Los Angeles Times: Bollywood hopefuls head to karaoke tryouts

A BollyStar competition in Lakewood offers a chance to land in a yet-to-be-announced production.
By August Brown

July 16, 2009

One rarely expects to be moved to tears at a karaoke competition in a Lakewood strip-mall movie theater. But Neil Sheth, a whippet-thin 20-year-old from Palos Verdes Estates, had the crowd on the verge as he auditioned for BollyStar 2009, an open tryout for a singing role in a mainstream Bollywood film.

His a cappella take on “Tadap Tadap,” from the 1999 Hindi film “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam,” was a heartstrings-snapping read of a tune that’s something of a “My Heart Will Go On” for South Asian film fans.

“The movie is about two lovers, and because the man is half Italian, the woman’s parents don’t approve and he’s forced to leave her,” Sheth said. “He sings this song as he’s walking away from her.”

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