Indian thunder Down Under

Bollywood will be on show at the 18th Commonwealth Games later this month.

The Hindi film industry is gearing up to make an impact at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia next month.

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Participating at the closing ceremony at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds on March 26 at the hand-over of the next Commonwealth Games, will be some of Bollywood’s biggest stars including Saif Ali Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukerji, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra. Singers Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghosal and Sukhwinder Singh will perform specially composed songs. Shiamak Davar is choreographing the show while Anna Singh is designing the costumes.

Wizcraft, the events entertainment company, is producing and directing the approximately 15-minute cultural programme, which will coincide with the handover. Though the look and feel of the programme will be Bollywood, the motifs, songs and tone are not. It will be a completely original performance for this closing ceremony specifically. “The acts are essentially and primarily themed acts, apt for an event of such magnitude. Songs have been specially written and composed for the performances, the details of which are still being worked out. Percussionists Toufiq Qureshi and Sivamani are also participating,” said a spokesperson for the event agency.

Sabbas Joseph of Wizcraft added, “Javed Akhtarsaab and Gulzarsaab have each penned the lyrics for one song. While Javedsaab’s song will be composed by Vishal-Shekhar, Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy will create the music for Gulzar saab’s lyrics. Apart from the stars, there will be about 800 to 1000 perfor mers for the show. Besides Toufiq Qureshi and Sivamani, Ranjit Barot has also created a musical piece for the event, which will have a huge impact for India. It’s very grand and extravagant, getting the right platform on global television.” Vishal Dadlani of VishalShekhar described their song to Javed Akhtar’s lyrics as “a peppy, fast-paced, energetic Punjabi song, with bhangra beats.”

Dadlani added, “Javedsaab has written fantastic lyrics about the greatness of our country and how rich it is in traditions, extremely hospitable where guests are treated with immense respect. Atithi devo bhava.” Though Vishal himself will sing a part, other vocalists are Sukhwinder Singh and Gayatri Iyer Ganjawala. “I think Saif and Rani will be performing to this song during the closing ceremony,” said Dadlani.

Danseuse and actress Isha Sharvani is enthusiastic about her performance. “I’m performing five shows there on the invitation of the Australian government. Apart from that I’ll also be participating during the handover, and I’m very excited about that too.” “It’s a very prestigious event and we are thrilled to be a part of it,” said Viraf Sarkari of Wizcraft. On March 26, the 18th Commonwealth Games flag will be handed over to India at the closing ceremony of the games in Melbourne to keep in safe custody till the Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi.