#BollywoodMonster Mashup Gearing Up for the Biggest Festival Yet!
The largest South Asian festival in Canada offers free concerts and entertainment for all ages
Mississauga, ON: The ninth annual #BollywoodMonster Mashup presented by TD Bank boasts bigger and better programming than ever before for all ages! From July 18th to 20th, the Mississauga audience will witness an entertaining Launch Party & Comedy show as well as free concerts by Bollywood singers, free KidZone, spectacular dance performances, films, an assortment of fantastic cuisines, shopping, and much more.
This year, the festival kicks off on July 18th with the #BollywoodMonster Launch Party & Comedy at C Banquets in the Mississauga Civic Centre, featuring stand-up comedy acts, a silent disco and a chance to meet this year’s Bollywood headliners who will be performing for the first time in Canada – Yasser Desai & Nikhita Gandhi. #BollywoodMonster Concert on Saturday, July 20 will feature Yasser Desai who is the singer of the popular Bollywood song “Pallo Latke,”. He has also won Zee Cine Award 2019 for the Best Playback Singer for the super hit song “Naino Ne Baandhi” from the movie Gold.
#BollywoodMonster Concert on Friday, July 19 will feature Nikhita Gandhi, singer of the superhit song “Qaafirana”. She is also the voice of Deepika Padukone for the title track of the film “Raabta” and won Zee Cine Award 2018 for the Best Female Playback Singer.
Friday’s show will also feature amazing performances by Reign Yash Academy, Parichay, Waris Virse De, Peace & Love and R&B United Band. On Saturday, an incredible lineup of dance and music acts await audiences, including Shiamak Showkids, The Band Destiny, Nick Ft. Vedik Vibez Orchestra, Ankita Music, Desi Muziko Band, and Mehboob Orchestra. Free dance workshops will also be conducted by Shiamak Toronto, artist Ria Aikat & City Centre Dance. The annual #BollywoodMonster Orchestra is also teaming up with Univox Choir this year to perform hit songs from Bajirao Mastani, Agneepath and other films with over 20 voices on stage. Both days will be hosted by the very energetic anchor, Randy Persaud.
In addition to the free concerts, Mississauga Celebration Square will be filled with free activities for the young and old alike starting at 2pm on Saturday, July 20th. This year’s KidZone will get kids moving and grooving; they can play tennis courtesy of Mohawk Tennis or attend a lion dance workshop, which will be run by the Chung Wah Kung Fu International System. Heal with Kare will be doing an aerial yoga demonstration and a mat yoga class on site. Children can also get free kites courtesy of Heritage Mississauga and try their hand at some of the many arts and crafts activities throughout the day run by #MonsterArts for Youth. Holy Cow Studio will offer entertaining cultural activities like live puppetry performances, a fun photo booth, block printing, kite-making, and also an opportunity to play with ancient toys and traditional games, from 2 pm until 6 pm!
The young have plenty to do but the seniors won’t be left behind. For the first time this year, MonstrARTity, in collaboration with Indus Community Services, is excited to bring a dance workshop for seniors at #BollywoodMonster Mashup. As a part of the MAY at Heart initiative, this dance workshop will be led by one of the finest dancers and artists, Ria Aikat on Saturday, July 20th.
“Nine years in, and we keep upping the ante on the free concerts and free families activities for all ages in Mississauga, the GTA, across Ontario, and beyond. From Bollywood stars with their debut Canadian performance, to brilliant dance performances, KidZone crafts and games, food, shopping and more,” says Artistic Director of MonstrARTity, Vikas Kohli. “A monster-sized thanks to our committed sponsors, grantors, media partners, collaborators and talented artists. Their immense support and the love from our audience helped #BollywoodMonster Mashup earn the spot of #1 rated festival at Mississauga Celebration Square AND win Festival of the Year! Come on out and join us as we sing, dance and eat all weekend long!”
Come on out to the MARTY award-winning festival this summer and bring your entire family. There truly will be something for everyone at #BollywoodMonster Mashup. To meet the stars and win free goodies, use code BOLLYWOODMONSTER on www.BollywoodMonsterMashup.
