This year, organisers of Navratri celebrations have announced a line-up of renowned artistes who will entertain at venues in the city’s suburbs. In addition to the regular big stars, Ismail Darbar—a revered figure with 35 years of experience in raas-garba and dhol—is set to make a grand appearance at the Ras Rang Navratri in Thane.

Big names like Falguni Pathak, Kinjal Dave, Geeta Rabari, etc., Aishwarya Majumdar, Bhumi Trivedi, Preeti-Pinky, Nilesh Thakkar and Tushar Sonigra usually light up the stage with their raas-rasaiyya dance performances. This trend seemed to dominate the Navratri scene in the western suburbs until news broke of big names in the central suburbs of Thane preparing for Navratri. Joining Durbar will be ‘Dhol King’ Beldi Hanif-Aslam, ensuring that Gujarati communities from Ghatkopar to Kalyan will revel in the Garba festivities this year.