The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mbewe in Harare, Sunday News Correspondent
THE BOLLYWOOD arts sector is growing tremendously and along the way capturing the attention of people as far as Africa, Zimbabwe to be specific. It is increasing its influence in the movie world and slowly catching up with the big guns of Hollywood.
A group of Indian artistes who performed on Thursday at the Harare International Carnival welcome party stole the hearts of many. Many have seen Bollywood on Dstv’s Telemundo channel and that is proving very popular among Zimbabwean women.
People could not afford to remain glued to their seats but wanted a closer glimpse of the group, with some seen taking out their gadgets to record the performance. Not only was their performance entertaining but their outfits were colourful, unique and fascinating.
In an interview, one of the members of the Preeti group said it was their first time to perform in Zimbabwe. He said they were impressed with what they saw in Zimbabwe and hoped to come back next year.
“We are here for the first time and what I can say is that this country is amazing. The people are very friendly and we are very happy with the way we have been welcomed in this country. The first time always makes the greatest impression and we got the best impression of Zimbabwe,” he said.
The artiste hailed Zimbabwean musicians for the good music that they were producing. He said there was room for the industry to grow as time goes on and urged artistes to take their time when producing their music for it to match international standards of quality.
“Zimbabwe has great music and we totally love it. We have hope that if we come next time, the music industry will have improved more from what it is right now because the artistes surely have the potential to grow. One day their arts sector will be the same as ours or even better,” he said.
The Harare International Carnival brings in a lot of artistes from different parts of the world. The carnival enables people to showcase their diverse cultures from different continents and exchange notes on how they can improve.
“Through this carnival we get different experiences. It is a good thing that we are here not only to be entertained or entertain but we also get to learn of other people’s culture which is a very good thing,” he said.
Besides the Indian group, the Samba Queens from Brazil have always got the most attention because of their mouth watering outfits and dance moves. The crowd came to a standstill when the Samba Queens graced the staged. Most of the people in the crowd were men who could not ignore the almost naked ladies shaking their God given assets.
Another all male group from Democratic Republic of Congo called Diamond Musica managed to keep people on their toes.
The male singers and dancers could not be outdone by the Samba Queens and they caught the eyes of some women who eventually went closer to the stage doing a couple of moves. The group which had been missing in action for quite some time received the much needed boost as the crowds followed their music with energetic dance moves.
The Harare International Carnival is a weeklong festival that takes place every year. During the weeklong festival a number of events are lined up and the aim of this festival is to progress the arts, culture and the heritage of Zimbabwe all in an effort to boost the tourism industry. The carnival which is being held in the country for the third year is running under the theme Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
