MUMBAI: The recent Republic Day weekend saw a vibrant galore of musicians, who entertained the crowd with some mesmerising music at The Worli Festival 5.0, which was held at the Worli Seaface Promenade. The event was organised by Shri Sankalpa Prtatishtan helmed by Sangeeta Ahir and Sachin Ahir.

Reavealing the idea behind organising The Worli Festival 5.0, Sangeeta Ahir, who is also a renowned Bollywood producer said, “The idea was to make people happy and be happy in doing the same. On worli Seaface Promenade, you can see so many people coming as it is a place for them to relax. So, we thought, why not have an event for people visiting here and that’s how we the idea of organising The Worli Festival on the prominade emerged.”

On the challenges faced to bring artists together for the festival, Ahir shared, “The initial first two years were a little challenging, but after that some good things happened. Now artists call up by themselves in order to participate in the festival. So, I give them a lot of credit for the success of The Worli Festival.

 “It’s so exciting we also become like small children. While otherwise going to a stall and eat something is so awkward. Apart from the performing artists, it is so innovative to see different kind of artists, including the creative people, young entrepreneurs who have put up their stalls over here. You can also see so many senior citizens have put up their Kulfi stall etc. So, it really shows the energy of people, who really want to do something in life. Also, everything here is not commercial, which is the beauty of this festival,” she further added on how the festival brings forth talent of many.

She further added, “Not only Worli, but also to all kind of people, who come to this promenade. Worli Seaface is the lifeline of Mumbai. It’s like a stress buster. There are so many romances and love stories happening here. There is some kind of spiritual energy here, with the waves beside, with which one gets connected when here. It’s a beautiful experience.”

The musicians, who performed at The Worli Festival 5.0 didn’t charge any fee for their performance. On this Sangeeta commented, “It’s not we who brought them to perform for free. But looking at the energy here, there are so many artists, who have also come here during their struggling days, sat at the Sea face while wondering ‘what is going to happen to my career’.  And today to come and perform in front of this large audience here is indeed a treat and pleasure for them.”

According to Sangeeta, The Worli Festival 5.0 is in itself a charity. On this, she said, “This festival itself is big a charity as it is for the people. Most of the people, who are here, they are non-monetarily performing here.”

She also thanked all the partners, associated with the festival as she said,  “I am thankful to them to not only be a part of the Worli Festival 5.0, but also for covering it.”

On organising other festivals apart from The Worli 5.0 Festival, Sangeeta exclaimed, “I would love to plan a lot of festivals because it gives me a lot of happiness as to do a show, getting a lot of people is like an energy effort. But, here at The Worli Festival 5.0, it is just people walking in and enjoying and looking at this gives you so much happiness and peace. It is like a big achievement.”

Speaking about her upcoming Bollywood production, she said, “My film, Total Dhamaal is releasing on 22 February. From the trailer, the movie is indeed a total dhamaal. Everyone has worked hard on it, including the artists. Also, Induji has done a fantastic job in getting so many artists together on one platform. They have given a complete international look to a comedy film. We are now waiting to see it with the people see their reactions.”

She signed off while revealing about her upcoming Marathi movie project, “I did a film Dagadi Chawl and now we are working on its second part. We will be releasing the movie soon this year.”

The Worli Festival 5.0 saw some striking performances by known as well as unknown faces. From Shibani Kashyap to A Band of Boys, Euphony, The Dual Core Band etc., the musicians lit the mood and created a musical aura at The Worli Festival 5.0 in Mumbai.