CAIRO, Mar 13: Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan will visit Egypt at the end of this month as the ‘Guest of Honour’ in this year’s edition of the India by the Nile festival, the Indian Embassy here has said.
Bachchan will speak about his films, particularly ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ at the Opera House on March 31 and will also be present at a gala event at the Pyramids the same day, Indian Ambassador to Egypt Navdeep Suri said yesterday.
The gala inauguration will be followed by a new musical ‘Bollywood extravaganza: A Tale of Passion, Love and Revenge’, which will run at the Opera House from 1-3 April and will see more than 35 Indian dancers performing to the much-loved music of Indian cinema, he said.
The musical will also travel to Egypt’s second largest city Alexandria, in north central part of the country.
As part of the festival, a Bollywood dance workshop will also be organised on March 30 at Medan Theatre in the Cairo Opera House complex.
The third edition of the festival, running from March 28 to April 17, is organised by the Embassy of India in Cairo in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Cairo Opera House.
For the last two years, the festival, a celebration of contemporary and classical music, dance, theatre, visual art, film, food and literature has been billed as the biggest foreign fete in Egypt since the 25 January Revolution.
The range and variety of India’s diverse cultural ethos will be on display, the Ambassador said adding a dance group from north-eastern state of Manipur will showcase the folk traditions of the region during the three-week festival.
Popular band ‘Advaita’ will perform fusion music combining the classical musical traditions of India music with western Rock at Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Ismailia.
In a fresh take on a traditional field, this year Indian cuisine will feature street-food which will be available at all event venues, Suri said.
“Two events of special focus this year will be a ‘Wellbeing Weekend’ at Al Azhar Park and a ‘Handicrafts Exhibition and Symposium’ at Fustat and Hanager,” the Ambassador said.
“The first will focus on the power of yoga, meditation and India’s holistic medical traditions. There will be master instructors teaching the art to yoga schools and enthusiasts.
“The second will draw together artisans and experts from India and Egypt in a unique collaborative programme on handicrafts,” Suri said.
The exhibition will not only showcase the diversity and beauty of Indian handicrafts, but also share experiences in the field of marketing – something that has made the sector in India into a multi-billion export success story, he added.
In ‘Words on Water’ session at Cairo, Indian and Egyptian literary and cultural figures will speak about ‘Preserving Cultures’ at the Supreme Council of Culture. (PTI)
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