‘King’ Khan who rules the hearts of Japanese
(No Ratings Yet)Raj Kapoor’s ‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’ is now old hat — it is ‘King’ Khan who rules the hearts and minds of the Japanese.
The two-day extravaganza ‘Namaste India 2007′ — organised here last week by the India Center Foundation witnessed hordes of Japanese, mostly girls, flocking the Bollywood stall to purchase audio and video CDs of Indian films and posters of film stars. The first choice by far was the ‘Badshah of Bollywood’ Shah Rukh Khan.
A salesperson at the Bollywood stall said they had sold ‘hundreds of t-shirts’ carrying ‘King’ Khan’s photograph. Also selling like hotcakes were CDs of films featuring the ‘Bollywood Badshah’ during the extravaganza held here on September 29 and 30.
But it is not that the Japanese have forgotten the golden oldies — they fondly remember the hit Hindi film songs of yesteryears including ‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’ and the lilting classical ‘Mohe Panghat pe Nand Lal Chhed Gayo Re’ from the timeless Mughal-e-Azam, among others.
The two-day festival aimed at enhancing awareness about India and its culture and sharing India’s feelings towards Japan, had several features like Punjabi folk dance,’ Bhangra’, Indian classical and other folk dances, performances by Mumbai artists on Bollywood dances.
However Punjabi ‘Bhangra’ topped all the features and made Japanese and Indians throng the pavilion and dance to the tune of drum beats, braving torrential rains with umbrellas in their hands.
Punjabi ‘Kulcha and Chhole Bhature’ and south Indian cousines like ‘Dosa’ and ‘Vada’ remained the crowd pullers with thousands devouring the dishes. Among the sweets,’Jalebi’ was the most sought after, while Japanese boys and girls got themselves photographed as ‘Maharaja’ and ‘Maharani’ in the backdrop of the famous Taj Mahal.
They also tried being tattooed with ‘Mehendi’.
A special feature, Karoke, also held its charm with both Indians and Japanese participating in it, testing their skills in music and singing. Japanese Mayo Amagai, with her voice and Yasuka Nanbv, with her flute kept the audience spellbound.
The highlight of “Namaste India 2007″ was the presence and participation of Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, which was described by India Center Chairperson Vibhav Kant Upadhyay as an endeavour to bring Babaji’s legacy of yoga and India Center’s legacy of global partnership together to work towards a prosperous, peaceful and harmonious Asia, with a special focus on India and Japan, all of this based on a firm foundation of India’s national development.
India Center is a non-profit organisation working as a catalyst in the process of national development. One of its key roles is to facilitate global partnership between India and friendly countries, like Japan.
The Japanese mission of India Center Foundation was established here in 1996 with the vision of identify, the role of Japan in India’s development.
‘India-Japan Global Partnership’, ‘Strong India, Strong Japan and Strong Japan, Strong India,’ terms coined by the foundation have become integral parts of bilateral agreements of both nations.
The year 2007 is being celebrated as the Year of Friendship between India and Japan.
Baba Ramdev delivered discourses on yoga and health, and taught the Japanese the importance of Pranayams, to relieve stress in today’s mechanical life and keep fit.
— UNI
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