Skip to main content

Bollywood's hottest stars to fire up Rosemont stage


The King is coming to Rosemont this August.

No, not the ghosts of Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson.

It's actually the "King of Bollywood" as veteran film actor Shah Rukh Khan is known to adoring fans.

Khan is among the hottest stars from the Mumbai-based Indian film industry that gave birth to the moniker "Bollywood" who will grace the Rosemont Convention Center stage on Aug. 15 and 16.

The show, dubbed South Asian Carnival, is packed with celebrity actors and singers from the India/Pakistan region who will perform musical numbers from popular films and albums.

Yet, it's not your typical concert as audiences will be able to mingle with the stars, shop for ethnic jewelry, clothes and food, attend a bridal fashion show and watch cooking demonstrations.

"We needed at least 200,000 square feet of capacity and an open banquet area for the booths, multiple stages and cafeteria," said Monty Syed of Live Bollywood Shows, the Rosemont carnival's promoter and organizer.

The inspiration for the event was borrowed from the Indian satellite network Zee TV's Carnival, held annually in London and last year in New Jersey, Syed said.

"We made it bigger," Syed said referring to the star-studded lineup for the Rosemont carnival.

On Saturday, Aug. 15, the iconic Khan, divas Diya Mirza and Bipasha Basu, and villain/comedian Gulshan Grover - household names for Bollywood fans - will greet audiences throughout the day from noon to 8 p.m. On Sunday, Aug. 16, the celebrities du jour are heartthrob Saif Ali Khan, and bombshells Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif.

Syed organized last August's Unforgettable Tour at the Hoffman Estates' Sears Centre, which included Bollywood headliners such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, better known by Western audiences as a former Ms. World and L'Oreal spokesmodel and for her roles in "Bride & Prejudice" and "The Pink Panther 2."

"We had almost 12,000 people in one day," said Syed, a 33-year-old Gujrat, India-born entrepreneur who has organized such shows for the past 12 years.

Syed expects the Rosemont carnival will draw 35,000 to 40,000 people over the two days.

"The biggest thing is the meet and greet (with actors)," Syed said. "Our community, they are crazy about the actors and actresses."

While audiences get pictures and autographs from their favorite actors, there will be nonstop musical entertainment and performances on another stage for eight hours on both days.

"If you want to see all the actors and actresses and listen to all the singers then you basically go for both of the days," Syed said. "We have a lot of surprises in this carnival also. It's up to the celebrities what they do on stage."

Tickets are $25 in advance, and $35 at the door and can be purchased online at southasiancarnival.com or livebollywoodshows.com, or from area Indian/Pakistani stores sponsoring the event.

Source: dailyherald

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Being SRK: The ultimate reality TV show

It's a job most Indians would die for — shadowing Shah Rukh Khan wherever he goes. For the last two months, that's exactly what a TV crew has been doing, following the country's biggest star from South Africa to America to London to Mumbai — all for the making of a unique six-part series on the actor, to be telecast on lifestyle channel Discovery Travel & Living. "It's an inner world-outer world kind of documentary," said Khan, speaking exclusively to HT. "Hopefully, the parts that people will get to see of me — at work and at other places — will shed some light on how films and film stars work and offer an insight into how I do things." Khan said he has got to know the crew quite well ("They have been very unobtrusive"). For Discovery Travel & Living, this series will be one of the biggest global productions to come out of India and will be shown all over the world. "We haven't yet decided when we're going to telec

'Every Damn Time,' Tweets Shah Rukh Khan, Detained At US Airport

Movie star Shah Rukh Khan, detained at an airport in the US for questioning again, tweeted on Thursday: "Every damn time!" The 50-year-old actor was detained at the Los Angeles airport this time. A man with the same name is on a US no-fly list of 80,000 people. He took to Twitter to voice his exasperation. I fully understand & respect security with the way the world is, but to be detained at US immigration every damn time really really sucks. @iamsrk  The brighter side is while waiting caught some really nice Pokemons. @iamsrk  Mr Khan, one of the most successful stars in the Hindi film industry, has been held back at US airports thrice in seven years. American officials tell NDTV that during immigration checks, what pops up is a name without any other detail to help draw a distinction. In April 2012, Mr Khan was held back for over two hours at the airport in New York on a visit to address students at Yale University. He had joked later at Yale: "Whenever I start fee