This story is from November 21, 2016

Tenor with an enviable timbre tempers high-octane revelry marked by dhol beats

Tenor with an enviable timbre tempers high-octane revelry marked by dhol beats
MUMBAI: The Times Celebrate Bandra closing ceremony had the best of Hollywood, Bollywood and two dhol players thrown in for good measure. Actor Dalip Tahil, who starred as Che Guevara in Alyque Padamsee’s ‘Evita’, kicked off the night with ‘Oh what a circus’ from the same musical.
Host Brian Tellis then introduced a “tenor with an enviable timbre”, Edward Mendes, who sang ‘The Impossible Dream’ from the movie ‘Man of La Mancha’.
Bandra girl Megan Murray, who has performed at Buddy Guy’s Legends Club in Chicago, stole the show with high-octane renditions of “With a Little Help from My Friends” and “For What It’s Worth” from movie classics ‘Woodstock’ and ‘Forest Gump’.
Scenes from ‘Bodyguard’ played in the background as Sarosh Nanavaty belted out the Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ and Rozzlin Pereira glittered on stage while singing ‘Diamonds Are AGirl’s Best Friend’. “Are they real?” teased co-host Malishka, referring to Nanavaty’s sparkly baubles. “A lady never tells,” retorted Pereira.
There were also stellar performances by Dominique Cerino, Thompson Andrews, Venkat Subramanyam, Marie Paul and Carlton Braganza. Keyboardist Merlin D’Souza and violinist Shruti dedicated their performance of the theme song from ‘The Bridge on The River Kwai’ to “all our soldiers who continue to protect us”.
The vibe changed during the second half of the evening when the Meet Bros, strode on stage accompanied by traditional dhol players. The Indian music directors urged the Bandra crowd, urging them to get into the spirit of “Punjabi pep” with a few bhangra moves.
Accompanied by playback singer Khusboo Grewal, they performed ‘Baby Doll’ from the film ‘Ragini MMS 2’. The audience danced along as Grewal had already taught them the song’s signature move.
The next number ‘Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan’ had a senior citizen from Khar, Tinoo Kapadia, bust a move with Harmeet Singh. “I love your energy,” Harmeet told him. Kapadia, who when asked his age, replied, “18 till I die”, then spun Grewal around the stage. “I love all music,” Kapadia later told TOI.“Everything from Indian classical to EDM.” Popular numbers like ‘High Heels Te Nachche’, ‘Bandra Thumakda’ – a revised version of ‘London Thumakda’ and ‘Nachange Saari Raat’ followed. “We always live every night like it’s our last and we want you to do the same,” Harmeet told the audience.
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