almost famous: Rani Asra Gidwani: Indian Dance Instructor and Choreographer Balances Motherhood and Bollywood Moves

Eight days before she delivered her beautiful baby girl Raina, Rani Asra Gidwani was squatting on cushions on her mother's living-room sofa, addressing a room full of dancers. Gidwani teaches Indian dance all year round but she's busiest during the months leading up to Diwali, the Indian new year, which falls on October 25 this year.

"I said no to everything, but when people want you, they want you," she says. "I had an assistant; I showed them what to do and taught all the way till my last trimester."

With no formal training but with three decades of experience behind her, Gidwani combines Bollywood-style "filmy" dancing with MTV-inspired sequences and dollops of originality and style.

Officially, she's been instructing for nine years at her Kowloon School of Dance but as far back as she can remember she's been grooving to music. "I've been dancing since I was three years old choreographing my own dances since I was five," says the 33-year-old. "I've always been one of those people who leads the dance; I can't follow other people and copy them. That's not my style. What I have to offer is unique and original. I can't blindly copy what's on TV."

Apart from the vast number of youngsters she's taught over the past nine years ["Ninety-five per cent of the Indian kids in Tsim Sha Tsui who dance have come to some class or another with me"]. Gidwani's worked with Chinese, Japanese, Russian, British and Americans, enthused by the exuberance of Bollywood musicals' and joie de vivre.

"For the older ladies especially, or couples who just want to look good when they're dancing at events, it's a great workout. with Indian dance, bhangra especially, you shake everything. Bhangra-cise is huge in Britain and I'm sorting out a schedule in Hong Kong too.

"Indian music has crept in to so many remixes. From Eminem to Ricky Martin, the influence has spread into the club scene as well so when people want to learn to move to it, they come to me. I'm sure I was the first person to mix hip-hop and Indian songs and teach dance."

A voluminous file reveals her students' information -- an age group from three to 60. "I worked with an international school last year, with teachers, students, all of whom were putting on a Bollywood show after Moulin Rouge I think. They were eager to learn and that made it fun for me to teach. The best part was that there were no hassles because they were so enthusiastic."

Opportunity to work in Bollywood, the world's largest film industry, came often, but she didn't grab the offers. "I've had offers to work in showbiz many times but I wasn't ready to leave home - I was born and brought up in Hong Kong. To live in Mumbai and cater to stars and their egos and try my luck - I wasn't sure. Deep down, I didn't have the confidence then."

And now? 

"Now, I'm happily married and a mother of a 10-month-old. I still get to do what I love and seriously have no regrets."

Words: P.Ramakrishnan.

Portrait: SCMP

Published in South China Morning Post

South China Morning Post

建立日期： 2003年07月19日

Two Nights in Peking: Dior hosts not one but two extravagant gala nights: Anita Mui, Pansy Ho and a galaxy of Asian stars attend in the wake of SARS!

"The day we set the date for the opening of our flagship store, SARS broke out and made headlines," said Philippe Fortunato, managing director, Christian Dior Far East Ltd, after the last of 12 models had sashayed away. "We kept the faith and believed everything would be okay by this date - and here we are, at long last," he said referring to the Asian-inspired autumn/winter 2003 collection show, held at the penthouse of 1 Peking Road, to which we had just been treated.


It might not have been a very auspicious beginning but the culmination of all the effort - the grand opening of Dior's largest flagship store in Asia was, quite literally, a traffic-stopping affair. Dressed in black, red and sparkling diamonds, Hong Kong's A-list came out in their Limos and Rollers: Charles Yeung Chun-kam, Glorious Sun Holding's chairman; Frederic Dufour, Riche Monde HK director; Tina Liu Tin-lan, vice-president of Project Blossom; socialites Nina Lam, Harriet Tung, Wendy Wan and Jaqueline Leung.

Always gorgeous wedding planner Michelle Li defied the dress code ("But it is still Dior darlin'!"). Marketeer Mara Ho-Tung, boutique owner Mira Yeh, and James Louey, of the Kowloon Motor Bus family, and his wife, Jane, were lost in the blinding daze of camera flashes.

