When Samir Khullar was growing up in Montreal, he dreamt of one day making his living as a stand-up comedian. Today, he’s doing that — and then some — as Sugar Sammy. He may not be a household name — yet — but his shows regularly sell out and there’s every reason to believe he’ll achieve his career goal of “world domination.”

Few things are more inspiring than the experiences of someone who’s living his dream, and we’re confident that Mehfil readers will be engaged and entertained by our cover story on funnyman Sugar Sammy.

Most of our readers have probably seen the memorable Telus ad featuring the voice of popular Punjabi performer Harbhajan Mann, whose song Meriya dhola is the perfect fit for an ad that encourages people to stay in touch with their loved ones. That highly effective marriage of message and music is the work of Jatinder Rai of Response Advertising, which specializes in multicultural marketing for major corporations. Rai is a mastermind when it comes to marketing, but there’s no clever campaign necessary to demonstrate what makes him a role model both in terms of career success and community commitment. His lifestyle and his accomplishments speak for themselves.

Also in this issue, fans of Indian films will want to check out Mehfil’s interview with Abhishek Bachchan, who’s heading to Vancouver this summer with wife Aishwarya and his superstar father Amitabh for a stage show.

Enjoy!

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- Minto Vig, Rana Vig