Osian's-Cinefan 2007: Boring start

Toe Knee

One would think organisers would have learnt from past mistakes. After all, this was the ninth edition of the Osian's-Cinefan film festival in New Delhi and its biggest yet.

Nah!

The opening ceremony was as tedious as ever. This time around, Neville Tuli had roped in Roysten Abel and his troupe of street magicians to enthral viewers at Siri Fort.

Abel's 'The Magic of Freedom' even had a blues band playing in the background. But barring the female vocalist, the show had little to offer by way of entertainment. Even the magic tricks were old hat. And a tad too long.

Just when half the audience had been lulled into a sleep-induced torpor, emcee Rajit Kapoor stepped in to announce that the opening film would be screened shortly.

Yippee!

After a round of lengthy speeches, during which several jury members were paraded on stage, the lights dimmed and the global premiere of the Iran-Azerbaijan feature Raami got underway.

Unfortunately, Babak Shirinsefat's film failed to live up to expectations. This esoteric work based on the Qarahbagh conflict and lovers of an ancient era didn't find favour with several in the audience.

Ten...
Five...
One...

The number of people seated in my row disappeared faster than you could say "Roysten Abel's magic". What Abel could not achieve, Raami did - people fled the auditorium at regular intervals. Raami's director and leading actors, who had specially flown in for the premiere, would surely have been disappointed.

Day One had proved to be a damp squib. Will the next nine days at Osian's-Cinefan 2007 be better?

Do check out Jabberwock's must-see list of films at this year's fest.

P.S.
Spotted Manisha Koirala on the run, trying to avoid the paparazzi.
Spotted Gul Panag baring her back, flaunting a tiny tattoo.
Spotted Divya Dutta in a pensive mood, wishing she was in Koirala's shoes

Delhi - easily starstruck?

Prithwish

It has been long alleged that Delhi, deprived of seeing Bollywood celebs, gets easily starstruck. I didn't believe it at all when I came to the city as I thought it must be a rumour! How can people living in the Indian capital be unruly but sadly my impression about Delhi has changed recently. I was a witness to a few things which I think I should have never seen.

It makes sense that photographers and cameraperson shout their lungs out to get the best pic of a top notch celeb, whose photos are of great sales value! But leave aside such these celebs, Delhi simply cannot handle the ecstacy of seeing personalities who don't even feature in the industry's A list.

I was at Ministry of Sound some days back, happily sipping away "juice" (he he) and listening to the not so common voice of Simon Webbe, the British pop star and the former member of all boys band Blue when suddenly people went berserk!

It got so unruly that I could hardly hear him sing. All that I could hear was absurd requests flying in from all quarters and people yelling at the top of their voice. It got so bad that Simon had to himself first beg with his hands folded to people to stop behaving like hooligans and then threatened that he would not perform if the crowd did not control themselves.

What a shame!

Next came Neha Dhupia - the "Sheesha", "Julie" fame girl -- known for her steamy dances and bold roles! An eye-candy for sure! ;) but photographers were crazy as soon as she stepped inside the venue (not to forget she was almost 3 hours late) and then the television cameramen lost it as they tried getting an exclusive footage of the svelte heroine! It looked like she has won an Academy Award! Gosh!

First there was pushing and pulling, then came abuses and to top it all people started threatening each other. Neha must have also wondered why she's getting so much of media attention? So did we!

Delhi is a little strange place to be in! I still don't know why people go ga-ga over celebs! It's their job to come for promotions and it's our job to report about them and try and get exclusives! (It's bread and butter you know!) But why behave like lunatics! It's a shame! What would the entire Bollywood fraternity think about Delhi - a place which boasts of it's culture? And then we should think what impression would the audience have about us looking at these alarming footages beamed through the national television channels!

Time to think Delhi ...

Photo Courtesy: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/City_Supplements/Delhi_Times/Neha_got_mobbed_/rssarticleshow/2183081.cms

Opinion: Who is an entertainment journalist?

Prithwish

I was going through the morning newspapers today and I got a little confused! The suppliments catering to entertainment/lifestyle news made me question myself what does covering entertainment/lifestyle mean? Is it just providing information about stupid page 3 parties or who's dating whom, which covers most of the space and then the rest is taken up by adverts or is it something more than mere titillation or yellow journalism?

It's been a while that I have been covering entertainment/lifestyle, say around 3 years (radio & print) but when i started off it was more meaningful than what it is today. we had to dig out stories, journalists were well read and some that i have met truly understood cinema and had the passion for the subject and that was the reason which made them so good. That was the reason why they chose to be entertainment reporters but now I hardly meet people knowing anything beyond who's dating whom.

