Indo American News

Tag: Ruchika Dias

  • New Teen, Miss & Mrs Bollywood International 2018 Crowned!

    New Teen, Miss & Mrs Bollywood International 2018 Crowned!

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    Photos: Jasleen Kaur Photography

    Contestants from all Over USA Participated!

    STAFFORD: Bollywood Shake hosted its 7th Annual Bollywood Pageant International 2018 at the Stafford Civic Center on Sunday, April 8. This year’s show under the direction of Pageant Director, Ruchika Dias, Pageant Choreographer, Priti Islam and Pageant Coordinator, Bindhya Babu was extremely glamorous, entertaining and inspiring!  Contestants from all over the United States participated to compete for the coveted titles of Teen, Miss, Mr. and Mrs. Bollywood International 2018!

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    Bollywood Shake conducted its auditions and extensive search for the last one year all over the US to find the best contestants to compete for this year’s crown! This year’s competition featured contestants from California, Chicago, Michigan, Austin, Arizona, Florida and Houston. The contestants spent 3 days in Houston preparing and practicing for their big day!

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    Our judges had their work cut out for them! This year’s judging panel included Former Miss India & Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta, Founder & CEO of HumFM Rehan Siddiqi, Omar Saeed Khan of Northwestern Mutual, Realtor Shaneel Mitha, Actor and Producer Pavan Grover, Lawyer Zainab Rizvi, Miss Pakistan USA 2017 Hirra Khan and Mrs. Bollywood USA 2015 Shruthi Bekal.

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    The emcees of the show, Rocko Stedy Narvios and Niharika Nag (who is also the Pageant Coach), conducted the show beautifully and flawlessly. The show started with a spectacular opening dance choreographed by Priti Islam to the songs Pallu Latke, Hawa Hawaii and Swag se Swagat. After this, the girls came back in beautiful evening gown attire for the introduction round. Then came the talent round where we got to see some outstanding talents including Bollywood dances, singing, a Salsa dance performance and even an aerial acrodance act. This was followed by the Ethnic Wear round where the contestants donned gorgeous, colorful and vibrant ethnic attire. The finalists were then chosen who went through the judges Question and Answer round. Judge Tanushree Dutta asked a finalist “You are a mother, a wife and a career woman. What is the most important priority for you in life?” The contestants did a great job answering some tough questions but some stood out more for the judges than others. Finally, the winners were crowned by Tanushree Dutta and the past title holders – Miss Teen Bollywood USA 2017, Manjari Parikh, Miss Bollywood USA 2017, Pooja Gohil and Mrs. Bollywood USA 2017, Nadia Neubert.

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    The event was sponsored by Omar Saeed Khan of Northwestern Mutual, Realtor Shaneel Mitha and Universal Bakery and Snacks. Special shout out to Zainab Kayani Rizvi and Pavan Grover for their support! Special thanks to Aslam Jivani and Abdul Khiyani of DECO ART for the gorgeous stage and set. The decor was beautiful and classy with the Fire & Ice theme and made the contestants look even more gorgeous!  DJ Tariq Ali did a great job on the sound and lights and DJ TAMIM, the DJ and Dholi for the night kept the crowd entertained. Arzoo Khan’s Vida Salon & Spa provided professional hair and makeup services for the contestants. Sonny and Jennifer Chohan of Houston Live TV Network captured the event professionally and the show was broadcast live on Facebook and Youtube.  Jasleen Kaur Photography and Reflection Media Inc. USA were the official photographers for the evening.

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    In addition to running a very successful Bollywood dance school, Bollywood Shake has always promoted local talent through its events. The Bollywood Pageant has featured renowned Bollywood celebrity guests in the past including Preity Zinta, Raveena Tandon, Neha Dhupia, Meenakshi Seshadri and Pooja Batra.  Bollywood Shake has also hosted events like fashion shows, dance competitions and New Year’s Eve Galas.

    Ruchika Dias, Founder & CEO of Bollywood Shake, has successfully organized the Bollywood Pageants for the past 7 years. Ruchika’s vision has always been to bring Bollywood to mainstream America. The Bollywood Pageant has been featured on ABC 13, Fox 26, TV-Asia and B4U TV.  Special thanks to Esha Shah and Abha Jain for being a part of this year’s team.

