Bollywood At Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony

The Bollywood quotient was there, but minus the actors. Noted singers Kailash Kher, Shaan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan and Ila Arun had the crowd and athletes swinging to their foot-tapping Hindi film numbers during the Games closing ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Thursday evening.

The singers filled the stadium with reveberating echoes of sufi, pop, remixes and contemporary numbers that made for the Bollywood presence at the Games closing event.

Sufi singer Zila Khan, choreographer Shiamak Davar, Shubha Mudgal, Usha Uthup, and Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendosa of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio, and composer-singer Raghav Sachar, "Indian Idol 5" winner Sreeram Chandra, celebrated percussionist Sivamani and Sukhwinder Singh, added to the electrifying Games finale.

The crowd went crazy to the medley of numbers presented by the singers. Kher commenced the 30-minute long segment with his first hit "Allah ke bande", which was followed by Zila Khan’s soulful rendition of "Duma dam mast kalandar" and Rajasthani folk song "Morni bagah me bole" by Ila Arun.

The songs brought the spectators on their feet, cheering to hits like "Dholna", "Ab ke saawan", "Desi girl", "Nagada nagada" and "Ahun ahun".

All the while, dancers clad in red and yellow Jaipuri outfits grooved in synchronisation with the music.

Choreographer Shiamak Davar set the mood by belting out international hits like "We Will Rock You" and "I Gotta Feeling" by bands like Queen and Black Eyed Peas respectively.

Shaan, Davar and Usha Uthup also voiced an Indian version of "One Love" - an international chartbuster by Boy band Blue.

Delhiites went berserk when the singers crooned the title track of Shah Rukh Khan starrer women’s hockey movie "Chak de! India", that has almost become a sports anthem in the country.

The performers took a bow with "Utho jiyo badho jeeto" - the Games anthem composed by double Oscar-award winning music maestro A.R. Rahman.