Check out the promo below to see what’s in store at the festival:
Watch BMM Promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
#BollywoodMonster Mashup Calendar:
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2019 #BollywoodMonster Mashup Festival |
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WHAT |
#BollywoodMonster Launch Party & Comedy |
#BollywoodMonster Concert |
#BollywoodMonster Family Day & Concert |
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WHERE |
C Banquets, Mississauga Civic Centre |
Mississauga Celebration Square |
Mississauga Celebration Square |
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WHEN |
Thu July 18, 2019 6 PM |
Fri July 19, 2019 4 PM |
Sat Jul 20, 2019 2 PM |
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WHO |
Headliner – Faisal Butt Jennifer Hsiung Foad HP Keesha Brownie Moe Ismail Neema Nazeri Host – Amish Patel |
Headliner – Nikhita Gandhi Reign Yash Academy Parichay Waris Virse De Peace & Love R&B United Band Host – Randy Persaud |
Headliner – Yasser Desai Shiamak Showkids #BollywoodMonster Orchestra The Band Destiny Shiamak Toronto – Dance workshop Nick Ft. Vedik Vibez Orchestra Ria Aikat – Dance workshops Ankita Music City Centre Dance – Dance workshop Desi Muziko Band Mehboob Orchestra Host – Randy Persaud |
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HOW |
Tickets on BollywoodMonsterMashup.com |
FREE |
FREE |
Friday, July 19 Lineup
Headliner – Nikhita Gandhi
Nikhita Gandhi is an Indian playback singer who has worked in both the Bollywood industry and other film industries in India. As a half-Punjabi and half-Bengali artist, she has performed in Hindi, Telugu, Bengali, and Tamil.
Nikhita’s Bollywood breakthrough came when she sang the hit song “Ladio”, composed by A.R. Rahman for the film “I”. Since then, she has been singing chartbusters non-stop in the Bollywood industry. She recently paired up with Arijit Singh for the super hit song “Qaafirana” from Kedarnath, winning the Sony MIX Audience Award in 2019 and earning critical acclaim for the song. Nikhita was the voice of Deepika Padukone in the title song for the film “Raabta” for which she also won Zee Cine Awards 2018 for Best Playback Singer – Female.
Nikhita Gandhi is excited to take the stage for the first time in Canada at #BollywoodMonster Mashup in 2019.
Reign Yash Academy
Founder of Reign Yash Dance Academy, Yashwanth Koppala is a Toronto-based dancer and choreographer with 14 years of professional dance experience. Yashwanth hails from India and has taken part in several dance reality shows including Dhee1,2,3, Gharashana and Super Dancers, and even received accolades from celebrities and dance masters. After moving to Canada, he successfully managed to establish himself as a dancer and choreographer, and launch his own dance academy within a short time. In the past four years, Yashwanth has performed in various events across Ontario.
Parichay
Parichay is an Indo-Canadian Bollywood Music Composer, Producer & Singer/Songwriter. With 3 studio albums under his belt, his biggest break came in 2016 when he became the first ever non-resident Indian to do 4 out of 5 songs in a mainstream Bollywood film for production powerhouse, Tips, including the mega-hit Bollywood track ‘Peene Ki Tamanna’.
In addition to collaborating with some of the biggest artists in the Bollywood music industry, he has also worked with Bollywood A-list actors such as Nargis Fakhri & Sonakshi Sinha as well as international artists such as Sean Kingston, Canadian Rap legend, Kardinal Offishall, and multi-platinum, Grammy-winning producer, Boi-1Da.
Parichay has over 100 Million views on his music on YouTube and has toured the world performing at over 500 events. He is currently working on his 4th studio album titled “Moodz” that is said to have a never-heard-before hybrid sound called “Bolly-Trap”.
Waris Virse De
Waris Virse De is a vibrant group of Bhangra dancers, based out of Brampton. They consist of various teams ranging from kids to adults performing on Punjabi folk music. They are not only excellent performers themselves but they can also teach Bhangra, musical instruments, and how to tie a turban!
Saturday, July 20 Lineup
Headliner – Yasser Desai
Yasser Desai is a Bollywood singer from Mumbai, India with a charming personality and soulful voice. Over his illustrious career, he has sung more than 200 songs for various Bollywood movies, and he is the only singer to have 3 songs in the Mirchi Top 20 list. His song, “Itna Tumhe Chahna Hai,” from Machine was his first smash hit, followed up by many more, including “Pallo Latke” from the film Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana. Yasser has also won Zee Cine Awards 2019 for Best Playback Singer – Male for his song “Naino Ne Baandhi” from the movie Gold.
His performance at #BollywoodMonster Mashup 2019 will be his Canadian Debut.
#BollywoodMonster Orchestra
The #BollywoodMonster Orchestra is a high-powered combination of traditional Bollywood melodies and Western rock instruments. BMO is as old as #BollywoodMonster Mashup itself, and over the years, it has featured a variety of instruments from numerous cultural backgrounds; from Indian Dhol, to Chinese Zither, to Cuban Congas. #BollywoodMonster Orchestra has brought musicians of all sorts together to perform epic, custom-made arrangements of hit Bollywood songs. This year, #BollywoodMonster Orchestra is teaming up with Univox Choir to perform hit songs from Bajirao Mastani, Agneepath and more with over 20 voices on stage.
