Clad in traditional attire, about 140+ Women gathered at Silicon Valley’s popular theater AMC Mercado 20, Santa Clara, CA to celebrate the release of the much awaited Padmaavat in America. The event was put together by Sheetal Gokhle and Kavita Agrawal.
With Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor in the lead roles, Padmaavat tells the story of Rani Padmaavati in the 13th century. In essence Padmaavat is a story of brave women who takes the unthinkable step to commit “Johar” aka emulate themselves by jumping into fire, to save their honor & dignity as their kingdom is invaded by the barbaric Khilji rulers. A story of bravery, courage, honor and love.
Run of Events:
Ghoomar Dance & Dhol – Women dressed in traditional ceremonial lenghas danced to Ghoomar. The women had been practicing the dance for over a month, the delay in the movie only cemented their perfect choreography.
Ghoomar Chorus – Led by multilingual singer Nirupama Chebiyam of the Bay Area, the group sang the Ghoomar song in chorus, accompanied by Balaji Mahadevan on the traditional Dhol.
Women voted for the best dressed “Padmaavati” with the most traditional costume and jewelry, the Winners Ashwini Tamhane won a $100 certificate from Sarini’s Creations,which was the official costume partner for the event aswell. Sarini Kakkar herself dressed up some women in Traditional Rajasthani outfits.
To add to the traditional fervor, was Indian Tea and Indian “Vada-Pau” adding traditional flavor and taste to the event.
All in all the event turned out to be a huge success for a great cause, as all the proceeds of the movie were donated to India Literacy Project (ILP)
The event would not have been possible without the undying support and help from Sailja Maroo, Jalpa Shah of CloudsAndSea Travels, Sarita Sharma, Bhargavi Chandreasekaran and Nina Daruwala.
At the end of the show, all patrons of the movie theater were served Indian sweets to mark the sweet success of the event and the release of the film.
