Bollywood live is back

Pawandeep Rajan

Pawandeep Rajan

Published Aug 5, 2022

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Mohammed Danish

AFTER a three-year absence, South Africans can enjoy a live Bollywood event when Sony TV’s Indian Idol winner and finalists perform in two cities this month.

Pawandeep Rajan, the season 12 (2021) winner, and finalists, Arunita Kanjilal and Mohammed Danish, have since won the hearts of fans around the world.

They have performed in back-to-back sold-out concerts and will perform in a musical extravaganza on August 20 at The Globe at Suncoast Casino (Durban) and on August 21 at the Centre Court at Emperors Palace (Johannesburg).

The Dynamic-3 - as they are being referred to - will tour South Africa courtesy of Blu Blood and Showtime Promotions.

The trio, accompanied by a live band from Mumbai, will serenade the audience with Bollywood songs, including renditions of Deva Shree Ganesha and Kehna Hi Kya to modern pop beats like Teri Mitti.

Osman Osman, the spokesperson for Blu Blood, said the last big Bollywood event in South Africa was on the first weekend of December 2019.

“It was a three-city tour of Zack Knight in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, and we saw a large youth following come out to this event,” said Osman.

He said after a 30-month hiatus, the entertainment industry was finally opened and they wanted to make the most of the opportunity.

“We are hoping that it continues as we are seeing a surge of people wanting to go out for the real form of entertainment. Blu Blood has a lot more planned. We have Dynamic-3 in August and we are planning announcements of other big names for the 2022/2023 season.”

Osman said Durban audiences had always shown support for the industry.

“In the past years (pre-Covid), we saw a huge support from Durban and we are hoping this will now continue. It’s important for people to support shows because we as a company invest a great deal in terms of bringing these artists out and there are fewer flights coming into the country, which means costs have gone up substantially. But we do this for the love of people. We love bringing entertainment to audiences and with their support, it allows us to bring bigger and better names into the SA market, especially to Durban and Johannesburg.

“One of the key factors for keeping our ticket prices low is that we have taken note of the current economic challenges facing South Africans. This includes petrol price increases and load shedding, where people are gearing to go off the grid and creating secondary power. This all costs money.

“We believe we are in the business of happiness. Once you walk into a venue, whatever issues you are facing, whatever difficulties, you check those out at the door and for those two to three hours you forget about those issues.

“We have come through some serious times during the pandemic and we hope to see the audiences come and see their favourite acts. It’s exciting times. We want people to enjoy themselves.”

Rajan said: “Indian Idol is an incredible platform to launch an artist’s career and the exposure we have received has been unmatched. It has been an amazing journey so far and we have heard how incredible the South African audiences are. We are excited to visit this beautiful country.”

* Tickets for Dynamic-3 are available from R300 at Ticketpro outlets and online.

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