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Diwali came in a month early at Times Square, with the iconic venue transformed into a mini India, as thousands celebrated the Festival of Lights. Actors Parineeti Chopra and Aditya Roy Kapur, who were in town to promote their latest film “Daawat-e-Ishq,” made a special appearance at the concert that featured performances by singer Shaan and other artists.
Presented by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation the Diwali at Times Square extravaganza held on Sept. 21 showcased Indian culture, heritage, diversity and cuisine. The festival began with a Ganpati procession with Dhol Tasha led by Maharashtra Tourism, Neeta Bhasin, CEO of Event Guru, Consul General India in New York Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Rep. Joseph Crowley, Councilman Paul Vallone and India’s environment minister Prakash Javadekar, Javadekar was in the city to represent India at the Climate Summit to be hosted by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sept. 23.
Addressing the crowd, Javadekar said as a representative of the Narendra Modi government he is extending Diwali greetings to the New Yorkers. Crowley said that the festival of Diwali symbolizes “enlightenment over ignorance” and brings people of different race and ethnicity together.
Apart from the busy Diwali Bazaar, traditional Maharashtra acrobatic performers were invited to demonstrate the first female Dahi Handi and Malkhamb.
The evening show kicked off with the Wells Fargo sponsored pre-show, wherein famous choreographer, Marzi of the Shiamak Dawar Dance Company, kicked off the segment along with Culture Shock.
The NASDAQ screen was used to display the Diwali smiles of the festival goers taken by Wells Fargo’s team of photographers throughout the day. The full on concert was kicked off with the interactive diya lighting on the Thomson Reuters Screen in the evening.
A section of the crowded Times Square was bustling with people dressed in traditional attire as they lined up before booths set up to showcase Indian cuisine, music and fashion.
In the evening, Bollywood playback singers Shaan and Shalmali Kholgade took over the stage and entertained the crowd with their popular numbers. Other highlights included performances by DJ Baba Kahn, Mickey Singh and Arjun, as well as Nakuul Mehta and Disha Parmar, Aditya and Pankhuri of the popular soap “Pyar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyara Pyara.”
Dancers, entertained the crowd with their performance on traditional Indian and film music during the nearly four-hour long event.
Images of the traditional diyas that are lit during Diwali were beamed onto the giant billboards that illuminate Times Square.
Consul General Mulay told news reports that this was second year that the event was held at Times Square to celebrate Diwali and expressed hope that it would grow bigger with each passing year.
Last year, actor Ranbir Kapoor, his parents Rishi and Neetu Kapoor and singer Shankar Mahadevan had entertained the audience with their performance.
