Bollywood Monster Mashup is considered the largest South Asian festival in Canada and I had the opportunity to check it out for a second time in a row.

Checking out the festival!

The festival is in its sixth year and takes places over two days where THOUSANDS of people come out to enjoy the festivities. This year the festival was on July 22 and 23 at Celebration Square in Mississauga and as usual, organizers planned two jam-packed days.

The square was JAM PACKED!

 On Friday night we were treated to the first Canadian performance by Sanchari Bose (winner of SA RA GE MA PA and Voice of India) and Bishakh Jyoti who was returning to perform for his Canadian fans. Originally scheduled to perform separately, Bishakh and Sanchari surprised the audience when they decided to perform together on the spur of the moment.This unplanned performance became one of the highlights of the festival and the audience couldn’t help but dance and sing along.

Bishakh Jyoti

Sanchari Bose

The signature act of Bollywood Monster Mashup, Bollywood Monster Orchestra: Symphony Nights, wowed the crowd with a combination of classical symphony musicians performing hit Bollywood tunes. In an exclusive performance of original musical arrangements, this fusion experience was created specifically for the festival.

Culture Shock Toronto dazzled the audience with a stunning cultural fusion dance act. Their unique and energetic performance combined classical and modern Indian dances with their urban counterparts. Bharatanatyam was paired with the feminine style of waacking, bhangra with the energetic footwork of House, and Bollywood with some funky hip hop.

Culture Shock Toronto

Saturday was a full day with tons of performances by local artists. Bollywood Monster Mashup featured breathtaking performances by singers and musicians such as Mehboob Orchestra, Pratik Peters, DESTINY, Mohua & Dhiraj, Pushpinder’s Bollywood Heat Group, the Mississauga Pops, Wildfire Steel Pan, and Toronto All Stars Tassa Group. There were also spectacular performances by dance troupes such as What’s On? Tap! and TriCube Dance.

Pratik Peters

Me with TriCube Dance!

Saturday night featured the first Canadian performance by Aishwarya Nigam—he is the voice OF Salman Khan in the hit song “Munni Badnam Hui” from the movie ‘Dabangg’.

Aishwarya Nigam giving us a sneak peek to his performance

Let me tell you, Aishwarya’s voice is incredible in person. I had him serenade me during my two interviews with him and he sounds amazing without any background music. You know someone has talent when they can make a song come alive just on their own without any other distractions. When Aishwarya eventually took to the stage, he had the audience dancing along to his biggest Bollywood hits and he even took the time to meet and greet his fans! I hope you caught my live TV interview with him as we chatted a lot about what he thinks of Canada and what he likes to do when visiting a  country for the first time. Aishwarya told me he is a BIG shopper and had already hit up Square One Mall which was right across from the festival grounds to shop for his favorite designer brands. Did you watch the part where he revealed he is addicted to buying perfumes and colognes for him and his loved ones? He already picked up a bunch of fragrances for his family and you all know that after he told me how much he loves to smell good…I had to test it out for myself! Haha, that was a funny moment on air where poor Aishwarya was melting under all our humidity but I can confirm he smells wonderful ;). Whatever cologne he was wearing was amazing!

Me and Aishwarya just before we ran for sun shade. It was SOOOO HOT!!

The festival did a lot of new things this year including including a “Selfie Stage” where the audience had the opportunity to take photos with Miss India Canada, Manasvi Noel and there was the Crown Royal lounge where I couldn’t help but take a little break on these cool throne chairs under the shade…it was a HOT weekend!

Taking a break from the heat in the Crown Royal lounge

Aishwarya on stage

Overall the event was another slam dunk success with Celebration Square completely full and and everyone I spoke with was blown away from the high quality performances. “The turnout this year was incredible,” says Bollywood Monster Mashup Executive Director Vikas Kohli. “When a high-caliber international star like Aishwarya Nigam spontaneously invites our local artists to perform with him onstage, it reaffirms the world-class talent we present year after year to our massive audience.”

We had a blast listening to those old time Bollywood tracks!

Congratulations to Vikas and the entire crew for running another successful show. I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with for next year’s festival!

Did you get a chance to check out this year’s Bollywood Monster Mashup? If you did, let me know what your favorite part was!

*************
WHERE ELSE TO FIND ME!
FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/miss.amindhillon
INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/amindhillon
YouTube: www.youtube.com/theGlamourG
TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/amindhillon