The Band Destiny
Talented, energetic, passionate and diverse are just some of the many words that describe The Band Destiny (TBD). TBD is a Toronto-based West Indian Crossover band that was formed in 2007. They are the three-time winners of the CMEA award for Top Soca Band in Canada. Currently, the members include; Stephen Nanan (Founder/Keyboardist), Curtis B (Vocalist), Kiran Dindial (Drummer), Kamela Singh (Keyboardist/Vocalist), Vijai Ramdath (Engineer), Celine Nanan (Rhythm & Machines), Darren Armoogam (Guitarist/Vocalist) and Logun (Vocalist). Together they make up The Band Destiny, creating a fusion of music that incorporates Soca, Reggae, R&B, Chutney, Hindi Remixes.
Nick Ft. Vedik Vibez Orchestra
Nick started learning music at the age of 12. He has performed all across North America and parts of Europe and South America. He has also performed alongside various Bollywood playback singers such as Chinmayi (film Guru), Shankar Mahadevan, Rajdeep Chatterjee. Nick has also received an award in vocal excellence by Shree Pandit Jasraj.
Ria Aikat
Ria is a professional dancer and teacher working in the arts for over 10 years and has trained in Bharatanatyam, Bollywood, Ballet, Hip Hop and House. Ria is a part-time faculty member at Centennial College where she teaches Indian dance, as well as a lead educator for Moving EDGEucation. Ria’s passion for urban and Indian dance has inspired her to choreograph and perform Bollywood fusion pieces across the province. This year at #BollywoodMonster Mashup, Ria will be leading dance workshops for the entire audience. So get up and move with Ria!
Ankita Music
Ankita is a Toronto-based singer and performer with a wide portfolio in live concerts. Her genre ranges from pop-rock to Bollywood and is focusing on stepping into the mainstream South-Asian music scene with her line-up or original productions, soon to be released this year.
City Centre Dance
City Centre Dance is Mississauga’s Hottest Drop-In Dance Studio. Located in central Mississauga offering dance classes in styles such as Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Jazz-Funk, Bollywood, Reggaeton, Dancehall, and more from Beginner to Advanced Levels. Get ready to shake a leg with them at #BollywoodMonster Mashup this year.
Desi Muziko Band
DESI MUZIKO, a Toronto based leading Indo-Canadian doing Bollywood/Indian music all over North America. Band members have performed in many countries like South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India and currently working on a series of shows across California in coming fall.
Host – Randy Persaud
Randy Persaud is a prolific character in the Peel Region who champions many events throughout his community. Charged as the cities’ Hypemachine, Randy is one of the most sought after hosts, announcers and community producers in the city. A charismatic Rogers Television personality for over 7 years, Randy has hosted a variety of programs from Talk Local, Local Notes, Carassauga Pre-Show, The MARTY Awards Kickoff show and Cable 10 Live.
Randy has hosted crowds of over 80,000 for many events from the #BollywoodMonster Mashup, Youth Day, MAC Arts Festival, Mississauga Waterfront Festival, The Pan Am Games and Carassauga. In 2016, Randy won the Creative Community award by the Mississauga Arts Council at the MARTY Awards for his work in the community.
About MonstrARTity
Born in 2011, MonstrARTity is a not-for-profit organization, based in Mississauga and committed to providing arts for the young and old alike. Ever expanding our productions, MonstrARTity is the producer of #BollywoodMonster Mashup, which is the largest South Asian festival in Canada, chosen as the #1 festival at Celebration Square by City of Mississauga, and MARTY award-winner for the Festival of the Year. MonstrARTity’s projects have grown to include the #MonsterArts for Youth program, which brings professional artists into classrooms to teach kids free South Asian art workshops.
About Vikas Kohli
Award-winning film composer and music producer, Vikas Kohli is the Artistic Director of Monster Creative Collective and is known for his expertise fusing together genres as varied as punk, classical and Bollywood pop. He has received the Trailblazer Award from the ReelWorld Film Festival, Voice Achievers Award and a MARTY award. Kohli sits on the board for the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund and the Mayor’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee for the City of Mississauga. He has juried for the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (Genies & Geminis), Ontario Arts Council and FACTOR. He has been profiled on ET Canada, CBC The National, The Globe & Mail, The Hindustan Times and Zee News. Born in Ottawa, Kohli attended fine arts school, received an Honours Degree in Mathematics & Philosophy from the University of Toronto, his MBA from the Schulich School of Business and his CFA.
