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Cultural Affairs Minister Harshavardhan Patil said the programme, to be held at various places in the city — including the Gateway of India, will see the participation of actor Amitabh Bachchan and poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who have been invited to present poetry penned by their fathers.
Musicians Hariprasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussein, Satish Vyas, Louis Banks and Bhavani Shankar will also participate in the programmes, besides various folk artistes.
Patil said many hotels in Colaba, like the Taj Mahal hotel, Indigo, Deli, Tendulkars, Diplomat and Alibaba, would offer 20 per cent discounts to patrons during the programme. Patil said the hotel associations had taken a lead in this regard.
He said the programme was conceptualised when Vilasrao Deshmukh was the chief minister, but its format was changed after 26/11 to create confidence in the minds of people and to show that the city had bounced back to normalcy after the tragedy. The Rs 2-crore expenses for the programme will be met through sponsorships. The Union Tourism Department has allotted Rs 25 lakh for the programme and the state will chip in if there is a shortfall, Patil said.
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