WITNESS THE TALE OF A COURTESAN, UMRAO JAAN ADA, LIVE ON STAGE 

Rekha’s charm and Aishwarya’s ada are the first things which comes to our mind when we talk about ‘Umrao Jaan’, but it is two centuries ago when an ace novelist Mirza Hadi Ruswa wrote this classic novel “Umrao Jaan Ada”.

 Adapted from the classic novel Gravity Zero Entertainment brings the life of Umrao Jaan on stage with live singing and music. The musical ‘Umrao Jaan Ada’ is directed by Rajeev Goswami who has directed one of the longest-running musical theatre ‘Beyond Bollywood’. The live music is composed by popular Bollywood composer duo Salim-Sulaiman and lyrics are penned by Irfan Siddiqui. The story of the musical Umrao Jaan Ada is recreated by writer Varun Gautam and choreographed by Pooja Pant.

 Umrao Jaan Ada – The musical will be performed in Delhi from August 3rd to 11th. For this magnificent musical, Gravity Zero Entertainment has collaborated with Insider ( https://insider.in/umrao-jaan-ada-the-musical-2019/event) and paytm (https://paytm.com/events/delhi/theatre/umrao-jaan-ada-the-musical-2019/189336), to make this dream-like experience come true as the ticket booking is just a click away.

 Sharing the making experience, director Rajeev Goswami says, “As a director I couldn’t have asked for more! It wasn’t easy bringing back a story of the 19th century and making it look convincing to the audiences who today have the world at the tip of their fingers. Moreover, we adapted the book. So breaking it down to scenes topped with managing not just acting but live singing and live music. I loved every bit of this challenge.”

 “It’s a dream to recreate this epic musical! There is a lot of effort that has gone into the little nuances to take our audiences back to the early 19th century. It’s been a sheer joy to bring the sound of ghazal & thumri live on stage,” says composer Salim Merchant.

 “It is for the first time in India that a musical theatre performance with live music and singing is happening which will take Indian theatre production to international standards,” adds Sulaiman Merchant

 “We’re excited to partner on the retelling of this legendary story on stage, especially with the vision of its powerhouse creative team led by Rajeev and Salim-Sulaiman behind it. Musicals in India have a lot of potential and we at Paytm Insider are keen to partner and take musicals to the top cities in India” says Shreyas Srinivasan, Founder & CEO at Insider.in

Three winning designers will showcase their collections at Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019

Smartwater, the leading premium water brand by Coca-Cola and Lakmé Fashion Week, India’s most premier fashion event announced winners for the second edition of ‘The Platform’, a program to identify and mentor upcoming designers. Bloni by Akshat Bansal, SWGT by Shweta Gupta and Salita Nanda emerged as winners after the competitive rounds. The winners will get an opportunity to showcase their creative designs at the Lakmé Fashion Week Winter Festive 2019.

‘The Platform’ by SmartWater is targeted towards inspiring young and innovative designers of India to think out of the box and showcase their creativity at Lakmé Fashion Week. ‘The Platform’ aims to unearth talent and is inspired by the origin story of SmartWater, developed on the tenets of innovation, risk-taking and forward thinking. The theme for the season, #MadeDifferently, invited participating designers to demonstrate cutting edge technology, innovation in fabrics/materials or surface application.

An eminent jury comprising Anoop Manohar, Director – Emerging Categories, Coca-Cola India, Jaspreet Chandok – Vice President and Head of Fashion, IMG Reliance, Nonita Kalra – Editor of Harper’s Bazaar, Amit Aggarwal – Designer and Azmina Rahimtoola – co-owner at Atosa  handpicked the winners at a jury meeting held on 5^th July 2019 at Olive Bar and Kitchen, Khar.

On the announcement of the winners, Anoop Manohar, Director- Emerging Categories, Coca-Cola India said, “The Platform’ was introduced by smart water last year with one simple idea of recognizing the creativity and skill of the enormously talented designers across India. We are extremely proud to have successfully enabled some of the meritorious new generation designers to set high benchmarks across the fashion fraternity through ‘The Platform’. We feel honored to be surrounded by such talent, who portrayed the theme ‘Made Differently’ magnificently in their designs with a touch of innovation. Looking at the entries that reflected the increased enthusiasm for ‘The Platform’ among young designers, we feel all the more encouraged to come up with creative themes, more challenging and more exciting for the next edition”, he added.

Jaspreet Chandok, Vice President and Head of Fashion – IMG Reliance, said, “After the successful launch of ‘The Platform’ in Lakmé Fashion Week Winter Festive 2018, we are happy to associate with SmartWater once again to reinforce our commitment to creating multiple opportunities for identifying and nurturing fresh talent. Happy to add that we have received more than double the number of entries as compared to the first season which further exemplifies how the property is growing a step upwards every season”.

Siddharth Kasyap of SK Music Works knows how to hit the right note. Known for churning out several hits in the past he brings his 24th original song “Ishq Ki Mitti” .Launch of “Ishq Ki Mitti” saw the presence of Nakul Mehta, Jankee Parekh, Eijaz Khan, Shibani Kashyap, Sara Khan, Zulfi Sayyed, Aarti Nagpal, Rakesh Paul, Rehan Shah, Sandhya Shetty, Dj Sheizwood, Kanwalpreet Singh, Shanthipriya, Prashant Virender Sharma, Madhushree, Madhuri Pandey, Sheela Tiruchi, Sandhya Shetty, Nivedita Basu, Rajesh Khera, Hansa Singh, Shakuir shaikh, Asif Merchant, Alex O Neil etc.

 “Ishq Ki Mitti” a sufiyana contemporary love story of undying love will warm the cockles of your heart. In today’s fast paced world when music is created in rush, “Ishq Ki Mitti” bears testament to the fact that good songs will find their way into the hearts of the audience.

