For Benny Dayal, performing in the UAE isn’t quite the same as another international concert.
The Indian playback singer, who was born in Abu Dhabi and spent his formative years in the UAE, is returning to the country for Thaalam Beats, a South Indian music festival taking place at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena on August 15.
And for the singer behind hits including Badtameez Dil, Let’s Nacho and Ude Dil Befikre, the performance brings his journey full circle.
“It’s both for me,” Dayal told Khaleej Times when asked whether performing in the UAE feels like an international concert or a homecoming. “Definitely, there is nostalgia.”
But for Dayal, the significance goes beyond looking back at where he grew up.
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“It’s a brilliant story, the fact that this kid studied here, and now he’s actually performing at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai,” he said.
The moment, he added, could also serve as encouragement for young musicians growing up in the UAE who hope to turn music into a career.
“It’s kind of like giving hope to a lot of kids who want to pursue music as a career,” he said. “They can make it in such a way that they can actually come back here and perform for that audience from where their entire life started.”
Keeping the old hits alive
Nearly two decades into his career, Dayal has another challenge: many of the songs audiences expect to hear from him are no longer new.
Badtameez Dil, from the 2013 film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, has been around for more than a decade. But Dayal doesn’t see performing an old favourite as simply recreating what listeners already know.
“When you perform live, you personalise the version for the audience. That’s where the artistry comes into play,” he said.
For Dayal, a live performance should offer audiences something they cannot get from simply streaming the original recording.
“Live performance is different. A record is different. It shouldn’t sound the same. Otherwise, you can have a DJ play the track for you. You don’t need me,” he said.
Dayal takes inspiration from artists who continually reinvent their own catalogue on stage, pointing to performers such as Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé.
“If they’ve been listening to the song for 13 years, I have to keep that feeling alive by doing something different on stage,” he said.
But does he feel pressure when reimagining songs that audiences have loved in a particular form for years?
“No. If that’s the pressure I have to live with, then I should not perform,” he said. “I’m the artist when I’m on stage. It’s my stage, so I’m going to do what I do.”
‘I want to make music that’s timeless’
Dayal is also looking beyond the Bollywood hits that made him a familiar voice in Indian cinema, with independent music becoming a bigger focus.
“There is a massive paradigm shift,” he said. “It’s becoming indie, and I’m working on independent music right now.”
But as the industry changes, Dayal says his focus is less on what is trending and more on what will last.
“I don’t want to do timely things. I want to make music that’s timeless, and I’ve been part of music that’s timeless,” he said.
Many of the songs he performs today are more than a decade old, something Dayal contrasts with the increasingly short lifespan of viral music on social media.
“Today, I think music is lasting for probably 10 days, max, and then people move on,” he said. “I don’t want to be that. I want my music to be good and make people feel something.”
Becoming a father has only strengthened that desire to create work with longevity.
“I need to create music that can have the same longevity,” he said. “I need to focus on longevity.”
What can Dubai expect?
At Thaalam Beats, Dayal will perform alongside Usha Uthup and Thaikkudam Bridge, bringing different generations and styles of Indian music together at Coca-Cola Arena.
For his own set, Dayal says he wants to cater to three of his biggest audiences, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi listeners, before eventually bringing them together.
“I want to divide this show as a Tamil channel, a Malayalam channel and a Hindi channel,” he said.
“There’ll be some things where everything will come under one roof.”
And if fans are expecting to hear exactly what is already sitting in their playlists, Dayal has one message: the live experience is supposed to be different.
“I hope everybody takes back some cool memories home,” he said.
For the self-described “UAE kid”, however, this particular stage carries another layer of meaning.
After building a career around songs heard by millions, Dayal is returning to perform in the country where his own story began.
“It’s more than nostalgia,” he said.
Source: Khaleej Times