Farhan Akhtar on weird live concert experiences: ‘A man took off his shirt, passed a note’

Farhan Akhtar

For Farhan Akhtar, the thrill of performing live concerts goes far beyond the roar of the audience or the energy of the music. It's the unpredictability of people, places, and moments that makes every concert unforgettable, sometimes hilarious, sometimes unnerving, but always memorable. In an exclusive conversation with mid-day's Sit With Hitlist, the actor-filmmaker-singer opened up about some of the weirdest situations he has encountered on and off stage.

Farhan recalls bizarre man at a concert

Reminiscing about one particular concert in a small town, Farhan recalled a "very important person of the town" arriving with an entourage, complete with policemen. Seated in the VIP section, the man grew visibly more confident as the evening progressed. "I don't know whether he was sipping a drink quietly or not," Farhan said with a laugh, "but it was either courage or liquid courage."

What happened next left even the band bewildered. "He suddenly got up, came right in front of the stage, took his shirt off, and was just in a ganji, flexing his muscles," Farhan recalled. The team watched in confusion as the man scribbled something on a piece of paper, handed it to one of his aides, and instructed him to deliver it to the stage.

A polite messenger walked up to Farhan mid-performance and handed over the note. "I opened it and it said, ‘Zara hamare taraf bhi toh dekhiye.' I thought someone was making a sweet request for a song." It was only later that he realised the message was meant not for him but for Shannon, the female vocalist in the band. "What struck me was the decency of that man who came up on stage," Farhan said. "He didn't try to give it to her directly. He came to me instead."

Farhan's scary interaction post-concert

But not every unexpected interaction at concerts is amusing. Farhan admitted that some experiences have been quite scary. At another show in a remote town, he and his team were staying in a guest house due to the lack of hotels. "One of the organiser's friends - completely hammered - landed up insisting that he take me on a bike ride in the middle of the night," he recounted. "You have to come, don't worry… all that was going on."

Farhan said that the key to navigating such moments is patience. "There's no point getting angry. You have to humour them in some way and keep moving forward."

Whether funny, strange, or tense, these unpredictable encounters, Farhan believes, are woven into the fabric of performing live experiences that stay with him long after the music ends.