The BollywoodMonster Mashup returned this year with a bang
Canada’s largest South Asian festival, the #BollywoodMonsterMashup returned this year, much to the delight of its fans. The event, which was sponsored by TD through the TD Ready Commitment, the bank’s corporate citizenship platform, ran from September 6 to 11.
An annual fan-favourite, the BollywoodMonster Mashup celebrates Canada’s South Asian community, bringing people together over shared culture in the Brampton and Mississauga regions. As the festival’s presenting sponsor, TD is dedicated to encouraging and empowering emerging talent, and supporting the diverse artists who call Canada home. To date, TD’s longstanding commitment to both the festival and the community has helped organizers provide the artists and attendees with a world-class production.
The festival was headlined by Raftaar, Javid Ali, Harshdeep Kaur and Priyanka. As part of a star-studded line up, two performers who showcased their incredible talents were Pratik Peters and Shirsha Chakraborty, who both hit the stage on September 11 as part of the BollywoodMonster Orchestra.
Pratik Peters is a Toronto-based singer, musician, composer, and music producer with the ability to sing in multiple languages and the versatility to move between genres. Pratik comes from a musical family in Baroda in the state of Gujarat in India and started singing when he was a child. This was his sixth appearance on stage for the Bollywood Monster Mashup and his third time as part of the BollywoodMonster Orchestra team.
Pratik has always been interested in the fusion of songs and using his music to create something new and unique. As an artist, he has been performing in Toronto for years at live shows and various festivals. We spoke to Pratik about his journey and his music, and he let us know that he has several songs on the way, and another named ‘Aadat’ which is streaming now! He told us that he has been very fortunate to be able to perform on stage with renowned Bollywood music composers like Vishal-Shekhar and Salim-Sulaiman, after winning competitive auditions. Pratik is busy as a performer, having performed at the Flato Theatre in Markham and other top venues.
Shirsha Chakraborty, a multi-talented artist from Brampton, took part in the festival for the second time, joining a group of performers in the BollywoodMonster Orchestra segment.
Shirsha told us that she started singing at an early age in India and had a solid grounding in classical music, before coming to Canada at the age of eight. Today, she is a rising young artist, creating unique soundscapes with her influences from various Western and Eastern genres.
After coming to Canada, Shirsha tells us, she continued learning at the Music Program of Humber College under the tutelage of Ryan Luchuck, her teacher for over a decade, who taught her to master her vocal techniques. She shared that she has worked with renowned Indian artists like Shankar Mahadevan, and also with notable influences like Ash King and Grammy award-winning singer Laura Sullivan. Shirsha currently has 2 singles out on all major streaming platforms and she said that she aspires to continue making contemporary alt-pop music with splashes of Jazz, RnB, Electronic and Indian influences, while writing about a variety of what she considers important and overlooked human emotions and experiences.
Together, Shirsha and Pratik brought experience and excitement to the BollywoodMonster Orchestra. For these artists, the support that TD provides is very important to their ability to share their passion and skillset with the community. Since 2013, TD has sponsored the BollywoodMonster Mashup, and this year was another amazing showcase of community support and cultural celebration.
To find out more about the annual festival, you can visit the BollywoodMonster Mashup page at https://www.monstrartity.com/bollywoodmonstermashup/ and to learn more about how TD is shining a spotlight on diverse voices in arts and culture, visit the TD Ready Commitment Connected Communities page at https://www.td.com/ca/en/about-td/ready-commitment/connected-communities.