'TVRI' to air 'Bollywood Night'

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Riding the wave of Bollywood's rising popularity, government television station TVRI will air a new monthly program called Bollywood Night.

The program will feature local artists and bands, most of them Indian-Indonesians, who sing and dance in the Bollywood style.

Bollywood movies are renowned for their big dancing and singing productions, regardless of the type of movie.

In addition to the program, the recordings of Bollywood soundtracks will also be made available and judging by the popularity of the music they should be hot sellers.

The recording of the first episode of Bollywood Night, which was shot last Saturday at the Resto Cafe and Dance Club Enoki in Wisma Kodel on Jl. Rasuna Said, was attended by dozens of guests who wore Indian costumes.

"This is the first recording and we expect to have a regular Bollywood Night every month," Candice Anggunadinata, a public relations officer at Enoki, said.

The program will be aired by TVRI at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Candice said the organizer of the program mixed Indian songs and dances from Bollywood movies with local dangdut songs.

The program also has dances from cultures other than Indian like the salsa.

In the first recorded episode, a woman dressed in a green Indian-style sari, but with a long headscarf and other accessories, was the most refreshing entertainer.

She produced laughs from the studio audience when she occasionally rolled on the floor and crawled like a snake.

She invited some male audience members to come dance with her on stage, which made her performance more attractive.

"In the next episodes we will feature more Indian-Indonesian, Indian or Pakistani dance groups who have been in Indonesia for some time," Candice said.

For example, singer Sunil Kumar, who performed in the first episode, is originally from Pakistan but he has been living in Indonesia for many years and speaks Indonesian fluently.

"They are not professionals, but their performance during Bollywood Night will not be their first time, because they sometimes sing and dance at weddings here," she added.