Ahead of the Grammy Award-winning artist’s performance in Mumbai after 21 years, Mumbai and India fans express their excitement, and reminisce their fandom
Enrique Iglesias will perform in Mumbai on October 29 and 30. Photo Courtesy: AFP
Long before the music concert boom took over India and Mumbai, Pooja D’souza had made a promise to her husband and mother. She shares, “Many years ago when this wave of concert began, I told my husband and mom I’m going for Enrique’s concert even if I have to buy the ticket for lakhs and pay an EMI!”, shares the excited Mumbaikar ahead of the concert at MMRDA grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex.
Interestingly, the last time Enrique came to Mumbai was in 2004 and performed at the same venue but did not return to the city when he came back in 2012 on a three-city tour returning to Bengaluru, while also performing in Gurugram and Pune.
Mumbai’s biggest superfans
Now that it’s finally happening, the 37-year-old Enrique Iglesias superfan is “super excited” for the concert, as she has booked the tickets for the October 30 show, which was the first that was announced and sold out, leading to the organisers adding a second on October 29. D’souza is one of many fans in Mumbai and India who will be at the concert. After all it is a dream come true almost 20 years after she first started listening to the artist. Going back in time, she says, “I first listened to his songs in early 2000’s because my sister was English music fan. Enrique is my first introduction to English songs, and they felt so relatable as my first and only relationship began around the same time.”
With many hits such as ‘Addicted’, the collaboration with Whitney Houston 'Could I have this kiss forever', 'Hero' and 'Escape', she also has some of the fondest memories listening to the singer. “I have too many fond memories but two of the most memorable ones are - We had to wait all day for the songs to play because unlike now, we didn’t have the means to listen to whatever we wanted for anytime, and the other is that all his videos were steamy, and so ahead of the times for that time so if dad entered the house when his songs were playing we had to change the channel.”
It was no different for Karen Fernandes (age), who will be attending the concert with her friends. “I’m very excited because it feels like my life is coming full circle from the first time I started listening to Enrique,” shares the city-based entrepreneur, who first started listening to the Grammy Award-winning Spanish singer-songwriter, popularly known for hits such as ‘Rhythm Divine’ when she was 9 years old.
Like most Millennials who grew up on memorising lyrics, 34-year-old Fernandes says while many may have cherished memories of love and life, for her it was the silliest bits. “Figuring out the lyrics and singing along in our worst most off-key tunes is the fondest memory I have to growing up with Enrique’s songs,” adds the Mumbaikar, who says she used to be a superfan but may have moved on over the years, but still cannot help but tune into his music with ‘Hero’ on loop ahead of the concert.
Flying all the way from Kolkata
The craze is not only among Mumbaikars but also fans from other cities including 29-year-old Barsha Bhattacharya, who is flying down from Kolkata to witness the ‘Escape’ singer. She reacts, “I am super excited. I am going with my friends I have known my whole life and it's so gratifying to know that you can go with your family and friends to a concert to see an artist perform, all of you grew up listening too.”
For the superfan, who first started listening to Enrique when she was 12, she and her friend would simply wait for VH1 to play Enrique songs, thanks to a lack of internet at home. On weekends, we would go to cyber cafes and listen to all the latest songs. And when Enrique collaborated with our very own Sunidhi Chauhan, we died - even though it was super cringe.”
It gets even better for the Kolkata creative professional because she says the only reason she agreed to travel from Kolkata to Mumbai during such an odd time of the year is because her best friend asked her to. “We have this group of four, and my friend has been living in Mumbai for 10 years. It was about time we visited him, and Enrique's concert gave us the nostalgic opportunity to plan this exciting trip,” shares Barsha, who absolutely loves the songs ‘Addicted’, ‘Somebody's Me’, ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Why Not Me’ too.
At a time when there are so many concerts happening, the Kolkata native says this concert is special because of more than one reason, “Enrique is comforting. Enrique is home. We grew up listening to this artist. Our parents were fans of his father. It's almost an inherited fandom. Before KJo made 'ek tarfa pyar a thing,' it was Enrique strumming his guitar and singing 'Why not me?'”
If that doesn’t prove how much Barsha loves him, and her excitement for Enrique performing in Mumbai, then she reminisces, “I had bare-bodied Enrique with his abs pasted on my walls during my teenage years. I have taken them down now. But I might just turn up in those themed T-shirts from the early 2000s.”
While the tickets for October 30 are sold out, the tickets for the concert on October 29 are priced at Rs 7,000 and Rs 14,000.
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