THE INDIAN Commemoration Trust (ICT) will be hosting ‘Mystic Bollywood’, a show in celebration of the Indian Spring festival, Phagwah, that will feature playback singer out of India, Samir Date, and winner of SAREGAMA 1999, Dipalee Somaiya, both due to arrive Tuesday.
The first show is billed for Friday at the Princess Hotel, at Providence, East Bank Demerara, and the second the following day (Saturday) at the Port Mourant Centre Ground on the Corentyne.
The proceeds of the event, ICT says, will go towards the further enhancement of the Indian Monument Site at the corner of Church and Camp Streets.
Date is a well-known name in the music industry, and has been the playback singer for numerous Hindi films like ‘Parampara’, ‘Jazbaat’, and ‘Fauj’, as well as various Marathi and other regional films.
An avid stage performer, he has performed at innumerable live shows in both India and abroad, such as the latest Bollywood concerts, the Retro 70s concerts, the Sufi Concerts, Ghazal and Old Film songs, private mehfils, Marathi Bhavgeet programmes and Bhajan Sandhyas to discerning audiences.
Date is from a family of gifted musicians (Arun and Ravi Date), and has learnt classical music under Shri Suresh Wadkar.
He has worked with the likes of Yash Chopra, Asha Bhosle, Shiv-Hari, Raam Laxman, Sooraj Barjatya, Bappi Lahiri, Suresh Wadkar, Anuradha Paudwal, Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurty, Ekta Kapoor etc.
Apart from being a versatile singer, Date has hosted 70 episodes of Balaji telefilm’s music show, ‘Dhun Dhamaka’.
The Indian Monument Site, ICT says, is a very historic monument that commemorates the first indentured Indians who arrived in then British Guiana on May 5, 1838.
Today, the Monument Garden is maintained mainly through voluntary help from the business community.
“At the present time, there is a lot of work to be done to enhance the beauty of the Monument Site so that it can provide an oasis of peace and place of meditation and relaxation, improving the quality of life for all the people of Guyana,” ICT president, Yesu Persaud says in a press statement.
The members of the Trust, he said, have already worked out a detailed plan of the work to be done, which includes the fabrication of a new stage, a research centre, and library replicas of the past.
The shows, he explained, will not only help raise funds to achieve this goal, but also enhance the upcoming Phagwah celebrations.