments, synthesisers, guitars, dholaks, keyboards and inspired singing transcended musical boundaries.
Other artistes like Sukhwinder Singh, Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam, Madhushree, Musafir and Anisha Nagarajan performed along with Rahman.
The most popular song of the evening was Chaiyya chaiyya performed by Sukhvinder Singh.
"Popular entertainers, including Cher, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Judy Garland and Jimi Hendrix, have all performed at the Hollywood Bowl in the past, and it was truly a historic night as Bollywood came to Hollywood in great style," said Hasan.