Farhan whips up a frenzy and Shraddha follows suit...

It was Farhan mania on day two of the recently-concluded music festival, as 10,000-odd Hyderabadis waited with bated-breath for ‘rockstar’ Farhan Akhtar to take centrestage. after a mammoth line-up of 15 artistes performing on three different stages, it was Farhan’s turn to end the fest on a high note. And, he didn’t disappoint. The one-hour set saw frenzied fans scream their lungs out, trying to capture the drama on stage on their phones, even as girls armed with placards and posters of Farhan, tried every trick in the book to get his attention, including screaming out his name.
Crooning his popular Bollywood songs like Pichle Saat Dinon Mein, Tum Ho Toh, Sinbad The Sailor, Mein Aisa Kyu Hoon, Dil Dhadakne Do, Khaabon Ke Parinday, Senorita and Rock On, Farhan kept the energy levels to a maximum as the crowd sang along with him.And the rockstar was his animated self — grooving and jumping around — doing his reputation of being an interactive frontman no harm.
Earlier in the day, Hyderabad-based band The Tapes kicked off the show as city folk cheered them on. What followed were a variety of genres on display by artistes like post-rock band Aswekeepsearching and Ankur & the Galat Family whose quirky lyrics and catchy hooks struck a chord with the crowd from the word go. Dualist Inquiry’s rock influenced electronica got a good reception from the audience, while Chennai-based band The F16s kept things lively with their massive energy.
Shraddha Sizzled
The evening had a rather sweet surprise in store for Hyderabad — Shraddha Kapoor! Making a smashing entry on stage to join Farhan, Shraddha evoked euphoric ‘Ooooohs!’ and ‘whoaaaas’ from the delighted crowd. Shraddha looked every bit the rocker chic, with her camouflage pants and multi-coloured hair extensions. she matched Farhan’s energy, as she ran from one side of the stage to the other, pumping up crowd during the songs. And, she presented some of her latest songs “just for Hyderabad!” And boy, can she sing!
Whattey Chemistry!
They might be scorching the silver screen together. But on Sunday, Farhan and Shraddha proved that their chemistry is not just limited to the reel world. As they matched each others moves, and crooned their duets, looking into each other’s eyes and gesturing emotively, the duo had the crowds begging for more.
MetalHeads vindicated
Metal fans cried foul that there was hardly any metal bands among the 30-odd artistes that played at the music festival. but the mind-blowing performance by Mumbai-based metal icons Bhayanak Maut more than made up for it. In what was a 40-minute sonic assault, the band got metalheads in the crowd head banging to their heavy riffs and pounding double bass drumming. The energy of the band was best personified by the two vocalists Sunneith Revankar and Vinay Venkatesh who growled simultaneously ensuring that the band sounded brutal in every sense!
Tired but not down
Despite the fact that he was tired from playing four shows in the last four days, folk rock artiste Raghu Dixit’s performance got the crowd’s excitement sky-rocketting.
New talent ruled
New faces Hriday Gattani and Hyderabadi boy Redd Alluri impressed with their flawless voices, and judging by the response to their music, Hyderabadis are sure to see them perform again in the city.