Outside, the crowd screamed and strained to see Canto-pop diva Anita Mui Yim-fong, escorted by a casually dressed Nicholas Tse Ting-fung. Film-maker Tsui Hark, Dr Eden Woon yi-teng, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce chief executive, and singer william So Wing-hong followed on the red carpet.

After a tour of the 4,500-sq-ft boutique, guests were invited to the rooftop and soon after the first few rounds of champagne, a charity auction was held to raise money for Project Blossom, an organisation that benefits children of SARS victims.

A Hardcore Dior handbag was snapped up by new-in-town socialite Cecilia Ying for an easy $15,000 while Pansy Ho Chiu-king laid down $45,000 for limited-edition Dom Perignon champagne. Before the auction of the "Gwendolyn" ring (a white coral, diamond and pink sapphire-studded little number set in yellow gold), emcee for the night, Dior's PR king Peter Cheung, coaxed an almost-reluctant Mui on stage.


Notoriously shy off stage, she came alive under the spotlight, her coquettish poses with the ring catcalled and applauded. The ring finally raised HK$235,000 at the silent auction.

William So Wing-hong pitched in later with two songs for the 100 exclusive guests. "Canto-pop stars usually lip-sync their way on stage but this guy can sing," said a very surprised Lumen Man Leung-yan, who was dripping in diamonds and mingling with girlfriends while her husband was away.


Lesser mortals would have been happy with one event but the following night saw "Hardcore Dior," a hot and sweaty affair held at the same venue, at which the music was louder than the guests - all clearly in the mood to "part-ay"!

Korean actress Kim Hyun-ju, Malaysian R&B queen Ning Bazuira and Shanghai model Lu Yan added international flavour. Hari Harilela's granddaughter Nisha Parmanand arrived with model Anna Schoenberg while singer Miriam yeung Chin-wah, clothes-horse Kam Kwok-leung and actress Cecilia Yip Tung walked straight into the VIP area.


But not everyone was so lucky and some didn't make it past the bouncers. the dramatics that ensued were hysterical as some of the barred guests made a scene unworthy of more coverage.

Return to Vintage Form

Of all the events held recently, nothing was quite as scrumptious as Veuve Clicquot's launch of vintages, an evening celebrating the release of three new 1996 vintage reserves. Nine of Hong Kong's most adventurous celebrity chefs were invited to create meals to complement the drinks.


We saw Gary Cheuk of Solstice, Rajiv Singh Gulshan of Veda, Duyen Hackett of Song, Kinsen Kim of Yung kee, Eddy Leung of Poison Ivy, Tony leung Shu-wah of The China Club, Li Shu Tim of One Harbour Road, Paolo Monti of Gaia and Miyasako Yukihiro of san san Trois go wild with their woks... so to speak.

Seven of them held a live demonstration, preparing a dish for the 70-odd guests at the Hong Kong Hospitality Industry Training and Development Centre. Harry Hiranand was there with out his gorgeous wife, Shirley, who was out of town, and we saw Riche Monde's Frederic Dufour in conversation with Cindy Won of Yung Kee. Peter Wong from City magazine and Darren Chen from Tiffany & Co mulled around the Solstice table while Tiana Harilela and Bruno Yvon from Riche Monde were seen munching around Song.





South China Morning Post on Friday, June 13, 2003

Ain't nothing better than a Hound Dog: Hong Kong hosts its biggest Dachshund Party

P.Ramakrishnan meets a group of dachshund devotees whose pet project revolves around their four-legged friends

Hiking up to the house of Esta Overmars, the host of the first and "biggest dachshund party of Hong Kong " in Mui Wo on Lantau at the weekend, the battle cry for every new entrant is, "look out!"

Guests dodge dachshie-doo near the entrance as if manoeuvring on a battleground. Meanwhile, a family of three dachshunds have taken over one of the more comfortable chairs on the lawn and a gang of six races up and down the embankment, while others are busy getting their tails and ears scratched by their owners, oblivious to the fawning fans gathered. A gorgeous golden retriever and a fluffy white terrier have gate-crashed the party but this is a bash that bars no age, gender, race or breed.

