30th June 2003

RP Concert Schedules

Recently idlebrain.com has met RP Patnaik - who is practicing along with his crew for the USA Concerts at Prashant Kuteer. He told the intentions and objectives behind his tour to USA

TANA silver jubilee celebrations are happening from 3rd July to 5th July. There would be banquet on the night of 3rd July and star night on the night of 4th July. On 5th July's night during the grand finale, RP is going to perform live.

Generally when some music shows from Telugu talent happens in USA, a maximum of 9-10 member crew goes there. But for the first time, a crew of 20 members is going for this tour.

I believe that there are more number of fans for me in form of Telugu NRI's in USA than Telugu people in India. I also heard that Telugu people go to theaters to watch Telugu films either by looking at the stars name or RP Patnaik's name on the credits. I would find out if its true or not when I tour USA in the month of July 2003.

I guess the media of Internet has brought in revolution in the way the news and information is passed in microseconds. The Telugu people in USA are more updated about films and music than me.

I am planning to perform at six places including TANA. We have prepared a play list of around 90 hit songs from the 20 films I have done so far. To make sure that each and every concert is different from the other, we are having different playlists for each concert. However the popular songs like 'Gajuwaka Pilla'. 'Ranu Ranantoo', 'Ne Tolisaarigaa' would be performed in all the venues.

Udaya Bhanu would act as the anchor for all the shows. This crew has 6 singers - me, Usha, Sriram, Vijaya Lakshmi (who recently performed for 24 hours continuously), Ravi Varma and Divija.

I do not want this show to be just another musical night and I would like to explore the angle of emotional attachment with the Telugu NRIs in USA. Hence we are having a different concept all together. We are going to USA with 4 cameras. We would be having concerts in the weekends. On the weekdays, we would like to capture the emotions of Telugu NRIs in USA. We would like to ask them what they are gaining by being in USA and what are they losing by being away from their homeland. We would also pose questions about their lifestyle and working culture. At the same time, we contact their counter parts in India and interview them about what they are missing and gaining when their dear ones are working away in USA.

But there is a catch. What is the selection criterion? It's virtually impossible to interview each and every NRI. Lots of USA Telugu film lovers sent me mails to come to their place for dinner. I am really thrilled by this kind of response. Our AP Cine Musicians Union is not having any funds. We would also be incurring lots of expenses in form of hiring cameras and buying beta tapes. All the 20 members who are traveling to USA are members of AP Cine Musicians Union. We would like to have a fundraising program for this union. Who ever donate a minimum prescribed about for Cine Musicians Union would be selected for the interview. It would not go into anybody's pocket. It would go to Cine Musicians Union, which is suffering from lack of funds.

Instead of directly going on to the stage and performing, I would like to meet the people at various cities and speak to them on personal basis. It's going to be more like an emotional trip than a professional tour.

We are starting here on the night of 2nd July. We should be there by afternoon of 3rd July. We would be back in Hyderabad by the night of 27th July.

Team of RP Patnaik for USA Live Shows.

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