By Beth Stewart, Michigan Philharmonic Bollywood in the D – a wondrous cross-cultural fusion of the music of Bollywood films with orchestral accompaniment by the Michigan Philharmonic rocked the Music Hall in Detroit last weekend.

This concert fusion of “East meets West “was totally unique as the improvisational style of Indian music melded together with  the structured  arrangements of orchestral classical music and musicians.  It wasn’t easy to do and there were numerous challenges to overcome but the result was a high –energy, multi-media, musical experience that those in the audience, and on stage will not soon forget.

Indian singers, Parthiv Gohil, Jonita Gandhi and Sangeeta Kulkarni , joined 30 members of the Michigan Philharmonic along with 15 other Indian singers on stage which also included 10 percussionists, keyboards, bass guitars and sitar.  Film clips from the Bollywood movies were shown on 5 large screens while the music was performed live on stage.

These videos were taken by an audience member enjoying  a classical Indian Raga with sitar and incredible vocals by Parthiv Gohill.  Another clip features Parthiv and Jonita perfoming a contemporary Bollywood song “Tere Mast” and the final piece, “Hum Dik De Chauke Sanam,” showcases the orchestra and the unique musical collaborations which took place onstage to bring the music together.