India in Melbourne
ALL IN THE GAMES
| Along with government officials "" who are not glamorous enough by themselves, naturally "" a sizeable contingent of Indian actors, musicians and sports stars will make India look fetching for the Commonwealth Games 2010, scheduled to take place in New Delhi. |
| That explains why Viraf Sarkari, director, has been busy making trips at jet-set speed to Melbourne, coordinating, dealing with officials, giving last-minute instructions, fine-tuning song-and-dance acts, understanding the sound/light arrangements and basically ensuring a flawless performance. |
| "The mood," he thunders excitedly from Melbourne, "is amazing. Everyone here is just so excited." He adds predictably, "The aim is to showcase Indian culture to Melbourne and give them a trailer on what they should expect from us in 2010." |
| Parts of the trailer "" they've called it "Delhi 2010 Gala Nite" "" will be over by the time you read this; former Indian actor Meenakshi Sheshadri will have already given her bharatnatyam performance, models like Sheetal Malhar will have already sported fashion designer Ritu Beri's outfits in a fashion show titled "Fabrics of India", and leading actors from the Indian film industry including Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Saif Ali Khan, Diya Mirza, and yes, Aishwarya Rai, will have already interacted with officials and important dignitaries at a special Indian suite at The Crowne Towers hotel. |
| What's not over yet, though, is the main event, which will be telecast live on DD-National on Sunday. Sarkari promises that "Everyone in Melbourne will say 'wow' when they see our entertainment package." Special songs have been composed by leading names in the Indian music industry. |
| Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have composed a special track called "Challein Dilli", which has been written by well-known lyricist Gulzar. The song has been sung by playback singers Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghosal and Sunidhi Chauhan. |
| "It is a feel-good song, we composed it in the midst of a hectic, chaotic schedule while composing tracks for Shaad Ali's next film," lets in music director Ehsaan Noorani. Another song has been composed by music directors Vishal-Shekhar. |
| A Punjabi track, this song is called "Dilli Dhamal" with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. |
| "The Indian showcase has been trimmed and packaged as a 15-minute event," elaborates Sarkari. Here's how it will be put together for the 85,000-strong audience that will watch the event live. The event will start with a short film on India, leading to the first segment where actor Isha Sharwani "" daughter of Daksha Sheth "" will give a performance incorporating complicated yoga postures. |
| This will be followed by a fusion dance by Aishwarya Rai. A musical segment called "Rhythms of India" will be presented by musician Taufiq Qureshi and percussionist Sivamani. |
| Finally, a huge three-tier traditional chariot, dusted to perfection with gold polish with Indian motifs will then be brought onto centrestage with the Commonwealth Games 2010 official mascot Shera, led by former beauty queens Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra. Helping them will be former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, along with 400 dancers trained by choreographer Shiamak Davar. |
| "We auditioned Indians living in Melbourne, and they were trained for nearly a month by Shiamak," says Sarkari. The music tracks have been specially composed for the event and no, you won't hear any Bollywood hits. |
| India will dazzle in Melbourne at the Commonwealth Games' closing ceremony. Will you be in front of your television set to witness the glittering spectacle? |