Forty dog owners have assembled for a forum on dachshunds, but little goes to plan as their 30 charges take delight in each other's company and the various competitions that have been arranged.

A distant cousin of the basset hound, dachshunds, also called badger dogs, hail from Germany, where they were originally bred as hunting dogs. Their short crooked legs are deformations, conditioned over the years to help them dig and burrow into fox and rabbit holes. They can be short-or-long-haired and come in an assortment of colours as they are mix-bred to suit climates and conditions, as well as fashion.

Ignoring the pooches doing biped impressions on her lawn, Overmars relates the sad tale of her first dachshund, Webster, whose death last year is the reason for the gathering. "He was taught how to swim and he was very happy, but he took in too much seawater one day and got bloated," she says. "He couldn't be helped in time so he died. So I built the Harry and Potter Web site [named after her two eight-month-old dachshunds] dedicated to information on taking care of this particular breed. We've all come together today to help each other with problems, to learn from each other's
experience."

While life-saving firsr-aid for canines is discussed, the short-distance race begins. Shamshuipo resident William Fung introduces me to his injured pet Michael. "He's got a back injury and he was operated on but he needs his doggy-wheel-chair for long -distance walks and runs."

Lady luck hasn't been kind to Michael, who gets into a scrape with an unfriendly neighbour trying to jostle for position before the relay. As the dog whines and hides between Fung's legs, his owner recalls: "Coincidence chose us. Late one night, I was going out to get my dinner and I saw him tied by rope to a lamp post. I asked around and heard that somebody had dumped him. I couldn't leave him and now he's with me. I've had him for almost six years."

As owners try to coax their prized possessions into reaching the finishing line, a few stop at halfway and return. Emma, Mary and Bruce Paterson's long-haired non-starter, cowers back but their other dog, Molly, goes for gold. "She is the alpha. She is fiercely possessive about her soft toys and putting one as the target at the end helped," Bruce says about Molly, while carrying Emma out.

Molly, who later wins the Miss Hong Kong framed certificate and a toy, is a crowd favourite. Posing for the camera, she hides a stuffed monkey under her chin to the adulatory flashes of the photographers.

"She is a 'therapy dog' so very docile," Mary Paterson says. "I've taken her into a school with children with cerebral palsy and they would make sudden jerks and movements but she'd just lie there peacefully."

Priscilla Wong, on the other hand, has a trio of snappy and suspicious dogs: Roby, Abu and Tanny, who refuse to stay still for a photo. "Oh, they have minds of their own," Wong despairs.

Overmars later comments: "Owners affect how the dogs will eventually be. They can be happy, they can be perfectly nice dogs like my Harry and Potter, especially if you've had them since they were puppies."

Wong runs Lazy Bones, a small shop on Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay, which sells dog toys, accessories, clothes, collars and leashes. She is also an event organiser. "We have parties for dogs every two months," Wong explains, adding that the next event takes place on March 2. "We all get together and go out for walks in different places. Usually about 30 people, 20 dogs turn up."

The second competition tests owners, who are blindfolded and asked to feel the pelt of six dogs, one of which is their own. Boris Chan sneaks into the circle carrying his golden retriever Vincy, but the impatient eight-month puppy does a runner.


By the end of the day, exhausted guests sweat it out and carry their dogs, perfectly relaxed in their arms, down the slope. A couple pleading with their pet to come out from under the chair are among the last to leave. Overmars grins: "Dachshunds own the owner, not the other way around."

February 13, 2003

Heir and graces: Abhishek Bachchan in Hong Kong: 2003

India's new screen prince hopes to step out of the shadow of his famous parents. P. Ramakrishnan meets the subcontinent's rising star, Abhishek Bachchan.

Following in their legendary footsteps is Abhishek who, by his own admission, is yet to attain the box-office clout his father possesses, but finally appears to be on his way with the success of his new film, Kuch Na Kaho (Don't Say Anything). The pressure to succeed is apparent when he talks about some of his less glorious forays.

