Live2You Hosts New Year’s Eve Celebration with Shefali Jariwala

Schaumburg, IL: Live2You organized a splendid New Year’s Eve celebration at India House Restaurant in Schaumburg, Ill., where over 1,100 people gathered to ring in 2013 with Shefali Jariwala. The party was a blast with Jigar Shah serving as anchor and cultural director for the whole show.

Shefali Jariwala, the star attraction, performed fusion dances at the show. One of Bollywood’s hottest girls, Jariwala (born 1982) is an actress who has appeared in a number of Hindi music videos. She first captured media and public attention through her controversial appearance in a thong in the music video Kaanta Laga, after which she became known as the “thong girl”. Since then she has appeared in a Bollywood film Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2009) with Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. She also participated in Nach Baliye season 5 with her partner Parag Tyagi.

The doors swung open at 8 pm, the banquet hall was full within half-an-hour, and the show went on until 1:00 am. Hosted by Kark Karla, the party had the best of music, entertainment, food and beverages. India House served a 150-course cruise line buffet dinner and a midnight champagne toast, which attracted guests from all over the country to enjoy this one of a kind show in Chicago to ring in 2013. The bar remained opened for 6 hours with Indo-Chinese, Mughlai, Italian, Punjabi, Gujarati, and South Indian fare, along with a fountain for mango lassi.

Renowned Chicago singer Kathakali Dasgupta, who has been performing across North America for the last twenty years, jumpstarted the evening with five popular Bollywood numbers including Kahin Aag Lage Lag Jaye, Barso Re Megha Megha, Sajnadi Vari Vari, and Aisa Jadoo Dala Re. Dasgupta declared the audience among her best for their rapt attention throughout the show.

The show started with welcome lines and shayari by Jigar Shah, who was choreographer, show director and event manager, all rolled into one. A noted Chicago Bollywood dancer, Shah was tasked with creating the New Year’s Eve entertainment set and training Jariwala’s backup dancers. He partnered with Chicago belly dancers Megan Hartmann (of dance duo Baile Nouveau) and Eliza Perry (of Arabesque Belly Dance Studio), Nishma Patel (Miss India Illinois 2012), Ashpruha Pujari, Ritika Rawat, and Kajol Topiwala. Over the course of three weeks, the dancers taught themselves from music videos and put together almost 20 solid minutes of Bollywood choreography, meeting with Shefali only once prior to taking to the stage with her. Together their troupe performed Bollywood medleys from different eras, such as Kaanta Laga, Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar, Sheila ki Jaawani, Munni Badnam Hui, Chamakchallo, O la la, and Chikni Chameli. Shariq Sidz also sang live.

“Every dancer put so many hours of dedicated rehearsal into refining their dances that by the time it was New Year’s Eve, we could relax and just have fun,” said Megan Hartmann. “I was proud to dance with all the dancers onstage, not just Shefali,” she said. “Shefali was very sweet, gracious, and did not act like a diva at all. She was pleased with our hard work, and getting to perform with her was an incredible experience,” she added. Belly dancers Hartmann and Perry also performed solos and duets at this the sold-out event but exclusively to Bollywood melodies. Megan has performed with Chicago belly dancer Jessica Beuckman at notable Schaumburg venues.

Jariwala and Jigar did the countdown and welcomed 2013 with a bang. The audience enjoyed the show and the party, making the whole event a grand success.

Vchilli (www.vchilli.com), a premier South Asian management company specializing in creating “Eco friendly” green events, took charge of décor and lighting and provided the unifying vision. Live2You has been successfully organizing sold-out Musical show for past 15 years.