‘Mitti Ke Sitare’, the celebration of Musical Talent dedicated to the indigent society of Mumbai, hosted the Grand Finale with glitz and glamour on Saturday, 22^nd June 2019 at Dome, NSCI Worli.

The Chief Guest for this event was Devendra Fadnavis, Honorable Chief Minister of Maharashtra besides other renowned dignitaries and famous personalities from the music and Bollywood fraternities, which included Grammy award winner Jerry Wonda as the Guest Of Honour, Padma Shri Shankar Mahadevan as the Special Guest, Shiamak Davar, Shriram Iyer, Kumar Bapi, Darshan Raval, Manisha Koirala, Khailash Kher, Anu Malik, Himesh Reshammiya, Jackey Shroff, Dr. Mickey Mehta and Sailesh Lodha among others.

Amruta Fadnavis, Advisor to Divyaj Foundation and also an accomplished singer has ideated this musical talent hunt especially for the underprivileged students of slums and BMC schools. During the Finale she said “I was motivated by Hon. Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modiji to extend musical education to the talented children of the underprivileged section of the society. I am really delighted and overwhelmed by the talent available in our country, especially amongst the underprivileged and with the project MittiKeSitare, these children have now begun their journey towards achievement and self-fulfilment.”

The exceptionally talented 18 contestants, aged between 7 and 15 years, were awarded Rs. 25,000 each as cash prize along with Winning Trophies.

The memorable evening began with the lamp lighting and felicitation of the dignitaries present at the eventby the Trustees of Divyaj Foundation’s Sampath Iyer, Mrs. Pallavi Shrivastava and Core Member Kavin Shah which was followed by the beautiful rendition by the percussionist maestro, Sivamani.

The highlight of the evening was the inspiring and splendid singing of the top semi-finalists who enthralled the audience with the performances.

Commenting on the occasion Shankar Mahadevan said, “When Shankar Mahadevan Academy was approached for conducting this massive talent hunt across all 1187 MCGM schools in Mumbai, I knew we were more than ready to take on the challenge. This is the first time that an organization has run a contest at such a large scale and our contest platform ensured that each contestant was evaluated fairly and transparently – and all this was done in a matter of 2-3 weeks! The shortlisted 18 finalists have been groomed and coached by our music instructors and I’m proud of the fantastic job they did today”

Neerja Birla, Founder and Chairperson Mpower extended her best wishes to the contestants and maintained “Mittikesitare has been an amazing journey so far. Mpower has worked with the finalists to help them prepare for the finals by organizing various workshops. Having a good mental health is very important for children to live up to their potential. This ensures that the children live a life that is filled with positive experiences and the willingness to do what is best for themselves and the people around them. These workshops will help the children deal with the possible mental health concerns early on.”

The winning team mentioned “We are thankful to Amrutaji and Divyaj Foundation for this opportunity.  We love the care, discipline and efforts that the gurus have rendered to sharpen our singing skills. Apartfrom singing, we were also trained in other areas for overall development. We enjoyed every moment of our training”

The evening also featured stunning live performances by Padma Shri Shankar Mahadevan and Amruta Fadnavis along with the Contestants, Mr. Jerry Wonda, Shiamak Victory Arts Foundation childrento name a few.

‘Mitti Ke Sitare’ is a social initiative by social activist and Vice President-Corporate Head with Axis Bank, Amruta Fadnavis, in association with Mpower, to provide a platform for the hidden talents across indigent areas of the country. To conduct this social welfare project, Divyaj Foundation associated with 1187 MCGM schools to connect, identify and select children from the underprivileged sector - those who are blessed with talent but lack resources to improve themselves.