Hosted by Ceasar Productions.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Ceasar Productions hosted the first-ever Bollywood Karaoke Contest to grace the Washington, DC Metro area, drawing a large number of singers from the nation’s capital, southern Maryland, and northern Virginia to Johns Hopkins University, on June 14th.
In the Solo Male category, Farid Mahmood emerged as the top prize winner, while Samarjit Patnaik was named runner-up. First place for Solo Female went to 12 year-old singing phenom Saanika Mahashetty, with the runner-up commendation going to Ananya Suri. In the Duet category, Parasuram Iyer and Lalitha Deshpande were awarded first place, while the father-and-daughter duo of Farid and Sara Mahmood were named as runners-up.
“Winning was a surprise!” said Farid Mahmood, to The American Bazaar. “I was amazed at how many people came to say how much they enjoyed my singing.”
The awards were determined by well-respected judges, who have all accumulated a number of years in the music field: Bharat Bhargava (economist, host of In Dialogue Talk Show on GTV), professional ghazal singer Pooja Shah Talwar (disciple of the late ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh), President of Natya Bharati, Adarsh Gupta, and 2008 Sa Re Ga Ma Pa finalist Krushanu Mazumdar. Music instructor and maestro Ustad Hamid Hossain gave away the awards.
Headlining the event were Krushana Mazumdar and fellow Sa Re Ga Ma Pa 2008 finalist, Deeti Mazumdar. Their performance floored the assembled audience, many of whom called it the highlight of the afternoon.
The contestants at the meet ranged from as young as 10 years old, to some who were in their 70s. The songs performed were largely from Bollywood, with recent tunes sharing the spotlight with the ballads of yester years. Some contestants sang folk songs from specific regions of India, as well.
“Music has the power to bring us together and that’s what I love about it,” said Mahmood. “It was a wonderful event and I enjoyed being a part of it.”
The event was organized by Manoj and Geeta Singh, who head up Ceasar Productions. The couple is best known for hosting the annual DC South Asian Film Festival, while Manoj is also popular for being the host of the TV talk show “Chit Chat with Manoj” on GTV MHz network.