Bollywood hits Mississauga
Published July 30, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Bollywood Monster Mash-Up was back for the second consecutive year at the Celebration Square, drawing a crowd of several thousand which danced to a traditional choir from Mississauga and songs from Bollywood, the Indian film industry that is.
The choir mastered Bollywood tunes in Hindi, despite most of them not understanding the language at all.
Throughout the evening, the event featuring more than 80 singers, dancers and musicians entertained all those present. Co-hosted by CP 24’s Pooja Handa, the colourful evening brought music lovers, young and old, dancing to the tunes of early era of Indian cinema to the modern hits of Bollywood.
“I was born and raised here in Mississauga, and its good to be part of the Bollywood Mash-up,” says Pooja Handa, a journalist from CP 24. Pooja is undoubtedly a familiar face amoung CP 24 audience in general and the South Asian community in particular. “This is where I live,” she said, elaborating her arm gesture, “two blocks away”.
Gurdeep Ahluwalia, who co-host CP 24 Breakfast show with Pooja, too made his presence felt. He was all praise for the composer and music producer Vikas Kohli for “bringing the community together”.
The Divine Heritage Artistry Bollywood dance troupe danced, synchronized to near-perfection, and earned applauds from the music lovers. “The whole point was to bring people together, and it’s a success. This is Canada,” says Lopa Sarkar, who choreographed the show.
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Mohit Bhatnagar, a singer from Scarborough enthralled the crowd with his melodious voice, singing hit songs, most of which were filmed on Amitabh Bachan, a living legend of Bollywood. “It’s a great evening and I enjoyed every bit of it,” he says.
The Celebration Square also stands witness to the Canadian debut of a star from Indian Idol, Rajdeep Chatterjee.
Rajdeep is the playback singer from ‘The Bodyguard” and has already appeared at more than 400 shows across the world.
“From choral spectacles to funk classics, this is a show that has never been done before,” says music composer and producer Vikas Kohli who organized the show.
The event was free through sponsorships from a number of sources including government and arts agencies, including the Community Foundation of Mississauga and the City of Mississauga.
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