Mumbai’s prestigious Shanmukhananda Hall, a landmark in midtown King’s Circle, was turned into a mini Punjab on April 12th as the Punjabi Cultural Heritage Board with ZETC Punjabi as the Official Telecast partner celebrated the annual “Baisakhi Di Raat” on the eve of the Punjabi New Year which marks their harvest festival.
The jam-packed audience saw a mix of Punjabi and Sikh families, including kids, mix and blend with the media and dignitaries. Organized by the dynamic Charan Singh Sapra, a Mumbai MLA, it had Narayan Rane, minister of industry, Maharashtra, as a distinguished guest along with Eknath and Varsha Gaikwad, also politicians. Rane revealed that he had been raised in the suburb of Chembur among Punjabis.
The show had performances by pop singer Jazzy B and also Sudesh Lehri in a standup comedy act that had the audiences rolling in their mirth, especially at his imitation of multiple singers from Jagjit Singh to Mika. It was ably emceed by Satinder Satti with her witty repartees and ‘sher-o-shaayari’ in Hindi, Urdu and of course Punjabi. Sufi singer Rabbi Shergill was also honored and presented a performance.
Among others honored were Suneet Singh Tulli, CEO, Datawind, USA, as Global Punjabi (Male) and Ruby Dhalla, Ex-MP, Canada, as Global Punjabi (Female), Darshan Singh Bagga, a leading philanthropist in New York (who did not make it) and Ravi Chopra, the chairman and managing director of Piaggio Ltd.
Maheka Mirpuri won the Woman Achiever award for her designing in films, and Raj Babbar and Neha Dhupia (films), and Harjinder Singh Lal (journalism) won honors too.
A truly charming winner was Mahashay Dharampal, 90 years plus, the chairman of MDH, the spice manufacturer. The gentleman danced sportingly to the bhangra despite his age and stated that life was for living! He is a well-known figure in the ad films of MDH or Mahashian Di Hatti, his company! Gagan Narang, Olympic icon, was another winner.
Present on the occasion as special guests were filmmakers Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Farhan Akhtar, who honored the Flying Sikh Milkha Singh, while Rane and Sapra together presented the honor to Dharmendra. Mehra is releasing his biographical film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag with Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh. Dharmendra lauded them and said such relatively unknown heroes should be immortalized by such films.
Dharmendra, looking handsome in a dark suit, almost blushed when the emcee said her own female elders were his huge fans! The actor thanked everyone for the love they bestowed on him over the decades and stated that while Punjab was his homeland, the state of Maharashtra had given him much more than he had dreamt of as a struggler.
So watch it all come alive on your TV Screen this Sunday, 21st April 2013 from 7 P.M onwards exclusively on ZETC Punjabi as we celebrate Baisakhi in the most Punjabi way possible.