Hi guys,

Just thought I'd let you know about the grandiose event Masala Mehndi Masti coming up July 27-29.

Plenty of good fun. Rahul Bose, Bilz, Deesha and many more will be there.

Please see

http://www.masalamehndimaasti.com" rel="nofollow">LINK

for more info

Also

http://www.toronto.com/arts/event/522620

and

http://www.e-desinews.com/desiwasthere.html

The entrance to the festival is free. Good fun to be had by all.

See you there

Here are more websites:

http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/219829/

and

http://www.canadiandesi.com/event.php?EID=1048

We take this opportunity to inform you of Masala! Mehndi! Masti!, North America’s largest multi-disciplinary South Asian festival showcasing the best in local and international talent in yoga, art, movies, theatre, music, mehndi (henna) designing and beyond, that will take place over a three day period from July 27 –July 29, 2007.
MP Dr. Ruby Dhalla will be opening the festivities on July 27 at 6.30 pm at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 200 Princes’ Boulevard, near the Exhibition Place, welcoming Mr. Rahul Bose, actor/director extraordinaire, having had his movies screened at the TIFF, who will be flying all the way from Mumbai, India for a retrospective of his finest movies. Following that will be a local singer Ms. Nandita Dias who will sing in Spanish and Hindi, after which, Indian Ocean, a leading global band from India, will also enthral the confluence of people.
On Saturday at 2 pm, Premier McGuinty will introduce SW Storm, a calypso, soca, and chutney band from the UK. Hon. Bas Balkissoon will end the performance at 3 pm. At 4 pm, Hon. John Tory will introduce a Toronto-based Bharatnatyam dancer Lata Pada. Hon. Kathleen Wynne will introduce singer and former Canadian idol finalist Devika Mathur at 7 pm.
To end this grandiose festival on Sunday, Hon. Greg Sorbara will announce internationally acclaimed Montreal based band Bilz and Kashif, who are expected to take the crowds to superlative heights!
In between it all there will be performances from Shiamak Davar’s dance troupe, Juno nominated singer Deesha and several more. Yoga sessions, fashion shows fore-fronting East and West fusion, an Artist’s Walkway exhibiting some of Toronto’s finest paintings and creations by South Asian artists and curated by award-winner Tushar Unadkat, socially relevant discussions, a bazaar showcasing South Asian apparel and jewelry and kiosks offering taste-bud tantalizing culinary delights will round off this fabulous festival!

MASALA!MEHNDI!MASTI!
Rogers Masala! Mehndi! Masti! – The Explosive South Asian Festival celebrates its 7th year!
Friday July 27 (7.00 pm) through Sunday July 29, 2007 (7.00 pm)
Free admission events for all ages! Grand family affair!
Location: 210 Princes’ Boulevard, Exhibition Place, Toronto, ON Canada M6K 3C3,

