Varun Dhawan’s surprise flavour to the hotpot!
Bollywood’s latest poster boy charms all on Day 3 @ Wassup Andheri
as film auditions, dance performances and workshops make for a thrilling ride
If the performances of film franchises are to be judged upon, the third instalment always turns out to be underwhelming but that wasn’t the case of Wassup! Andheri 2013. The city’s largest cultural festival for the suburbs conceptualised by F5 Advertainment and powered by Itz Cash took on a deeper hue on Saturday, i.e. Day III of the four-day extravaganza.
Taking off from where he had left off on Day II, casting director Mukesh Chhabra began his ‘Next Big Star’ hunt with more gusto, evidently relishing the overwheliming attention from talents. After all, the man who’s in charge of casting for Anurag Kashyap, Imtiaz Ali, Karan Johar, Raju Hirani and others didn’t have a dearth of participants trying to impress him.
This was preceded by a workshop by Irma Battig on reversing the process of aging that reminded one of the classic Benjamin Button! And while kids spent their precious weekend afternoon learning everything from African mask-making to aero models and ceramic art, their relived parents were all to happy hopping from one to the other of the three dozen or so stalls selling handicrafts, art, appliances and more.
The eerie part of the day began at half past three. Deepak Rao amazed the audience with a surreal display of telekenesis, telepathy, clairvoyance and engaging the sixth sense. Many eventually believed the renowned ESP specialist actually read minds because he gave the audience exactly what they wanted. From an out-of-the-world experience, the day moved to experiences around the world as travel writer. Rishad Saam Mehta elicited a bit of jealousy as he narrated his experience of being paid to travel the world. As he painted everyone’s imagination with words, the Golden Kite Club adorned the evening sky with a variety of colourful kites.
Young heartthrob, Varun Dhawan, vowed the audience with his surprise act. The audience were seen dancing with him as he grooved to some peppy numbers. Looking as hot as ever, the charming star Varun Dhawan, won hearts in the little time he spent on stage.
Wassup! Andheri’s creativity quotient was once again on show as the ‘Killoi Children Drama Group’ enacted a Russian play in Hindi that had the audience in splits. This was followed by the Dharavi Rocks group which created music out of waste materials such as containers and bottles. Meanwhile, in another dimension of the fest, director of the television epic ‘Chanakya’, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi held the audience’s attention with a vivid explanation of how to convert a novel into a great film.
Day III too ensured there wasn’t a dearth of funny moments for the entire family as stand-up comics Ustav Chakraborty, Aditi Mittal and later Keshav Naidu got the LOLs going. Super Saturday was however made so thanks to the terrific displays of performing arts. Ratika Kumar of the World Dance Centre India enthralled through Bharatnatyam, the VED institute’s Kathak marathon to live music got the applause to a din. And much as every other segment of the fest, there were options here too – from tandav to jive, salsa, ballet and even belly dancing.
Not to forget, the art installations space, which received their best ever turnout yet, was abuzz with conversations; Arzan Khambatta’s and Avantika Mathur’s set-ups garnering much attention and clicks.
Young politician and Andheri resident Dr. Siddharth Khosa seemed gratified at the day’s playing out. “This is what weekends should be about – fun and learning with your family and friends! Sunday shall finish what today has set up!”
Bollywood choreographer, Caeasar of the Bosco-Caesar duo, admitted, “It’s heartening to see the organising team’s plans showing brilliant results. The sheer variety in everything this edition has been the defining feature.”
CEO and founder of F5 Advertainment Mr Ajay Modgil felt, “Three days down, and my team and I have had the most hectic yet fulfilling time of the year! And we are all set for the grand finale tomorrow.”
