Indian concerts in Malaysia a boost for foreign tourist arrivals

KUALA LUMPUR: Indian concerts held in Malaysia recently had been a boost for foreign tourist arrivals into the country, with the upcoming concert by Santhosh Narayanan - the music director who scored music for Rajinikanth starrer 'Kabali' - expected to pull a crowd of some 13,000-odd audience including 2,000 foreigners.

The 39-year-old Indian music director will be making his way to the nation's capital next month for his first ever international concert, billed the 'Sounds of the South' Concert Live in Kuala Lumpur, to be held on March 18 at 6pm at Axiata Arena here.

Director of Reacch Productions Sdn Bhd, Suresh Subramaniam, who is the concert organiser, said the concert will be unique as selected Malaysian singers and dancers will perform together with Santhosh during the main segment of the show in a move to recognise local talents in Malaysia.

"We are expecting some 13,000 people for this 'Sounds of the South' concert, with some 2,000 foreigners including from neighbouring country Singapore and also India," he told Bernama.

Santhosh, fondly known as SaNa by his fans and with many Indian film industry awards to his name, is known for his musical background and his enthusiasm in engaging folk traditional musical instruments in his song composition which gives it a different feel.

He is the composer for 'Kabali' - a movie fully filmed in Malaysia - where the song 'Nerupada' and the Theme Song of the movie is listeners' all-time favourites.

The 'Sounds of the South' Concert Live in Kuala Lumpur will be Santhosh's first international concert, featuring some of the most popular songs from his discography - along with never before heard extended tracks.

Suresh said the the concert is set to create a magical moment to the concert goers in Malaysia, with one of its kind centre stage that will give the audience a 360-degree view of the performance.

"The stage design as centre stage with 360 degree view comes together with 3 musician pits to give a better view for all the audience seating around the stadium.

"The sound design, lighting programmes and screen work is well planned to give an international show standard (and) is waiting to impress the concert attendees to bring back a memorable experience," he added.

To add more colour to the concert, Santhosh will be performing together with an Australian singer of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Dheekshitha Venkadeshan, known professionally as Dhee, who became famous for her song titled 'Enjoy Enjaami'.

The organiser has engaged Instagram Meta Developers in creating an interactive filter as a new method of social media marketing. Instagram users can go to @reacch.asia Instagram page and try the newly launched filter by scanning "SOUNDS OF THE SOUTH" logo.

Tickets for the concert is selling out fast. For details about the concert and to purchase tickets, visit www.ticket2u.com.my.

-- BERNAMA