An all female bhangra group from Birmingham made their debut on the big screen this weekend (June 7) with the Deol’s Bollywood blockbuster Yamla Pagla Deewana 2.
Founder, manager and lead drummer of the dancing and dhol-playing group, Parv Kaur said: “We were up at early hours in the morning on the coach to Leicester for three days and spent more or less eight hours with the stars on the sets. It was a totally different ball game for us with thousands of people watching us on the sets.”
Parv’s group Eternal Taal started out with four people in 1999 and has since expanded to a group of 30 people with girls as young as six participating.
Leicester businessman Vic Sethi, who is constantly trying to encourage and promote talent within Leicester and the Midlands recommended the group to the film’s executive producer Sunil Saini. He said: “I used to be friends with Parv of Eternal Taal, so I called her and said that I wanted her team to act in one of the main songs. I wanted to give the group a very prominent role in the film not just a crowd scene. I called Suniel and confirmed the group would come on board and we should allow them to come in their own uniform.”
Eternal Taal has been wearing the same yellow and red costumes since their first performance. Parv added: “It keeps us who we are and shows what we’re about. We feel like we’re ready to perform when we have our costume on and it makes us feel special.”
The group has previously performed at the Glastonbury Festival, Graham Norton’s Christmas Show at the LG Arena and Diwali on the Square at Trafalgar Square. Eternal Taal was also nominated for Young Entrepreneur by the Institute of Asian Businesses 2012 and Best in Arts and Culture by the Asian Women Achievement Awards as well as the British Indian Awards 2013.
