A wide array of Claypaky fixtures illuminated the Kolkata and Bangalore (Bengaluru) concerts on Sunidhi Chauhan’s ongoing “I Am Home” tour. Lighting Designer Jasangat Sonpal selected 72 Claypaky Sharpy X Frames for both venues and added 32 HY B-EYE K25, 24 Tambora Batten Square, 48 Tambora Flash, 14 Sinfonya Profiles and two ReflectXion fixtures for the Kolkata show.
Sunidhi Chauhan is one of India’s most loved playback singers, or ghost singers, whose pre-recorded songs are dubbed into motion picture soundtracks replacing the actors’ voices. She is a celebrated performer in her own right, known for her vocal range and versatility and recording in multiple languages.
Her ongoing ”I Am Home” tour celebrates the idea of home through music, nostalgia and Chauhan’s dynamic stage presence. The Bangalore show last October was the first of a multi-city tour of India; the Kolkata show was staged on Christmas Eve. The tour heads for Singapore in March and North America in May and June.
“Sunidhi Chauhan is the modern-day lady rockstar of India,” says Sonpal. “With this tour she shows her versatility in all the major towns in India and abroad. She is known for many iconic Bollywood songs delivered with her powerful and bold voice. So to match the stage lighting to the tonality and punch of her vocal capabilities we needed some powerful fixtures. Sharpy X Frames were the perfect fit for her key lights.”
Sonpal notes that, “the artist was very involved in the whole process of designing lighting for the event. We had a bunch of looks to create, from tight beams to spots and gobos with key lighting being of very high importance to Sunidhi.” He explains that the shows featured a new design involving only scaffolding and no trussing. “We had an LED screen seven meters high and put lighting in three layers on the scafolding; we also used a lot of fixtures on the IMAG screen scaffolding.” Felix Remedios and Selvin Remedios of Reynold’s Sound & Lighting Services Pvt Ltd. provided the fixtures for the Bangalore concert; Naz Rahmani and Akbar Ali of Light N Light supplied the fixtures for Kolkata.
Sonpal chose Sharpy X Frames for key lighting for “the ability to use them in spot mode, beam mode and with practically all the gobos. They didn’t disappoint me one bit!”
The lighting designer selected more Claypaky fixtures for the Kolkata show. “We added Sinfonya Profiles because of their very high-quality light output,” Sonpal explains. “With the very high CRI and colors of Sinfonya, Sunidhi looked glamorous and gorgeous on camera with highlighted skin tones.” Seven Sinfonyas were used in follow spot mode with six dedicated to key lighting and one placed upstage center on the scaffolding.
Sonpal deployed 48 Tambora Flash fixtures as wash lights whenever Sunidhi sung classic rhapsodies. They also offered ease of switching between strobe and blinder. “Tambora Flash is a fixture I personally love; I consider them the most important fixture of my show. They were used to create a whole border around the LED screens, placed on top of the main stage LED screens and on top and on the sides of the IMAG screens. The brightness of these fixtures is really good!”
He added 32 Tambora Batten Squares as his main effects fixtures. “I love their versatility; they can be used for all types of shows. They provide a quick response to a very advanced level of pixel mapping, which saves lot of time programming these lights with pixel effects. We were so happy with the performance of the Tambora Battens that three songs were dedicated to using only these fixtures. I was especially impressed with them.”
Sonpal also chose two ReflectXion moving mirrors, which he calls “a unique, one-of-a-kind fixture, a first for our show. We have already put them in our riders for all future shows.”
Overall, Sonpal reports that the “reliability, color temperature and performance of the Claypaky lights were superior to all other fixtures we’ve used. We didn’t have one complaint.”
He especially cites the support for the Kolkata show from local vendor Light N Light. “All the fixtures were very well maintained, the whole team was great and they achieved the entire setup in one day: Given the fact that there was no trussing and each light needed to be pulled up 40 feet, they did a commendable job. Their team and Pankil Ahuja played a crucial role in my choice of Claypaky fixtures for this concert. Aabhas Kamble was the Production Manager for the concerts. Sunidhi and FOH Sound Engineer Tanay Gajjar also trusted my vision and helped us get quality Claypaky lighting for the concerts.”
In addition to acting as Lighting Designer for the concerts, Sonpal also served as the Programmer