The bold and beautiful actress Vidya Balan and anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare have been reportedly received a special invitation to be a part of an annual Indian Independence Day parade on August 18. This event is counted as one of the colourful events in New York city. It denotes the Independence Day celebrations arranged by Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) New York and New Jersey chapter in the Manhattan streets.

The Parade's 33rd edition will see Vidya Balan as its Grand Marshal. As per the source, on this occasion, Tamil film star Sarath Kumar and his television actress wife Radika Sarath Kumar will march as Parade Marshals. In this event, the marching bands will be there along with procession of forty floats illustrating Indian culture, which would be represented by different Indian and American companies. Also there will be plenty of dance and music by local artists, cultural shows and the gathering crowd will be cheering up these artists.

On the parade route, a replica of Red Fort will be erected on 80x10 feet area in Manhattan for depicting the Indian heritage. In the past, the Bollywood personalities, who led the parade include Amitabh Bachchan , Shah Rukh Khan , Madhuri Dixit , Raj Kapoor , Rajendra Kumar , Dev Anand , A. R. Rahman , Anil Kapoor , Hema Malini , Saif Ali Khan and a few more. This year, an opening bell will be done by the guests at 9 am local time on August 19 at Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

The past events had observed the guests from outside cinema world, like businessman Vijay Mallya, American astronaut Sunita Williams, Cricketer Anil Kumble and Singer Pandit Jasraj .