Masala! Mehndi! Masti! (M!M!M!) is back for its seventh sensational year at Bandshell Park, Exhibition Place (home of the CNE) from July 27th to July 29th, 2007. As usual M!M!M! will showcase the best in contemporary, traditional and fusion South Asian culture by local and international artists.
A multitude of events in yoga, music, dance, theatre, visual arts, literary arts, film and more are joined by provocative panels and succulent South Asian dishes, creating the largest festival of its kind in North America!
Highlights:
MMMOVIES: July 27, 28 and 29, Queen Elizabeth Theatre: MMMovies! featuring the Rahul Bose Retrospective! 2007 will see the launch of MMM’s very own film festival with international film festival programmer Hannah Fisher joining the MMM team, MMM will be presenting a 6 film retrospective on Rahul Bose. Rahul’s work in films such as Mr and Mrs Iyer, Pyaar Ke Side Effects and Bomgay has earned him critical acclaim globally. With Rahul in attendance on all three days, audiences will have the chance to get up close and personal with him.
Indian Ocean: India’s leading global band. This group first attained cult status with their album Kandisa, propelling them to the status of being one of India’s most original and creative bands. Music critics describe the Indian Ocean music as "Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution".
Bilz and Kashif: Internationally acclaimed music artists from Montreal (yeah in Canada, you know) will be on hand to wow the audience with their hit single "2step bhangra", “O Meri Rani” and then some. Their very presence will make the public go wild and get everybody’s Desi Ya-Yas ashakin’!
Deesha: Our very own Punjabi gal (nee Baldesh Kaur Sarai) and 2007 Juno award nominated singer will also enthrall the public.
SW Storm: This artist as usual will kick up a veritable musical storm with his Caribbean soca, calypso and carnival fare. Extremely adept in getting the crowd into the mood! Will you ever move your booty!
Local talent Devika Mathur (former Canadian Idol finalist, professor and radio jockey- wow. Some combo!) will surely melt the hearts of many.
Nandita Dias: Indian gal who sings in Spanish, Portuguese and Hindi will open up the festivities on Friday evening and really flip you out. Her signature “Besame Mucho” will really get you into the romantic mood.
Flamenkathak will show you the similarities between Kathak and Flamenco (a torrid dance of the Spanish Gitanos with plenty of foot tapping and castanets). Toronto’s version of Lola Flores, Paco de Lucia and Gauri Sharma will put it all together for you.
Goa Amigos, Desi heavy metal band Falak (is it Metallica, is it Motorhead, is it Iron Maiden- no it’s Falak!), Shiamak’s dance troupe, Lata Pada, a ghazal mehfil, Odissi dance, Brown Sketch Comedy and more will also dazzle the confluence of people.
Energetic Dandia Dhamaka sessions al fresco will attract participants from the audience. Who will be the hottest dandia dancer? Come witness it all.
Anokhi Vibes Fashion Show: Ms. Raj Girn will present an amazing fashion show showcasing outstanding fashionista Alia Khan’s remarkable Fusia line- blending and synergizing the latest in East and West vogue. Choreographed by Tushar Unadkat, you will be treated to some sensational sashaying. Will there be wardrobe malfunctions or will all hooks, linings and snickers be in place?
The amazing award-winning Tushar Unadkat will also co-produce the exquisite Artist’s Walkway! This super treat promises to showcase material to rival Mumbai’s Maqboolbhai’s (M.F.Hussain) chef d’oeuvres!
And not to forget Brandy Leary’s acrobatics. Her descent of the Ganges is something else!
There will also be a series of socially relevant seminars on rights, racism, sexuality, women empowerment and more topics critical to the development of our community. Desi Lit Writer’s Café will have several powerful authors’ readings.
The Meena Bazaar: A panoply of kiosks offering apparel, jewelry, handbags and several other items will also be on site to satisfy the shopaholics’ impulses.
Needless to say, creative mehndi artists will also be on hand to cater to your wildest whims.
Food Stalls: Aha! For many “la pièce de résistance”! And of course what South Asian festival can be complete without culinary delights that will tantalize your taste buds? And so there will be an amazing array of food and sweets for the public to delve their teeth into and hit nirvana!
And to end it all, there will be a huge outdoor Bhangra Blast on Sunday that will splice the heavens!
A massive and extraordinary event not to be missed!
For more info, please visit http://www.masalamehndimasti.com" rel="nofollow">LINK

Wow!
Ah yeah!
Calling out around the world,are you ready for a brand new beat.
Summer's here and the time is right,for M!M!M! ing in the streets,
They're dancing in Toronto ( They'll be M!M!M!ing )
Down in New Oreleans ( Dancing in the streets )
Up in Montreal ( M!M!M!ing in the streets )
All we need is M!M!M! ( sweet M!M!M! ) sweet music (sweet sweet M!M!M! )
There'll be music and M!M!M! everywhere.
There'll be swinging,swaying,CDs playing,dancing and M!M!M in the streets,Oh!
It doesnt matter what hat you wear,just as long as you are there,
So come on
Grab a guy,grab a girl,everywhere around the world.
There'll be dancing,MMMing in the streets.
( Oh )Its just an invitation,across the nation,a chance for folks to meet.
There'll be laughing and singing,music swinging,dancing and MMMing in the streets

(My apologies to Mama Cass!)

Ok like we got The Globe and mail covering us.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070727.FEST27/TPStory/?query=masala+mehndi+masti

JENNIE PUNTER

Special to The Globe and Mail

July 27, 2007

Masala! Mehndi! Masti!, the annual South Asian arts festival that moved from Harbourfront Centre to Exhibition Place last year because of extreme popularity, welcomes back film culture into its mix of music, art, food, fashion, dance and theatre this year. MMMovies!, the festival's film component, takes place in the 1,300-seat Queen Elizabeth Theatre and includes a retrospective of Indian art-house cinema star Rahul Bose, as well as screenings of two acclaimed films by Canadians: Deepa Mehta's Oscar-nominated Water and Vic Sarin's gripping TV movie Murder Unveiled.

