Out of all the recent concerts in in Malaysia, it was AR Rahman’s concert that had us in a frisson of excitement.

Spearheaded by DMY Creation, the highly anticipated AR Rahman - Secret Of Success 2023 concert made a comeback on Saturday at Bukit Jalil National Stadium after a six-year hiatus.

Orchestrated as a celebration of his 30-year journey in the music industry, the concert was graced by Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, along with his beloved wife, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and the Minister of Communications and Digital, Fahmi Fadzil.


How did the electrifying concert kick-started?

The night kick-started at 8.30 pm with a troop of dancers performing in front of the stage and the moment AR Rahman appeared he instantly whipped the crowd into a frenzy with his two times Academy-winning song ‘Jai Ho’.

A euphoric performance by the 56-year-old musical maestro!



Now, the real deal. Never in the wildest dreams would have anyone imagined witnessing ARR grooving along with the audience and singers throughout the entire show. True to character, his stage presence aligned perfectly with his music: confident and bold while some remaining full of soul and intense emotion. AR Rahman proved without doubt as a well-rounded performer, skillfully nailing all his vocals and playing a handful of songs on the keyboard.

The concert saw a perfect combo of cameo performances from his talented troupe comprising notable singers such as Hariharan, Rakshita Suresh, Shweta Mohan, Jonita Gandhi, Haricharan, Drums Sivamani, and many more.



Not to forget, the band and musicians were all on top of their games. It was a concert that had a heavy dose of #RahmanMagic.

Amid the impressive pyrotechnics, the 3D graphic backdrop, and the energetic dancers, we witnessed a sea full of 71K audience vibe to his songs.



Each of his songs was choreographed with multi-coloured psychedelic lights flashing across the stage and carefully timed fireworks going off around the open stadium.

Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza was the STAR for the night!

The Malaysian songstress took over a segment of AR’ Rahman’s concert by belting out a famous song titled ‘Munbe Vaa’ - and it was beyond perfect!



From getting all the pronunciation and intonation on point, Datuk charmed thousands with her stage charisma. Indeed, a goosebump moment to watch her singing along with Harichandran who equally matched to make the moment more surreal and epic.

As she ended the song, the Malaysian Super Star received thunderous applause and a standing ovation from the concert goers. A proud achievement indeed!

A special LIVE demo segment storms the stage - Rahman & his classical Raagas

Who could have missed being mesmerized by the special segment featuring a LIVE demo of each Raaga from the songs that he has composed that beautifully showcased his musical prowess.

It was indeed a surreal moment!

Vennilave Vennilave crooned under the MOON...

Not sure how many of you noticed when Hariharan and Shwetha Mohan began singing 'Vennilave Vennilave,' the MOON was literally on top of the stadium? Even the cosmos played its part for ARR.

With both crooning with their soul-soothing voices, it was an out of body experience.




To those who are questioning why AR Rahman sang ‘Hindi Songs' - even some have concluded that it was a HINDI concert…

There’s a saying:

‘There is no language barrier when it comes to music.’

As the saying denotes, when you’re a true of AR Rahman fan, you would love the music regardless of the language.

We could see many complaining about the songs that the legend sang, but let the writer tell you something. He sung nearly 45 songs throughout the entire concert. THIRTY-ONE of those were sung in Tamil, TEN songs in Hindi, and the rest of the songs were a cross between Hindi and Tamil.

Perhaps in the thrill of the moment some of us forgot that he is an international music icon and this concert was never promised to be a 100% Tamil concert.

As the concert came to an end, the musical maestro stoked the patriotism with a soulful delivery of Vande Maataram.

Now, let’s talk about the hiccups that have taken place at the mega-hyped concert.

Room for improvement

Spearheading a huge concert isn’t a joke. Touted to be their FIRST concert, it is safe to say that DMY has managed to do its best for the audience. But does everything seem to be fine?

Since the concert ended, a plethora of complaints from the audience has been dominating social media due to alleged management mishaps.

Let the writer point out the main plagues that took place during the concert.

Time & Queue Management

With hours of the long queue, poor time management lead to frustration among the spectators. Some have also been also allowed to enter the venue without checking their tickets.

What could have been better?


More RELA and Ushers should be assigned so that the concertgoers will have a better understanding of the direction and seating zones that they are supposed to head to.

Famous songs could have been sung in the Tamil version!

As much as we loved ARR’s song list on Saturday night, there might be a group of people who don't quite enjoy Hindi songs. People who came with higher expectations for ‘Yaakai Thiri’ and ‘Humma Humma’ were left disappointed. The organiser should consider discussing the preference of the audience for future concerts.

The opening act or DJ Spin / Local artists should consider for future concerts

Local singers or DJs should have been considered while making the sea full of 71K + audiences wait for the concert to start. If songs such as getting the crowd jumping with contagious energy played in the background or performances from the local artists had been arranged - it might have killed their boredom and kept them calm at all costs. Something to ponder if there are any possibilities for the concert to get delayed.

In a nutshell, it was a huge milestone for DMY Creation to set such a high bar by organising a mega concert, but with any event planned on this scale, some hiccups are given. To the audience who are constantly sharing your disappointments, let’s not forget that despite the flaws, it was once in a lifetime ARR experience. Let’s give credit where credit is due.

Likewise, we have the trust that DMY Creation will be coming back stronger by reading our feedback.

PS: A special note to our readers. Everyone is entitled to give their feedback. We do respect audience feedback, and likewise, we do expect our feedback to be respected too. Let's agree to disagree respectfully.