I guess that sells but does it give pleasure to people covering such frivolous news bits? This again makes me think -- are they covering entertainment/lifestyle because they chose to or was it because they had to?

I guess the second one holds true for many people involved in the profession of high-life, paarties and star-studded extravaganzas but we all have to draw a line as to till what level should we lower the bar.

Entertainment/lifestyle reporting should not be about dimples and pimples and who wore what and who's abusing whom.

It is much more meaningful than these petty stories running through the day.

Reporting for cinema, fashion or music needs knowledge about the subject but I'm sure most of us can count only a handful names whose reviews you like reading or seeing. Most reviews are heavily opinionated without giving reasons for it. A film review dissects a movie, compares it with others and discusses the style, narration, script and screenplay. How many reviews today have that?

Even stories on fashion -- forget writing about experiments with cuts and silhouettes, just write about what models wore and what colours were used. For heaven's sake -- we all can see that in the pictures!

In music, the scenario is better -- thank god!! Some of the writers are really good but again reporting for entertainment has a benchmark and its reporting does not end with just saying what the event was all about, how people went ga-ga over it and how many songs the album has! It needs in-depth analysis which only a few does -- but they do it well!

Yesterday I was seeing stories on the death of "Tulsi" famed Smriti Irani from the cult television serial -- Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi -- and in the stories nowhere did anyone use a tv critics comment on how the character became so successful and i still remember this character has catapulted Star's rating to number 1. An analysts quote on all this would have been a good angle but anyways I guess people these days are happy with vox-pop journalism.

No matter what, it's a cause for concern for all those doing entertainment/lifestyle reporting. Are we doing what we want to or are we just filling up pages of newspapers and doing tv stories just to see our names on them! If that's the case -- can't we work a bit more. Entertainment reporting is one of the oldest professions and it started with the success of newspapers in India. We can do a little more to dish out good in-depth stories can't we? We must remember that a country so engaged in entertainment would lap up anything that we give them but that should not make us relax. We can only be respected as an entertainment journalist when we do good stories and that involves us becoming well read and we should probe and analyse stories rather than just pushing them out.

It's understandable that the pressure is immense to produce more and more such stories but can't we do one big in-depth entertainment/lifestyle story a week? Think over it!

Photo courtesies:

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/data/504/3331Bollywood_Sign.jpg

http://www.indiadaily.org/images/r_bollywood_goes_for_digital_cinema.jpg

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/152/PP003~Bollywood-Mother-India-Posters.jpg

Chasing Bollywood stars in Amsterdam

Toe Knee

Gauri Khan looks askance at me. She is dressed in white and clutches a shopping bag in either hand. As I move towards her on a busy street in Amsterdam, she takes a step back and frowns. I don't take the hint. As I start to mumble something, the wife of Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan hurries past me and disappears into an alley.

No, I wasn't trying to assault her.

The IIFA Awards were being held in Amsterdam in 2005 and I was a cub reporter let loose in the city of canals. Celebrities from the Indian film industry had been spotted in The Netherlands and I had been pacing the sunny sidewalks hoping to catch a glimpse.

I had better luck a few minutes later. Chunky Pandey was rummaging through a stack of colourful T-shirts at a shop around the corner. We exchanged pleasantries but I didn't harass him further, sensing that he wanted to be left alone.

Bollywood stars - hounded by fans at home and abroad. I could understand their predicament. Their need to feel free. The need to walk unmolested through crowds who didn't care who they were. And why stars viewed reporters with suspicion.

I walk past alfresco cafes and Gothic churches, stopping only for a glass of hot chocolate (they call it Chocomel here). As I pause to admire miniature windmills for sale at a roadside stall, cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin walks past with wife Sangeeta Bijlani. I leave them at peace and walk back to the hotel where the stars are cloistered.

There I find Boman Irani at his entertaining best, waving to a clutch of NRI girls waiting outside. Aftab Shivdasani is in the lobby too, looking dapper in a black suit. Ayesha Takia is wearing a brown ensemble, which seems to add inches to her waist. Bad designer or Amsterdam chocolates?

In contrast, Amitabh Bachchan is looking haggard and unshaven. The Big B has received news that his mother is unwell back home. He assures us things will be better on the morrow.

Actors - legends and one-film wonders - troop in for dozens of press conferences held over three days. Salman Khan is late (as usual?) and keeps co-stars and reporters waiting at the No Entry presser. The stars reel off their lines with practised ease, flash their botoxed smiles and leave as swiftly as they came.

