The inaugural Global Citizen India (GCI) Festival will be held tomorrow, on November 19, at the MMRDA grounds in suburban Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC)in Mumbai.
The inaugural Global Citizen India (GCI) Festival will be held tomorrow, on November 19, at the MMRDA grounds in suburban Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC)in Mumbai.
The festival will have performances by international as well as Indian celebrities, but the star attraction is British band 'Coldplay' which is making its debut performance in the country.
With just a day to go for the concert, here's a look at the prep and rehearsals that are underway.
1. Backstage
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Backstage a day before the first Global Citizen Festival India at the MMRDA Grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.
In its first year, the Global Citizen India movement is focusing on major issues like eradicating poverty, quality education, gender equality and water, sanitation and hygiene. According to festival founder Hugh Evans, the India festival is part of a continued movement and is not just a one-year festival, but a 15-year commitment.
(Photo credit: DNA)
2. Chris Martin arrives
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Coldplay frontman Chris Martin arrived in Mumbai on Thursday. This will be Coldplay's debut performance in India. (Photo credit: Creative Minds Entertainment Facebook page)
3. Coldplay is here!
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The British band is reportedly playing a 90-minute set at the event. (Photo credit: Indianswiftie Instagram page)
4. A chat with Suhel Seth
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Ahead of the concert on Saturday, Chris Martin sat down for a chat with Suhel Seth at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. (Photo credit: Suhel Seth's Twitter page)
5. Shraddha Kapoor on stage
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Shraddha Kapoor shared a photo of rehearsals for the festival. The other celebrities expected to lend star power to the event are Jay Z, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, AR Rahman, Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Kapoor, Arijit Singh, Dia Mirza, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Monali Thakur, Amitabh Bachchan and cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.
(Photo credit: Shraddha Kapoor's Instagram page)
6. Ananya Birla
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Entrepreneur turned musician Ananya Birla shared a photo from the festival venue. Daughter of Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, Ananya recently released her debut single and is rumoured to perform at the festival on Saturday. (Photo credit: Ananya Birla's Instagram page)
7. Shankar Mahadevan
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Shankar Mahadevan shared a photo from the rehearsals. The entire programme is expected to be eight hours long.
8. East India Comedy
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Members of the comedy group East India Comedy on stage. (Photo credit: East India Comedy's Instagram page)
9. Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor
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Parineeti Chopra and Arjun Kapoor at the festival venue. (Photo credit: Parineeti Chopra's Instagram page)
10. Prep for the festival
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Organisers prep ahead of the festival.
A PIL against the festival has been filed by activist Anjali Damania and Hemant Gawande before the division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice MS Sonak in the Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra government’s decision to waive off entertainment duty for the concert. The PIL said that it challenged the validity since entertainment duty could be waived off only on the shows organised for charity or educational purposes.
(Photo credit: DNA)
11. Prep for the festival
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On Thursday, the Bombay High Court refused to grant a stay on the Global Citizen Festival India 2016. The court, however, directed the organisers of GCFI to give an undertaking that it would pay the entertainment duty waived off in case the court directs so in the future.
(Photo credit: DNA)
12. Prep for the festival
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There has been considerable heartburn over the pricing of tickets, reportedly starting from Rs 25,000 and going upto Rs five lakh, but the organisers said that 80 % were free. The free tickets were for those involved in social tasks like supporting education, gender equality and sanitation. Among the remaining 20%, some tickets were given to sponsors, corporate and general public.
(Photo credit: DNA)
