When Mumbai fell for Katy Perry

At her India debut, singer Katy Perry had her audience at DY Patil Stadium wrapped around her little finger.

By now, Mumbai's audiences are used to international musical acts coming down. Coldplay was here, so was Justin Bieber. Ed Sheeran has already performed in Mumbai a couple of times, as has Bryan Adams. And U2 is scheduled to drop by too. But Saturday night belonged to Katy Perry and Dua Lipa who performed at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium for the OnePlus Music Festival.

Lipa took to the stage first, and tried to make Mumbai dance with her high-octane numbers. But when you are not allowed to sing the f*** in your biggest hit, IDGAF, the point's sort of lost. Dressed in green cargos and a matching bikini top, she looked stunning, shining in the sweat thanks to the city's humidity. It was during her act that one of the barriers separating the gold stand from the general section was left open and crowds rushed to get closer to the stage.

The Indian artiste Ritviz—look him up if you don't already follow him—opened for Katy Perry who took to the stage in an off-shoulder, green animal-print jumpsuit singing Chained to the Rhythm. By the time she was through Bon Appétit and Teenage Dream, the stadium was on its feet. The backdrop was a screen that featured animation inspired by vintage videogames like Pacman and cybertronic characters and Perry asked: "Hey Mumbai, they tell me this is your winter!" She proceeded to play a pink guitar as she sang Hot and Cold; hell, we were sold.

Dua Lipa

With her indefatigable energy that rivalled only Chris Martin, Perry interacted with the crowd and kept us engaged. The show looked very slick, very international and not some watered down, compromised version of a global pop star's concert (we're looking at you, Bieber). It was a show that Katy Perry should be proud of. Kudos Katy, come back soon.

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