    Winners:
    Miss Bollywood International 2018 – Michelle Adamjee (Houston)
    Miss Teen Bollywood International 2018 – Gursheen Kaur (California)
    Mrs. Bollywood International 2018 – Malin Pathak (Austin)
    Mr. Bollywood International 2018 – Nitish Singh (Arizona)
    Miss Bollywood International 2018 1st Runner Up- Jasmin Sheth (Austin)
    Miss Bollywood International 2018 2nd Runner Up- Tavishi Saxena (Michigan)
    Miss Teen Bollywood International 2018 1st Runner Up- Siya Nair
    Mrs. Bollywood International 2018 1st Runner Up- Mayuri Rana (Houston)
    Mrs. Bollywood International 2018 2nd Runner Up- Sharan Budwal (Florida)

  • Beauty with a Purpose Resonates at 2016 Bollywood Pageant USA

    Beauty with a Purpose Resonates at 2016 Bollywood Pageant USA

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    Photos: Jasleen Kaur

    By Pramod Kulkarni

    HOUSTON: A Bollywood star has good looks, talent in speaking, dancing and singing, and capable of being a fashion diva. All of these qualities were on display as Bollywood Shake hosted its 4th Annual Bollywood Pageant USA 2016 on Sept 4, 2016 at Hotel Sorella in City Center.

    Beauty with a Purpose was the theme of the event with Daya Houston as the charity partner. Ruchika Dias, Founder & CEO of Bollywood Shake and Pageant Director along with her team put together an entertaining and meaningful evening, highlighting women of substance.

    “I grew up watching Bollywood movies,” explained Ruchika Dias. “Through the Bollywood pageant, I wanted to give Indo-American teens, young women and wives a unique platform to present their talents and gain confidence and poise.”

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    Daya Houston’s Past President Jyoti Kulkarni praised the glamour and entertainment at the pageant, but also urged the contestants and the audience to “be thankful for their good fortune, but keep in mind the victims of domestic violence and pay it forward by contributing their time, talent and money.”

    This year’s show included the Teen, Miss and Mrs. Bollywood categories with thirty contestants from all over the United States competing for the coveted titles. The judging panel included Rehan Siddiqui, Founder & CEO of Hum FM, chef Roshni Gurnani, Amir Dodhiya of New York Life, actor Mahesh Sriram, Miss Texas Regency International Courtney Rae Moor, Miss Teen Houston International 2016 Natasha Muppala, Founder and CEO of TV Houston and Apsara Sangeeta Dua, realtor Shaneel Mitha, Mrs. Norway 2016 Eva Worren Chambers, international designer Noureen Dhanani, community leader Sunny Taj, Mrs. Bollywood 2014 Nina Desai, voted Top 30 Influential Women of Houston Farida Abjani and Jasmeeta Singh, Founder and CEO of Jaz Creationz.

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    Aalponaa Event Designers did the event management, Jaz Creationz was the modeling partner and Deco Art put up the amazing décor. Pageant Coach Niharika Nag transformed the contestants to be presented on stage and choreographed some of the sequences.

    This year’s event was an elegant affair full of glamour and entertainment. The highlights of the evening included a special appearance by legendary Bollywood actress Meenakshi Seshadri, live performance by 22-year old Salman Mithani and Houston’s rapper Rocko Stedy Narvios, who also composed and performed an original theme song for the pageant.

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    The show started with an opening dance by the contestants choreographed by Bollywood Shake, which included all thirty contestants wearing sunglasses and dancing on “Kala Chashma”.

    This was followed by the Round 1 Introduction Round where all the contestants dressed in elegant formalwear gowns were introduced. Then came the talent round for the Teen and Miss contestants, who displayed their individual talents beautifully from dancing, singing to extempore speaking. This was following by a fashion show choregraphed by Ruchika Dias and Niharika Nag to the live performance by Salman Mithani who sang melodious songs such as “Muskurane Ki Wajah” and “Chand Chupa Badal Mein”.

    The clothing sponsor for the Round 2 Ethnic Wear was Zar by Shehnaz Madhani. The beautiful display of colors, fabric and style was a spectacle to behold! Shehnaz has been in the business for over 18 years and recently opened her boutique in Telfair, Sugar Land. All the contestants looked fabulous in Zar’s clothing and lit up the runway!

    The “Beauty with a Purpose” award was given to Maliha Mian, a breast cancer survivor, who is starting her own organization called Got Boobs with resources for cancer patients. Other awards given during the evening were the HumFM award, Jaz Creationz Beauty Award, Miss Personality, Best Smile, Most Transformed and Congeniality.

    Bollywood Pageant sponsors included B4U, 106.1 HumFM, Official Designer Shehnaz Madhani, Amir Dodhiya of New York Life, Realtor Shaneel Mitha, Official Caterer Universal Bakery and Sweets. Official Photographer was Jasleen Kaur Photography and  Official Videographer – Sangeeta Dua’s TV Houston.

