A MOMENT TO SHARE AND A TIME TO REFLECT

CHARINDAA celebrates the success of its inaugural fundraiser in 2005 As a nascent organisation, CHARINDAA (CHARities Through INDian Arts in Australia) took a significant and important first step towards realising its vision of raising $1 million in 10 years (commencing 2005) to support charities in Australia and elsewhere, with the September 2005 concert tour by celebrated Indian film music director/composer, A. R. Rahman.

A. R. Rahman sings in Sydney, 17 Sep 2005. [Photo: John Kumar]

The two shows of this “Qantas-SigaramTV A. R. Rahman 3rd Dimension Tour of Australia, 2005” were held at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne (Saturday 10 Sept 2005) and at the Sydney Superdome in Sydney (Saturday 17 September 2005).

Together, the two shows attracted a sizeable proportion of Indian film music enthusiasts in Australia. In the lead up, the tour attracted significant attention from the mainstream press with preview articles in, for example, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. The Age also carried a preview on the day of the Melbourne concert as well as a review article. The ABC covered the Tour too. Nearly 23,000 patrons attended the two concerts across Sydney and Melbourne. This was the first time that this celebrated music composer-director and many singers from his star studded ensemble performed in Australia. It was also the first ever 3-Dimensional show presented by A. R. Rahman. Indeed, in the world of performing arts, there have not been too many instances of full-length live 3-D concerts having been staged!

A. R. Rahman presented a vibrant and colourful 3-D Concert in Australia, September 2005. [Photo: John Kumar]

Expensive 3D equipment, including a 60ft x 40ft "silver screen", state-of-the-art computer hardware, software and 3D projectors were imported from Belgium -- CHARINDAA left no stone unturned to keep their 3D promise to patrons. Rapport Global, who produced the show, brought their moving images as well as their graphics technicians from Mumbai, India. The result was some exquisite 3D graphics that were displayed for some of the songs that were performed.

This was an innovation that CHARINDAA was proud to be a part of. Interestingly, at the time of writing this, although A. R. Rahman's 3D World Tour has already reached London, Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore and Bangalore, the Australian shows were the only ones in which 3D content was used and displayed! Australia was, therefore, witness to a significant innovation on the word entertainment stage! 3D technology is still in its infancy! One day, when it is routinely used for concerts, we can safely claim "we were there"!

On his tour of Australia, promoted by CHARINDAA, A. R. Rahman was accompanied by celebrated Bollywood singers like Hariharan, Chitra, Alka Yagnik, Shankar Mahadevan (in Melbourne only), Sadhana Sargam, Unni Menon (in Sydney only), Blaaze, Madhushree Kailesh Kher, Sivamani, Alma and many others. A total of seventy performers and production staff travelled to Australia from many parts of the globe to present the shows, which were produced by Rapport Global.

A. R. Rahman and his fellow artistes sing vande mataram in the Melbourne Concert, 10 Sep 2005. [Photo: John Kumar]

CHARINDAA is proud to be associated with A. R. Rahman as he is involved in several charities and has recently taken up the position of United Nations Ambassador for the fight against tuberculosis.

Proceeds from CHARINDAA's "Qantas-SigaramTV A. R. Rahman 3rd Dimension Tour of Australia, 2005" helped support Udayan, a charity based in Kolkatta, India, which cares for over 300 children who suffer from leprosy. Steve Waugh, former Captain of the Australian cricket team and the Chief Patron of Udayan, attended the Sydney concert of the Tour along with his family. Steve Waugh received the cheque on behalf of Udayan.

Steve Waugh and friends in the Sydney Concert with their 3D goggles, 17 Sep 2005. [Photo: Sydney SuperDome]

At the conclusion of the Tour, CHARINDAA was able to make a donation of $120,000 to Udayan.

Steve Waugh makes a short speech at the Sydney Concert after receiving the cheque, as A. R. Rahman and the Directors of CHARINDAA look on, 17 Sep 2005. [Photo: John Kumar]

CHARINDAA is immensely proud and privileged to have had the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of the children at Udayan. As the founding Directors of CHARINDAA mentioned at the Sydney concert of the "Qantas-SigaramTV A. R. Rahman 3rd Dimension Tour of Australia, 2005", “just like the music that we have all been hearing tonight, the smile on the lips of children has no language. We are immensely happy that we have been able to help the children of Udayan”.

Rev James Stevens, OBE, Founder/Chairman of Udayan acknowledged CHARINDAA’s efforts in raising money for Udayan with the following words: “All your hard work has paid off handsomely! Thank you so much. You have made me and our children so happy. I have so many plans for the future- Thanks to you they will now come into fruition. My gratitude is unbounded”. [Letter to the Directors of CHARINDAA dated 25 Sept 2005].

In June 2006, once Udayan had decided how it would use the funds that CHARINDAA donated, Father James Stevens wrote to CHARINDAA to say:

On behalf of the Staff and more particularly the boys and girls of Udayan I send greetings to all our friends at “CHARINDAA”. The CHARINDAA Team of volunteers, including its Directors A. V. Mohan and Mohan Krishnamoorthy worked really hard to make last years A. R. Rahaman concerts in Melbourne and Sydney such a resounding success. Udayan was the recipient of $120,000 as proceeds from these wonderful concerts. Plans are going ahead to utilize these funds to build a new Home for 80 of our younger boys aged 3 to 8 years. This new Home is to be called “The CHARINDAA SHISHU KALYAN MANDIR”.
Wishing CHARINDAA a grand success with FIMA 2006 and with its target to raise $1 million for charity in the next 10 years.
Sincerely,
The Revd. J. G. Stevens, OBE, Founder/Chairman, Udayan

The tour was made possible with the generous support of our patrons, sponsors, suppliers and collaborators. Lastly, a salute to the team of community volunteers (we call ourselves the C-Team or the CHARINDAA-Team) who worked, pro bono, behind the scenes to make the event a success.

Eminent guests at the concerts in Melbourne and Sydney included Indian High Commissioner to Australia, His Excellency Sri P. P. Shukla, Steve Waugh, Baz Luhrman (noted Australian film director who gave us movies like Moulin Rouge), Shankar (noted Tamil film director, who gave us films like Anniyan, Jeans, etc), and many others.

The “Qantas-SigaramTV A. R. Rahman Concert Tour of Australia, 2005” has set CHARINDAA well on its way to realising its goals. While the success of the A. R. Rahman concert tour of 2005 is no mean feat, and while it is immensely gratifying, there is much hard work to be done in the years to come if this success is to be replicated to fulfil CHARINDAA’s loger-term vision.

You may access media articles as well as interviews with A. R. Rahman and other artistes on the "Qantas-SigaramTV A. R. Rahman 3rd Dimension Tour of Australia, 2005" here.

Access more photos from the Tour here.

You can also access further details of the "Qantas-SigaramTV A. R. Rahman 3rd Dimension Tour of Australia, 2005", including venues, seating plans, etc, here.

Details of CHARINDAA’s 2006 event, “Festival of Indian Music in Australia, 2006 (FIMA 2006)” are now available. You can access details about FIMA 2006 and the beneficiaries of this event, Fred Hollows Foundation and The East West Overseas Aid Foundation.