Film is a major part of South Asian culture, but it's not all Bollywood, says Abhishek Mathur, who co-founded the festival with partner Jyoti Rana in 2001 in order to address what they felt was disconnect between the young generation of South Asian Canadians and their cultural heritages. "We didn't think a Bollywood program would be exciting because you can see those films at many cinemas now in Toronto," he says. "We wanted something offbeat that would have a mainstream draw. There is a trend these days towards films in Hindi and English that are used colloquially together in cities - very urban-centric South Asian stories."

Pyar Ke/Side Effects (2006), which opens the festival today (8 p.m.), is an amusing example of what Mathur is talking about. Rahul Bose plays Sid, a Mumbai DJ torn about going all the way (i.e. marrying) his girlfriend of three years. Sid sporadically addresses the audience as he tells his story, revealed first in flashbacks and then returning to the roller coaster of his present dilemma. With a deadbeat roommate, an imposing ex-military potential father-in-law (with a fetish for plastic furniture coverings) and a righteous sister, Sid is pulled every which way and Bose's performance is a delight. Think Hugh Grant romance crossed with Meet the Parents in Mumbai. (The screening is followed by an opening-night bash at the Liberty Grand that celebrates Bose's birthday.)

"Rahul was the first person we thought of to invite and luckily he accepted," laughs Mathur, a former entertainment programmer for the CNE. "His work is brilliant, edgy, different and meaningful, and he's so appropriate for Masala! He represents the younger generation as someone who is not only doing well in film but is also involved with social activism."

Print Edition - Section Front
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Bose, a member of the Orange Indian Rugby Team, works extensively with the Akshara Center, a Bombay-based NGO, and other social activist organizations. The actor will be present for Q&As after each of the six films in the series, and is also participating in an onstage interview with film journalist Cameron Bailey and a workshop with young actors and filmmakers.

Bose is no stranger to Toronto. His first starring role was in English August (1994), the story of an urbane young civil servant posted to a poverty-stricken rural town, which played the Toronto film festival. In Kaalpurish (Memories in the Mist), Buddhadeb Dasgupta's mesmerizing domestic satire that had its North American premiere at TIFF, Bose plays a shy clerk coming to terms with his powerful father. Both films, plus the criminal thriller Thakshak (1999), the gritty urban drama Split Wide Open (2001) and Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (2002), a romance set against violent Hindu/Muslim riots, round out the Bose retrospective.

The eclectic mix of MMMovies! reflects the spirit Mathur and his co-organizers, all volunteers, are striving for with Masala!. "The festival is South Asian-inspired, not politically defined," he says. "It's about artists inspired by South Asian culture, and South Asians stepping outside their traditional borders. There's something for everyone."

Masala! Mehndi! Masti! festival, July 27 to 29, all events free (opening-night party $15, Liberty Grand), in Bandshell Park, QE Theatre (films) and Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place, http://www.masalamehndimasti.com.

And we got The Star bedises several ads including one today:

http://www.thestar.com/article/239795

Jul 26, 2007 04:30 AM
Prithi Yelaja
Staff Reporter

For Indian Ocean, the road to becoming one of the hottest bands in India today has been long and arduous.

"We're anything but an overnight success," chuckles drummer Amit Kilam, over the phone from Seattle. "We've been hard-working boys. It's been a fairly tough ride ... till a few years back."

As part of a 16-city North American tour, the four-member, New Delhi-based band – Kilam, Susmit Sen, Asheem Chakravarthy and Rahul Ram – makes a stop in Toronto tomorrow night to launch the mainstage at Masala! Mehndi! Masti! the South Asian arts festival held at the CNE grounds.

Indian music critics have described Indian Ocean's music as "jazz-spiced Indo-rock fusion that integrates shlokas, Sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution."

But Kilam says they represent the sound of contemporary India – music that relies heavily on folk music.

"We are the youngest country in the world today. Sixty per cent of our population is in their 20s. Our audience tends to look to their roots, to folk music for meaning and inspiration," says Kilam.

The band sings in half a dozen Indian languages including Bengali, Sanskrit, Hindi and Kashmiri, as well as English. They play a dozen instruments including guitar, drums, flute, clarinet, tabla, as well as Indian folk instruments.