"I cannot sleep the whole week just before my film's about to release," he admits. "Each film is like a baby that you work on, a labour of love that you spend a year of your life on, and if the audience rejects it, it definitely hurts. The audience is never wrong, I don't question that. A good film runs, a bad one doesn't. To me it's that simple. When a film flops, I sit and analyse what happened. I've got seven films due for release this year and next - there's no sleep in the near future for me."

Fresh from the recent success of Kuch Na Kaho, Abhishek appears at ease at Hong Kong's Holiday Inn this week, an hour after landing at Chek Lap Kok. Like his father, he's tall, has a rich baritone and an ease in front and behind the camera that underscores his movie-star genes, inherited and honed. He is very much the star: dark and handsome but without the postcard prettiness of a model. His vintage charm and decorum fits him as perfectly as his designer suit.

Abhishek was in town to collect an award on behalf of his father and to appear as chief guest at the Miss India Hong Kong pageant on Tuesday evening. When his father unexpectedly turned up at the pageant at the Intercontinental Hotel, there was near pandemonium. "Dad's here," he said, nodding almost imperceptibly while breaking into a toothy grin. He then strolled across to greet his father and the guests parted like an ocean, only to engulf and swallow them up. Stepping from the shadow of the man he calls his "biggest critic" clearly isn't going to be easy.

"Being in the same profession, they cannot be fooled by a lazy actor and point out my flaws as honestly as they can," Abhishek says of his parents. "Rohan [Sippy, director of the film] and I have been childhood friends and we worked very hard on this film. Our fathers have created legendary cinema together but we tried not to think about that when we were making the film. We would have collapsed under the pressure otherwise."

It's about all he's willing to say about rising to the reputation of a living legend. For now, he's content to bask in his first real success. The romantic musical comedy, that was screened over the weekend at the Arts Centre, stars Abhishek as a bachelor who's not interested in arranged marriage but ultimately falls for his picture-perfect co-star, the former Miss World Aishwarya Rai.

Although it's easy to swallow how he falls in love with his ravishing leading lady, the sudden break into song-and-dance is something that makes non-followers of the genre flinch. "Hindi cinema is escapist to the core. When the audience comes in, for the next two-and-a-half, three hours, you can forget all your troubles, check in all the problems at the door. Boy meets girl, their eyes meet, they break into a song in Switzerland. Where else can this fantasy play out?" he chuckles.

"There have been strident changes in Indian cinema recently and in the 1950s and 60s some very progressive films were made, but nothing beats this elevated reality. Cinema is a visual medium and looking good is all part of it. So you have the poor boy in the street but he wears Tommy Hilfiger on screen. It's all part of the game. At the same time, there are changes being made where cinema is looking more realistic."

As a graduate from Aiglon College, Switzerland, and then Boston University, his western education and Hollywood-ised entertainment sensibility must be presumed to step over Bollywood's suspended reality. "That's the Indian film industry," he says, "and please don't call it Bollywood."

His father shares the same sentiment. Last year, Bachchan senior told the Post: "Bollywood is an easy catch-phrase coined by the tabloids but we have our own identity and are not aping western cinema. The medium may be the same, but the style is completely different."

Abhishek continues in the same vein. "We don't make films for western audiences," he says. "Indian film has a fan following of its own. An Indian abroad isn't any less of an Indian than he is in India. Our culture is such that it's deep-rooted within us. Indian films are an integral part of us and it's our form of story-telling. Recently Bhoot [Ghost], a relatively short film [two hours] with no songs, did exceptionally well in India. The audience is growing and it's a very intelligent audience. A high percentage of our films have not done well at the box office over the past five years and the movie-makers have noticed. There are progressive changes made. Indian films have never looked better and the industry continues to grow."

Of the 10 films he's starred in over the past three years, Abhishek has hit as many genres as possible. His movies have been set in cities, in villages; his first film, Refugee, was set between the India-Pakistan border whereas his first release this year, Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon (I'm Mad About Prem) was shot entirely in New Zealand.

Is he looking for a niche or signing whatever comes along? "Two things that make me sign to a film are its story and its director. Within five minutes of a narration, you can tell what the director is all about. The director can convince me or be convinced that I'm not meant to be in a project," he says.

