The Perfect Husband is Coming to Atlanta
Poonam Dhillon makes her stage debut in a popular and award-winning Hindi play.
Poonam Dhillon, a former Bollywood star who made her film debut in Yash Chopra's Trishul, and went on to major stardom thanks to her signature role in the super hit Noori, appears in her first play, The Perfect Husband, which will be staged at the Sidney J. Marcus Auditorium in Atlanta on March 12th. Earlier, this hit Hindi-language production won the Marshall Award for Best Comedy Play of the Year. A neglected but vivacious and well-heeled woman in Bombay, disenchanted by her jet-setting husband, hopes to attract his attention in an unusual way by responding to a newspaper ad that promises to "supply the perfect husband." Mallika's impulsive act sets the stage for the comedy that follows, and as the characters are led through the twists and turns of the plot, she makes surprising discoveries in her elusive yet eye-opening quest for the perfect husband. Anybody interested in knowing the ending will have to undertake the hilarious journey in Mallika's company. The play, directed by Nitin Jagdish, also features Sooraj Thapar, Pratibha Pai, Noorjahan, Ashutosh Sinha, Hemal Dharia and Lizna Jaria. It's a production of Yatri, a famous theatrical group that has been mounting shows in India and abroad for over twenty-five years. It continues to come out with a minimum of two productions every year.
Dhillon, who began acting in movies after she won the Miss India crown in 1977, had a successful career in Bollywood before turning to the theater. Elaborating on why she chose this play, Dhillon told the Bombay Times: "I thought of doing this one because I think the audiences today really like to go to the theater and have some fun than watch some weepy drama. Besides, the comedy is not the slapstick, slipping on a banana peel variety. We can always make it contemporary, the humorous situations can always be updated."
For more information, contact Kamru Hamrani (404-786-7860) or Mustafa Ajmeri (678-463-6613).
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King of the Keyboard
Virtuoso Adnan Sami and co-stars will take center stage in Atlanta.
It was after a recording in Stockholm during the ?90s that Adnan Sami Khan, a Pakistan-born virtuoso who grew up in England, became known as one of the fastest keyboard players anywhere. "I was doing a live recording and after sometime they noticed that their cameras couldn't get my finger movement," he has said. "It was all a blur. My fingers were moving faster than 24 frames per second, which is the TV camera speed."
On April 15th, at the Gwinnett Arena in Duluth, Atlantans will finally be able to watch this fleet-fingered artist in action at a live concert. A bevy of performers ? including Amisha Patel, Raghav, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shefali Jariwala ? will accompany him on the stage. As a versatile player and singer trained in both Eastern and Western musical genres, Adnan has made many best-selling albums and won a slew of awards, including a United Nations Peace Medal for a song he wrote and performed in Africa.
"With a career ranging from classical to jazz to modern pop-rock, Adnan has played it all and not just for the masses," notes The South Asian magazine. "As a classical concert pianist, he has had the honor of giving solo command performances before such royalty as the King of Sweden and King Hussein of Jordan. He has also performed before various heads of states, including the Presidents of France, India, the UAE, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Khirgistan."
It was Sami's first pop album, Kabhi To Nazar Milao, which brought him success and fame in the desi community. Sami, who has trained with Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, also regards luminaries such as Ustaad Amir Khan and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi as formative influences. Local aficionados will now get to see how this pioneering artist popularized the playing of Indian classical music on the electric piano. Raghav, another virtuoso, reportedly plays 22 different instruments. Given Sami's ability to attract Bollywood actresses and singers for his music videos, it's not surprising that he assembled a good team for his show in Atlanta. For more details, call 770-840-7229 or 1-866-400-7229.
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