Qatar to Hold Bollywood Music Festival in World Cup Stadium

DOHA, (IANS) – It seems FIFA World Cup host Qatar wants the run-up to the first biggest celebration of the sport in the Middle East to be a melodious affair. After releasing a World Cup song with Indian siren Nora Fatehi rendering Hindi lines, organizers have announced a musical segment with popular Bollywood performers.

Some of Asia’s biggest stars will perform at the Bollywood Music Festival.

The 80,000-capacity stadium where the final of the World Cup will be played on December 18, will host Sunidhi Chauhan, who has rendered multiple superhit songs, is also a popular face on Indian general entertainment television having been a judge on reality TV shows.

Qawwali exponent Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and composer duo Salim-Sulaiman will also perform. Pakistani icon Rahat has straddled the worlds of Hindustani classical music and Hindi film music with equal ease and enjoys huge fan following among music connoisseurs across all South Asian nations. Salim-Sulaiman, have composed music for many big-budget Hindi movies featuring the industry’s top stars including Shah Rukh Khan.

Indians are the largest expat group in Qatar and have a major role to play in the socio-economic life of the country of 2.8 million.