By Arun Kumar

Washington, Jul 10 (IANS): A colourful "Bollywood meets Hollywood" event showcasing the culture of India, dance, music, and a fashion show, will be held here next Saturday to raise funds for a new eye hospital in Punjab.

One-third of the intake would be provided to Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF), a US registered non-profit organisation that plans to open another hospital in Punjab by the end of 2012 with a net budget of $4 million.

To raise funds, Tejash Natali, a supporter and donor of SEF along with Manan Singh Katohora, a South Asian filmmaker and events promoter, are hosting the "Bollywood meets Hollywood" at the well-known upscale lounge 'I, Indian Experience' in Washington.

The event will feature a colourful, creative live art developed by Drishty D'Costa where women from different countries applaud India as a diversified country, the organisers said.

The women will present the vivid colours of a unified India, illustrating their culture and diversity uniting for a cause to help the underprivileged.

SEF works in partnership with Sankara Eye Care Institutions (SECI), India, towards eradicating curable blindness in India by raising funds to support eyecare activities, including construction of state-of-the-art free eye hospitals and conducting free eye surgeries.

Founded in 1998 by K. Muralidharan, K. Sridharan, and Khushnood Ahmad, SEF has performed more than 70,000 free cataract surgeries a year and has managed to double the funds every year to develop hospitals, cure blindness, and other eye-related diseases over the years.