Michael in India – As told by an Indian Entertainment Magazine – Cine Blitz Exclusively.

The King of Pop, arrived in Mumbai on October 30th. The svelte and sexy Sonali Bendre, clad in traditional Maharashtrian(Indian State – Maharashtra) nine yard saree, performed the aarti and tilak for Michael at the airport and he was quite taken up with the entire ceremony. When he was being driven out of the air port in his 20-car motorcade, he stopped his Toyota, got rid of his security guards and stepped out to meet the urchins lined up along the highway to catch a glimpse of him. He picked up several children and hugged and kissed them. He then spent a few minutes with them before he proceeded to the Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray’s residence, Matushree, in Bandra East. Here he was presented with a silver tabla and tanpura, which are musical instruments from India.

Later that evening, at the special bash organized in his honour by Bharat Shah (Organiser of the concert) at the Oberoi, he made a mere three minute appearance. Apparently, the singer had a late night before and wanted to retire to his room early. The crème de la crème of the Indian Entertainment Industry and Royal Families were there. Most of them of course, were left high and dry except for the actor Anupam Kher perhaps who to the initiative of jumping on the stage and grabbing Michael’s hand with a, ‘Yeah Michael, yeah!’. Shobha De (A Writer) was the next to gain inspiration and she even told the Press later, “Shaking hands with him was like an orgasm!” Bharat Shah presented Michael with a silver replica of the Taj Mahal at the same party.

The Indian media myth about Michael being extremely reclusive, does not hold true anymore. During his stay at The Oberoi Hotel, he surprised the entire staff by mingling freely with his fans, who would drop in at the hotel to catch a glimpse of the King of Pop. He would smile and blow kisses to all his fans and shake hands with as many of them as possible.

According to Butler Manager, Sandeep Walia, who was attending to him with a team of three butlers, Michael loves sweet white wine. That is probably the only kind of alcohol that he consumed during his stay at the Oberoi. Apart from that, he loves orange drinks, Fanta being his favorite and a special German orange drink, Gatorade, which he carries with him. Michael drinks a lot of Diet Coke as well, prefers his drinks at room temperature. Jackson has a penchant for chocolates too, so The Oberoi made sure there were chocolates, of all shapes, sizes and flavours kept in every reachable corner of his room.

Michael Jackson likes a lot of festivity around him. The Kohinoor Suite at the Oberoi was decorated with flowers, balloons, confetti and bowls of sweets and chocolates to give it a spirit of celebration. While in his room, Jackson does not like to use the air-conditioner. He also likes his space. His body-guards have been instructed not to come close to him to give him enough space to move around.

Okay this is something that will really please his fans in India. According to one of his security men, India is not his new love. Jackson has always wanted to visit the country and the last time his show got cancelled he was very disappointed and upset.

Guess what Michael had for breakfast? On his first morning here, he ate masala dosa and the day after that, he had spicy alu paranthas with butter. His other meals mainly comprised of butter naans, butter chicken, tandoori chicken and spicy vegetable curries. His personal chef is of Indian origin and she co-ordinated his meals with the other chefs at the hotel. Michael Jackson definitely has a predilection for Indian food but wait till you hear this. According to the hotel staff, he got naans (Enough for an army), tandoori chicken, dishes cooked in butter gravy and lots of paranthas packed, on the morning he was flying out of India.

Jackson asked The Oberoi for an LLD player and a television, as well as a CD player for his personal use. He travels with his own library of CDs and LDs and spends most of the time indoors, watching films.

The world knows he loves kids and there are many in our country who wish, they were kids, because Michael only seemed to have time for them while he was here. At his request, a high tea was organized at the pool side where kids from orphanages were invited to meet and play with him. He gave them gifts and chocolates that he had brought with him. There was a party for kids organized in his room as well, on the day of the show itself. About 50 children were invited and he ordered cakes and burgers for them. He made the kids sit on his lap and played with them. He had asked the hotel to provide him with a few saris which he wanted draped around the sofas during the photo session with the kids, to give his pictures the ethnic effect.

He would pick up his own newspapers from outside the door, which was normally very late in the morning. Michael is a late riser. His meal timings were also odd. He never had his breakfast before 12 noon and dinner before 1.00 pm. When he returned to the hotel lobby after his mind blowing show, he folded his hands in a namaste and blew kisses to all his fans before he got into the elevator. According to the staff, he was as energetic after the show, as he was before it perhaps! The two-hour-15-minute long performance hadn’t fatigued him in the least.

Burkhas were arranged for Michael because he wanted to visit Aasha Daan, Mother Teresa’s ashram in Byculla. But due to an extremely tight schedule he wasn’t able to fulfill his desire.

The Show –

November 1 at the Andheri Sports Complex was a spectacular event. The special effects were truly awesome and as for Michael, he can deservedly be called the best performer in the world. For those present at the show, it was an out of body experience!

For his show Michael flew in all his equipment in three Russian Antanov cargo planes. The stage was 60 ft. deep and 210 ft. wide and he had three teams to work on it – an assembling team, a dismantling team and a standby team as well. That’s what they call perfect organization. It took at least 24 hours to erect the whole structure and prepare it for the show and less than six hours to bring it down. The green room was beneath the stage and had four divisions – The meditation room, the rest room, the photography room and the VIP guest room. The rest room was ornately done in true Indian tradition, with regal décor befitting the King (read Maharaja) of Pop. This room had 20 air-conditioners installed and was christened the Air-Conditioned Marquee. Michael uses the photography room for photography sessions. The fortunate few who were allowed to accompany him under the stage, were his bodyguards, his tour manager and his wardrobe manager.

The tank that was used on the stage as a prop in “The Earth Song” was made of blocks of plywood, though it appeared as authentic as a battle tank. The other props, such as the dilapidated buildings and the shuttle Michael used to make a grand entrance in, was also made of collapsible material that could easily be dismantled. She show had its own tender moments, when it left everyone present in tears. And that included Michael who was moved to tears at the overwhelming response he received from the Indian audience for the first time. “This has been the best show of the HIStory tour” he later admitted.

A special route was chalked out for Michael to drive into the Andheri Stadium with his entourage. And it was only at 8.30 pm that he actually reached the stadium.

The Michael Jackson Anthem
Free Download