by Subhash K Jha

"It was unbelievable," star-singer Sonu Nigam, speaking from Australia, just can't stop exulting over the triumph of the Indian entourage at the Commonwealth games in Melbourne.

"Can you believe it, all of us from Bollywood—Aishwarya, Saif-Rani included—had only eleven minutes in which to do our act?! Out of this precious time only three minutes were given to Shreya Ghosal, Shiamak Davar, Sunidhi Chauhan and me to do our song Dillli chalo...

Gulzar Saab's words and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music made such an impact. At that moment on stage with the whole world watching us I felt so proud to be an Indian. It's a moment that won't come back that easily."

Sonu gives the entire credit for the Indian entourage's spectacular performance to the organizers Wizcraft.

"Everything was so fabulously arranged. A lot of mehnat went into the preparation. I don't know if we can pull off the 2010 Commonwealth games in Delhi with the same level of professionalism. All I can say is, the world is now looking at Delhi after the way Bollywood entourage's performance.

Australian newspapers and TV channels rated our finale performance as the best. The taxi drivers here (in Melbourne) are saying the same. God has been so so kind."

Rani Mukherjee who performed the Dhamaal number with Saif (written by Javed Akhtar and composed by Vishal-Shekhar) is equally upbeat, "It was a wonderful experience to represent the country. The ambience of the huge stadium with thousands of cheering audiences was irresistible.

At that moment you couldn't be an Indian and not be proud of it. The experience was unbelievable. When our audio-visuals started all of us from the Indian entourage broke into loud applause and screamed, 'Go India, Go For It!'

After the triumph Saif was more cautious. "I had never peformed a Bhangra before. And I wondered if I could carry it off. Fortunately it went off smoothly. The Dhamaal song rocked."