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IALA CELEBRATE INDIA’S 65TH INDEPENDENCE DAY

 

Bappi Lahiri joins NRIs for Independence Day celebration in LA

 

IALA CELEBRATE INDIA’S 65TH INDEPENDENCE DAY

Van Nuys, CA, August 18, 2012
Kewal Kanda/ Gary Singh/ Dave/ Kare
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India Association of Los Angeles (IALA) on August 18, 2012 celebrated India’s 65th Independence Day with pomp and show at Birmingham Charter High School ground in Van Nuys, CA. Besides the main stage, the ground was decorated with over 60 booths that were showcasing variety of Indian food, jewelry, clothes, and many other services. As the hot sun of August summer started setting, the enthusiastic public started trickling in to join the Independence Day fervor. By the time the stars started to twinkle in the sky there were thousands of Indo-Americans surrounding the stage ready to rock and roll with the entertainers for the night.

The program started with a march with drum beats by the school children. The stage activities began with the rendition of American Anthem followed by the Indian Anthem. Gursharanpal Nat, President IALA opened the program by welcoming the public. Two Congressmen of the area Howard Berman and Brad Sherman congratulated the Indo-American Community on India’s Independence Day and presented themselves as friends of Indian community. Both democratic congressmen are vying for the same congressional district and it was obvious from their speeches they were soliciting Indo-American community vote. President Gursharanpal Nat and Chairman Bobby Kumar congratulated and thanked the audience for participating in the Independence Day celebrations and introduced the team of their vice presidents and directors.

The main attraction for the evening was Bollywood Music Icon Bappi Lahiri. He was accompanied on the stage by his orchestra team and Sa Re Ga Ma contest participants Dipinwita Choudhury and Mampee Nair along with two local singing sensation sisters Payal & Shruti Chakroborty. Dipinwita and Mampee captivated the audience with their beautiful rendition of Bollywood songs. Bappi Lahiri entertained the audience with many of his own compositions from Bollywood hit movies including the most popular OOLALA from film Dirty Picture. The local children also performed on various Bollywood numbers.

On Behalf of NRIpress.com, in his short interview with me, Bappi Lahiri expressed his exhilaration for being part of India’s Independence Day festivities. He loves to visit LA area, he said. He said he always feels proud when he sees Indo-Americans keeping their traditions alive and feels good when he hears the names of Indo-American associations or federations that are engaged in arranging such functions.

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ABOUT BAPPI LAHIRI:

  • Bappi Lahiri was born in Calcutta and his father Aparesh Lahiri, was a famous Bengali singer and his mother, Bansari Lahiri, was also musician and a singer-- well-versed in classical music and Shyama Sangeet
  • Like his maternal relatives Kishore Kumar and the S. Mukherjee, he like to become internationally famous and started tabla at the age of three. He moved to Bombay at the age of 19.
  • He is called 'Disco King' around India.
  • 1973: His first film for which he composed music was Nanha Shikari
  • 1975: Tahir Husain's Hindi film, Zakhmee---became popular
  • 1976: Chalte Chalte, became hits
  • He sang a duet with Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar called "Nothing Is Impossible"
  • Ravikant Nagaich's Surakksha his singing and music became even more popular.
  • In the Prakash Mehra produced Dalal starring Mithun Chakraborty-- The song "Gutur Gutur" from the film was a big hit
  • He is very fond of jewelry and is usually seen wearing gold ornaments and dark glasses
  • He is married to Chitrani and they have two children- daughter Rema and son Bappa
  • In 2011, he sung the song Ooo la la Ooo la lain the movie The Dirty Picture for Vishal-Shekhar, which cherishes his Disco image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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