at Manjit’s

The classiest Diwali event in Sydney’s Indian community: that’s the reputation Manjit’s annual Diwali Ball is fast gaining.

Leading Indian-Australian restaurateur Manjit Gujral, who is so well-known that you only need to know his first name, has been attracting the A-list of the community each year at his Diwali do.

The Four Seasons venue, a fab feast and some fantastic entertainment have become hallmarks of this event.

Again this year, the Grand Ballroom was done up in a festive Diwali theme. It was packed to capacity not only with Indian guests but also many from the mainstream, dressed up to the nines in what they like to call ‘Bollywood’ style.

Kanwal Gujral, Manjit’s gracious wife, welcomed guests with a traditional bindi and some carefully picked Diwali presents, bracelets for the women and Himachali caps for the men.

A giant ice-sculpted Lakshmi smiled down at the revellers, who made the most of the Goddess of the day by taking selfies with her. In days past, they would have bowed their head in obeisance, but these days the smart-phone is indeed one of the essential elements of (self) worship.

Inside, the trademark Manjit touch in the decorations, with flowers and oversize candle stands, was immediately evident. As guests settled in, MC Preeti Thadani promised a night of great entertainment.

Manjit’s team at Total Events Management have over the years, learnt to pick the best entertainers, both from within the community and the mainstream.

Ruchi Sanghi’s School of Indian Dance, and Ramona Lobo’s Sirens Group, are two dance companies that will find themselves in anyone’s list of top five entertainers in our community. Luckily for the Gujrals, their styles are quite different (with the former specialising in the classical kathak style and the latter in the more contemporary Bollywood style), so they can be called upon for the same event. At the Diwali Ball, both troupes brought out their lead dancers, who did not disappoint.

The mainstream acts at the Ball are always thrilling: while last year it was the aerial acrobat group Aerialize, this time round we had fire performers Razed in Flames, perfectly in keeping with the Diwali theme. The spectacular fire dancers, fire eaters and fire twirlers kept the audience absolutely spellbound. They were treated to thunderous applause, especially as they took pains to bring in an Indian link to their act with cleverly picked background numbers such as Dil se re and Taal se taal mila. Truly fantastic!

The fashion show kept to a Diwali theme too, From Darkness to Light. Refined and sophisticated, the exhibition was presented by Neelu Maharaj from the exclusive Saree Haven boutique, and moved from elegant black outfits to lighter hues.

Co-MC and stand-up comic act Tarun Mohanbhai of New Zealand however, did not have a happy time. Indian audiences are not used to stand-up comedy unless it is the Johnny Lever-Kapil Sharma variety. Even if, sadly, the artist is already successful in the mainstream. To the heckler in the audience who used that unfortunate militant tone, all we can say is, where was your Diwali spirit? And how come the Aussie ventriloquist Darren Carr did not raise your ire, even as he brought out his bad-mannered Mahatma Gandhi doll?

Kudos to the Gujral boys, who are willing to give something new a go, rather than stick to the tried and tested.

The Diwali meal itself, though, was definitely tried-and-tested Manjit-style, a lavish multiple course affair served at the tables with much elegance.

At the end of it all, coming up on stage to wish everyone a Happy Diwali, was not Manjit this year, but his sons Karan and Varun. Karan spoke about the festival and about the story of his dad’s company, which started small but by sheer dint of hard work, has stamped itself in the hospitality scene in our community. He admitted at the end that his speech had been written by his beautiful fiancée Natasha Verma, who had already impressed with her cameo on stage to draw the winning raffle tickets.

The indoor fireworks came on as the grand finale, engulfing the stage in a spectacular display and bringing on a Diwali feel reminiscent of the festival in India. The surprise fireworks at the dinner tables, in custom-made devices cleverly concealed as candles, delivered that essential pop and bang! Diwali Mubarak!

The regular attendees though had one major request: Manjit, bring back Larry Stellar, the 80plus crooner who lives up to his name so beautifully.

Rajni Anand Luthra