This heart melting song is touted to be the ‘love anthem of the year’. Serene, sublime & majestic is synonym to “Ishq Ki Mitti”. It is not just a romantic song, it’s an experience which can be seen & cherished by most.
Melodious, heavenly & powerful – these are the words that perfectly sum up this Sufi love ballad, “Ishq Ki Mitti”.
Elaborating about the song, he says “The song will help you explore this enchanting world of thoughts & emotions. The song is high on its musical richness, its subtlety & its uncanny  ability to reach deep within the heart”
Conceived & composed by Siddharth Kasyap, this song has vocals of Raja Hassan who is also a renowned Bollywood singer, and lyrics has been penned down by Ibrahim Ashq who also has several Bollywood songs to his kitty. The majestic high that the song takes one to, is enhanced by a gifted & senior sitar player Ravi Chari.
The song features popular faces of Vikas Verma, Naman Shaw, and Apeksha Porwal. Vikas Verma was seen in several movies, Naman Shaw is a popular TV soap artist and Apeksha Porwal has been one of the top contestants of Miss India pageant. This video has been directed by Aziz Zee who has directed the recent horror flick 1978 Night Out and has copious music videos to his credentials as a director.

NEPAL IS ONE AMONG SEVERAL DESTINATIONS IN THE FRAY TO HOSTIIFA 2019

 This public statement and the press release are being issued in the interest of IIFA fans, stakeholders and bidding countries.

Recognized as a major international event and one that brings people together, IIFA- the International Indian Film Academy Awards, Indian cinema’s biggest and grandest annual global celebration is in an advanced mode finalizing the destination of the next IIFA, which has had fans guessing about the destination and country.

IIFA provides host destinations several benefits which range from a $200m media campaign that raises the profile of the host destination; tourism boost that varies from 35-50% increase; improvement of tourism yield through introduction to higher value tourists; business investment in the host destination; training and education of young students in event management; influx of film and television productions; improved distribution for host nation’s films in India as well as joint productions being initiated between Indian filmmakers and producer/directors from the host destination; at least 35% increase in visitors and spending in the host nation’s economy. This is in addition to $35m in immediate spend in the economy through event spending and IIFA visitors through tourism, retail, travel, etc. triggered in the host nation’s economy.

Looking at the compelling benefits, several countries and destinations are always interested in hosting the IIFAs. Over the last 19 years over 14 unique cities, 12 different countries and 4 continents have had the privilege of hosting the glamour-studded IIFA which is rich in business opportunities. In its 20^th year, IIFA remains the most sought-after annual event by tourism and economic policymakers to boost their economies.

Keeping this in mind several countries and picturesque destinations are in the consideration set. While there have been several unconfirmed stories coming from Nepal about the Himalayan nation being the chosen one, the IIFA management would like to confirm that while Nepal is one of the destinations being considered, no final decision has been taken so far.

Fans, media, and stakeholders of IIFA are advised not to believe the rumors or statements about Nepal having been chosen as the destination for the next IIFA. While IIFA respects the passion and wishes of its fans in Nepal and the country’s government and Tourism board, IIFA’s management team continues to deliberate, consider and weigh its options; IIFA fans are advised not to make any travel plans at this point.

Wiz Andre Timmins, Director- Wizcraft International, the producers and creators of the IIFA movement said, “Over the years, IIFA has established multiple tangible and intangible benefits along with tremendous positive impact for the host destinations including tourism increase, business & trade, short & long term economic impact, destination marketing and film shooting commitments to name a few. As a result of the positive achievements and results in previous destinations, countries bid for IIFA and we receive invitations to explore global cities for consideration every year. Nepal was just one of the countries bidding for IIFA in 2019 and IIFA had not yet confirmed Nepal as the host for our 20^th Edition.

IIFA is not responsible and has not been involved in any of the recent media activity relating to Nepal and does not endorse any event details provided. Any speculation being made by media has been as a result of Nepal Tourism board and KMC going ahead without due authority and permission to speak about our global brand-IIFA coming to Nepal on their own accord.  This has been in spite of IIFA brand regulations barring them to speak publicly about the discussions until the bid submission made by them is reviewed, assessed and formally accepted by IIFA with legal contracts being exchanged. In lieu of the recent of events, since IIFA had not confirmed Nepal as the official host destination we will be taking a legal stance on this matter.”

IIFA as India’s biggest, most extravagant and spectacular global celebration of cinema,sees a conglomeration of Indian and international film stars, cinema fans, global media, respected business leaders and government dignitaries descend upon a new and exciting host destination every year to recognise, celebrate and enhance the film industry, create cultural exchange and conduct business & trade using the universal language of cinema and entertainment as a platform.

The leading global coffee company, Lavazza, announces its return to this year’s Grand Slam tournament as the Official Coffee of The Championships, Wimbledon. To mark its ninth year, Lavazza is introducing a new partnership with the defending champion in women’s singles at Wimbledon, Angelique Kerber, and will also unveil two exciting new product launches onsite.

German professional tennis player, Kerber, who won her first Wimbledon title last year beating the seven-times champion Serena Williams, is joining Lavazza as a Wimbledon 2019 ambassador and will participate across several Lavazza activations onsite. A former world No.1 and winner of three Gland Slam tournaments, Kerber features alongside Carlos Moyá and Andre Agassi in the brand’s ‘More than Italian’ TV ad which is on air now across the UK.

Kerber comments: “I’m delighted to be joining Lavazza as their 2019 Wimbledon ambassador. Coffee has always been a big part of my daily routine, so there’s no surprise that I jumped at the chance of working with Lavazza; a brand that I’ve admired for its quality and taste and has long been associated with The Championships.”