Jai Ho: Comics and singers heading to Abu Dhabi to celebrate Indian Independence Day

There will be a mix of Bollywood, classical and comedy performances this August, with stars such as Sunidhi Chauhan coming to town

From left: Biswa Kalyan Rath, Sunidhi Chauhan and Hariharan will all be performing at an Abu Dhabi event to celebrate Indian Independence Day. Courtesy Front Row Events

Abu Dhabi will be marking Indian Independence Day this month with three days of live events at Abu Dhabi's National Theatre. Hosted by the Department of Culture and Tourism, the Indian Ambassador, Navdeep Singh Suri, will be in attendance to inaugurate the opening ceremony.

The three-day Jai Ho programme kicks off on Thursday, August 22, and will offer comedy, Bollywood and musical performances.

Check out the full Jai Ho schedule here: 

Thursday, August 22: Comedy 

Two of India's most popular comedians, Amit Tandon and Biswa Kalyan Rath, will appear on stage together.

According to organisers, Tandon will charm with his "universal" humour, as he is "famous for his sharp observational comedy and hilarious, hugely relatable anecdotes". Tandon’s nickname in the stand-up comedy circuit is “the married guy”.

Get a taste of Tandon's stand-up here: 

Former YouTuber Rath, who is also an ex-engineer and ex-coder, will bring "angry rants bordering on what's socially acceptable".

The event will be in a mix of Hindi and English, with a PG15 rating.

Doors open at 8pm, show from 9pm, Thursday, August 22, Abu Dhabi National Theatre, tickets start at Dh75. Find more information here 

Friday, August 23: Bollywood 

Day two will feature a performance by "the Queen of Bollywood music", Sunidhi Chauhan. Expect her to belt out favourite hits, including Sajna Ji Vaari Vaari (Honeymoon Travels), Desi Girl (Dostana), Halka Halka (Fanney Khan), Bidi (Omkara), Sheila Ki Jawani and more. In her long and distinguised career, Chauhan has lent her voice to songs in more than 500 movies.

Doors open at 8pm, show from 9pm, Friday, August 23, Abu Dhabi National Theatre, tickets start at Dh75. Find more information here 

Sunidhi Chauhan performing at Emirates Palace. Courtesy Flash Entertainment

Saturday, August 24: Classical music  

The final day of the Jai Ho series will feature versatile playback singer Hariharan. One of the pioneers of Indian fusion music, Hariharan has a song bank in various languages including Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. He is admired for his work in movies like Rangeela, Taal and Bombay. 

Doors open at 8pm, show from 9pm, Saturday, August 24, Abu Dhabi National Theatre, tickets start at Dh75. Find more information here 

The Bollywood singer Hariharan will perform in Dubai on August 24. Courtesy Southbank Centre