By Renu Mehta
TORONTO: The crowds swayed to the music, their phones held high as they jostled with each other to record famous singer Kanika Kapoor on the Summer Fest stage, who belted out crowd favourites like chitiya kalaiyan and other popular numbers. But it was when the Baby Doll singer performed the all-time favourite and award winning number that the crowds went berserk.
“I have achieved my dream,” said Kapur who was booked for Toronto by artistebooking.com, a site that boasts the largest selection of artists available for booking from across the globe. “My dream is to make people happy, to sing, to do what I love doing the most and I’m very blessed that I have a career that makes me happy and makes others happy around me.”
Hundreds of people attended the first annual Summer Fest presented by Maple Diversity Communications and Zee TV. Held at the International Centre, the South Asian Summer Fest on July 11 had a day long schedule of programming including a Gujarat segment, a fashion show and Bollywood Zumba.
“Mahotsav, the South Asian Summerfest 2015, brings together the finest in South Asian music, dance, cuisine and exhibition, brought to you by our Title sponsor Zee TV Canada,” said Niraj Sinha, head of Maple Diversity Communications. “Our lineup includes a variety of local Indo Canadian talents such as a fusion of classical Bharatanatyam and Bollywood dance by Afsana Dance Group, Bhangra troupe Gabru Rangeelay and students of Dance Shala Academy of Dance and Music.
Popular singer Shweta Subramaniyam also performed on stage and sang Bollywood favourites like Blue Hai Pani Pani Pani, Jhule Lalan and others. She was honoured as South Asian of the Year 2015 for her contribution to the world of music.
“I would like to thank Zee TV Canada and Maple Diversity Communications for honouring me. I continue to work hard for music and love entertaining every audience that I perform for,” she said.
Suchita Mehra, who immigrated to Canada almost two decades ago, says she has seen a lot of changes in the demographic of the country and the number of events showcased by and for the South Asian community have increased tremendously.
“It was very difficult to find quality South Asian events since we first came to Canada, but now, with so many immigrants, there is something happening almost every day in the Greater Toronto Area,” said Mehra. “I really enjoyed this very much.”
