BookASmile, a charity initiative by BookMyShow, an Indian online ticketing platform, will organise a Broadway-style theatre show of Disney’s Aladdin at 3 pm in the Jamshed Bhabha theatre in the National Center for Performing, Mumbai.
Over 950 beneficiaries, including children between the ages of eight and 20, from 15 NGOs across Mumbai will be attending this event. This is the first event of this kind by BookMyShow and they plan to continue doing more such shows across the country.
Farzana Cama Balpande, the Head of BookASmile, has 23 years of experience in the field of Early Childhood Care and Education. She believes it is important for kids to experience new and different things and be exposed to art, dance, music, sports and culture for holistic development.
Farzana says, “BookASmile’s vision is to support special causes and enrich the lives of the less fortunate across India through the medium of experiences and enjoyment. Broadway-style shows are relatively new in India and is gaining popularity. They take great pride and honour in organising this unique event."
“The focus of the event is to provide opportunities for the less privileged in ways that stay true to what BookMyShow is all about, entertainment and culture," she adds.
She says, “Health and education are important but arts open up different corners of the mind. Actual learning happens when you step out of the classroom.”
BookASmile has been doing various such initiatives along the lines of entertainment and culture since November, 2014, such as movie screenings, filmmaking workshops, music and dance shows and art programmes.
They’ve also made quite a few achievements in the field of sports. International tournaments and necessary training programs and even sports for the disabled. They train and support a blind cricket team and their team won the Blind Cricket World Cup. Farzana says, “In our country, there’s always more importance given to popular Cricket and other such sports events tend to get sidelined.”