    2016 Bollywood Pageant Winners

    Teen Bollywood USA 2016 – Vaishnavi Gandhi , 1st Runner Up Jeevandeep Kaur, 2nd Runner Up – Aditi Panchal
    Miss Bollywood USA 2016 – Natasha Gambhir 1st Runner Up – Mona Deo, 2nd Runner Up – Anisha Roy
    Mrs. Bollywood USA 2016 – Jyoti Verma, 1st Runner Up – Pragya Sen, 2nd Runner Up – Gayathri Rao

  • CRY America Calls for Support to Make Children’s Dreams a Reality

    CRY America Calls for Support to Make Children’s Dreams a Reality

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    Photos: Murali Santhana

    HOUSTON: CRY- Child Rights and You America Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization that works to restore the rights of underprivileged children, especially in India, hosted its first annual benefit dinner “Spread the Love” on February 28, at the Stafford Civic Center, Stafford.  The dinner committee included Dr. Tina Pariani, Ruchika Dias, Pavan Lakku, Huralain Kothari, Minakshi Bali, Sunil & Anupama Srivastava, Charu Rao, Mousumi Banerjee, Somdatta G, Priya & Dharam Bali.

    While India seems to hold the promise of being a potential engine of global growth with investments happening in many sectors, its children appear to be the most neglected segment, with the rights of children being vastly ignored.  In 14 years of existence, CRY America’s work with 70 projects has resulted in 191,901 children being immunized, 104,972 child births registered and 367 public healthcare centers activated. Further, 1,187 public schools have been activated and 498,738 children enrolled in public schools today.

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    Speaking at “Spread the Love”, Patrick Bocco, Fundraising Manager of CRY America shared, “India has the largest child population in the world.  Children have big dreams and given an equal opportunity, they can rise to their full potential and make their dreams come true.”

    “Over 10 million children are forced by circumstances to do forms of work, often in hazardous or exploitative conditions. Girl children are killed in infancy or even while they are still in their mother’s womb.  CRY America has been able to reach out to 600,558 children, a feat that would not have been possible without the support of our donors, volunteers and grassroots partners,” he added.

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    “Spread the Love” was attended by almost 150 high profile individuals from the Houston metropolitan area, who came together to partner with CRY America’s work to benefit underprivileged children.  The resources raised will be directed towards funding several projects to ensure lasting change for children.  The key speakers were inspiring personalities including the stunningly beautiful actress, supermodel and a former Miss India, Pooja Batra and Comedian Dan Nainan.

    Pooja Batra shared, “I am so happy to be a part of this event and help raise funds for the children in India.”  She added “As people of Indian origin, we have a powerful voice and the resources to help organizations like CRY America who ensure the basic facilities to grow and hopefully be successful.”

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    Dan Nainan, shared, “I’m honored to have been asked to be part of the event for CRY America. He added that he was looking forward “to doing my best to raise as much as we can to help these very deserving children have happier childhoods and get an education.

    Dinner was followed by an enthralling dance performance by the Texan cheerleaders who also mingled and signed autographs. Malika Ghei delivered a fun upbeat song to keep the crowd entertained.

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    The live Auction had an autographed picture of Jennifer Lopez(winner Viraj Pikle), Spiderman eye signed by Stan Lee (Gobind Kamnani) & a baseball autographed by President Barack Obama (Amir Dodhiya). The 2 most coveted items – Apollo 11 picture autographed by astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins was outbid by Narain Kamnani & a Guitar autographed by Paul McCartney of the Beatles went to Anand & Dr Ashima Chauhan for $9200.

    A Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition was presented to CRY America by Sam Merchant from Congressman Al Green’s office. The event was attended by prominent members of the South Asian community, Leela Krishnamurthy, Dr Nik Nikam, Sam Kannappan, Rick Pal (Ek Disha), Bash Sharma & family and Ash Shah (President, Pratham)

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    Dharam Bali (National Advisor, CRY America) gave the Vote of Thanks. The dinner committee introduced themselves by performing a catchy dance number. The event was managed by Ruchika Dias of Bollywood Shake and gourmet food by Chef Sunil Srivastava (Great W’Kana Café).

    CRY America would like to thank its media partners Star TV, TV Asia, Masala Radio, Meena Datt Radio, Dabang Radio, Telugu Hungama Radio, Voice of Asia, Indo-American News, and event sponsors Bash Sharma, Vantive Inc., Amir Dodhiya (New York Life), Discount Power,  Ashiana, Deco Art Event Planners and Murali Santhana Photography.

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    About CRY America:
    Child Rights and You America Inc. (CRY America) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that is driven by its vision of a just world in which all children have equal opportunities to develop to their full potential and realize their dreams. With the support of over 20,885 donors and 2,000 volunteers, CRY America supports 70 Projects in India and USA.

    For info visit http://america.cry.org or write to patrick.bocco@cryamerica.org