At the Marigold presser (the film is yet to be released), starlet Ali Larter lingers a tad longer for one-on-one interviews. She drapes an arm over my shoulder and giggles when she's flummoxed by a question. Good strategy.

The IIFA schedule is chock-a-block. Aishwarya Rai waltzes in to have a tulip named after her. Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan brighten up the centuries-old Pathe Tuschinski theatre at the premiere of Pradeep Sarkar's Parineeta. Hrithik's team beats Shahrukh's bunch hollow when it comes to celebrity cricket.

And at the grand finale, Papa Bachchan, Abhishek and now Bachchan bahu Aishwarya enthral the crowds with 'Kajra Re' redux.

[Why am I being nostalgic about the 2005 awards now? Well, IIFA goes to Yorkshire in a few days and unfortunately, I am not going. A friend is covering the event and I can't help going green with envy. Grrrr!]

Tracking Down: Miss Universe 2007

Prithwish

India's dream of winning another Miss Universe crown was dashed when the sassy Miss India Puja Gupta's name was not called out from the list of the final five gorgeous women.

Though Puja looked ravishing than ever on the ramp (seemed like the training and make-up men had toiled very hard!!) and eased through the final fifteen and final ten stages, she failed to make the cut for the top 5 which saw Japan, Brazil, Korea, Venezuela and USA battle it out for the 2007 Miss Universe crown!

Though it was great to see a contestant from Asia win but I'm sure that had Miss USA (she's got a fantastic smile, body and charisma) not slipped during the evening gown round, she could have been the next Miss Universe.

But tonight is 20-year-old Miss Japan Riyo Mori's (she loves to dance and has been dancing since she was 4!!) night. She was buoyant and confident and was personality personified throughout the contest!

Congrats Riyo! You deserved to win!

Check out the links below to know more about the finalists:

Top 15 contestents were : http://www.missuniverse.com/mainevent/top15.html
Top 10 contestents were: http://www.missuniverse.com/mainevent/top10.html
Top 5 contestants were: http://www.missuniverse.com/mainevent/top5.html
Miss Photogenic : http://www.missuniverse.com/mainevent/photogenic.html
Miss Congeniality: http://www.missuniverse.com/mainevent/congeniality.html
Riyo Mori's Photo Courtesy: http://www.missuniverse.com/missuniverse/index.html

Konkona getting a raw deal, eh?

Toe Knee

Poor Konkona Sen Sharma. Why are directors hell-bent on making her fall in love with a gay colleague? As if Page 3 wasn't enough, Metro sees Konkona walking in on a none-too-brotherly encounter.

But she still gets off lightly. In a city where extra-marital affairs are passe and cool dude Sharman Joshi makes money by renting out his apartment for scheduled sexcapades. Which reminds me, is the similarity with The Apartment (1960) purely coincidental?

Shilpa Shetty, in her first film since winning British hearts in 'Celebrity Big Brother', plays the wronged wife to perfection. Hubby Kay Kay Menon is spending too much time in office meetings, or rather massaging Kangana Ranaut. And leaves a lonely Shilpa to find solace in the arms of theatre artist Shiney Ahuja.

As if that wasn't enough, director Anurag Basu brings in an ageing Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali to spice things up for older viewers. Despite this odd couple, Basu still manages to hold the film together with some tight editing and some spectacular scenes - go watch the movie, you will know which ones I'm talking about.

And I haven't even talked about the surprise package yet - Irrfan Khan is the soul of the film. He mouths the funniest and the most philosophical lines. Leaving those of the hamming variety in Shiney's kitty. By the way, I hated Shiney's theatre scene.

Nevertheless, Life in a ...Metro is eminently watchable. Be it for Irrfan Khan. Or Pritam's soul-stirring music. Or Kay Kay Menon's ogre husband bit. Or even Shilpa Shetty's return to stardom. Take your pick.

Rating: ****

NEWS: Mallika charges 15 million rupees from Himesh for a song appearance

Prithwish

Bollywood's maverick music director and singer Himesh Reshamiiya has roped in the sultry Mallika Sherawat to shoot a song titled 'Mehbooba' for his movie "Aap Kaa Surroor".

The song is set to be shot from May 29 and grapevine says that Mallika has charged 15 million rupees for the 10-minute sequence!

Good luck Himesh, hope the returns from the box-office are good!

Photo courtesy: http://im.rediff.com/movies/2005/sep/22poster.jpg