The most oft-seen phrase in his past reviews has been how "sincere" Abhishek is in his films, even in those that flopped. "Actors sometimes forget the critics are also part of the paying audience. I read constructive criticism and take note of things," he says. "I respect the written word and try to better myself. I know there's no personal vendetta, no axe to grind against me or my family by the reviewer. He/she paid for the ticket like anyone else so why wouldn't I take note? They are walking billboards who point out what's good and what's bad." He knocks on the coffee table in his hotel room. "Touch wood, the success of recent films is hopefully the beginning of a trend."

Abhishek Bachchan Picture by Antony Dickson

Originally published in South China Morning Post,
Friday, September 12, 2003

Rama (ramakrishnanp at hotmail dot com!) 

Horray for Bollywood: Aishwarya Rai: Will this Indian actress and Bollywood superstar conquer Hollywood?

Screen

Studies
P.Ramakrishnan 

When Lagaan (Land Tax) picked up a nomination at the Academy Awards last year, in the Best Foreign Film category, a lot of ink was spilt in the Indian and American media about Bollywood finally making its presence felt in the international arena. Enter the age of "crossover'' styles and cinema, they said, as the musical genre found a mini-revival. Though the film failed to win any trophies at the Golden Globes or the Oscars, it generated enough buzz to be picked up by Sony Pictures Classics for international release.

Re-released in the US and Europe after making it to the "Best of the year'' movie lists among a number of critics, the film still did abysmally at the box office. As Americans can barely feign an interest in cricket, let alone an all-singing, all-dancing film about the sport itself, the film fizzled out within two weeks of release and was quickly packed off to video-store shelves.

Loaded with six of the biggest names in Bollywood, Kaante (Thorns) premiered in New York last December, with much pre-release hype and repeated affirmations on how only international technicians worked in the movie to give it the "Hollywood finish''. Well, finish it did - really quickly in the States, as a New York Times critic concluded that: "Bollywood is essentially a non-narrative art form, in which coherent storytelling plays a distinctly secondary role to the purple pleasures of the moment.''

Devdas, Bollywood's most expensive film ever made, was India's entry to the Oscars this year, brocaded with much hooplah and Asian box-office success - but it couldn't even garner a nomination from the powers that be at the Academy.

So if Indian movies can't capture the hearts of the world's cinema-goers, then why not one of its stars? Enter former Miss World and current Bollywood craze Aishwarya Rai (see pic above). She has just been cast in Gurinder (Bend It Like Beckham) Chadha's next flick, Bride And Prejudice. After the unprecedented success of Chadha's comedy (the modestly budgeted film collected over $31 million and counting in the US), the director zeroed in on the most photogenic actress in Asia for her ambitious musical and re-telling of Jane Austen's tale.

Fellow director Karan Johar saw Rai's appeal well before Chadha did. Johar was part of the Indian film fraternity two years ago at Cannes, and he noticed the audience's immediate fascination with the light-eyed beauty, "There were all these stars dressed in their Valentinos and Armanis, but when Ash stepped down from the horse-driven carriage at the premier in her mustard-colour sari, everyone else faded away. If there's any Indian star who can make the cross over, it's her.''

And this year, Rai who was even asked back to preside on the Cannes jury. Art-house critics in Mumbai guffawed out loud, "What does Aishwarya really know about acting? She was invited to Cannes because she was the Asian model for L'Oreal, and the cosmetic brand was a sponsor for the festival. The same reason why Sharon Stone gets invited to the festivals - because she's press and photo-friendly,'' said one.

Hong Kong audience can see what all the fuss is about this weekend when Rai's film Kuch Na Kaho (Say Nothing) enjoys a brief showing in town.

She joins a line of Indian actresses who have been lured to the bright lights of Hollywood, only to see their careers falter in foreign shores. In the 1980s Shabana Azmi, the most felicitated actress in India, landed a part in Madam Sousatzka (1988) with Shirley Maclaine. After that, she went on to character roles in Immaculate Conception and City Of Joy, followed by an appalling cameo in Son Of The Pink Panther, which she bluntly stated she did for the money.

Then there was Persis Khambatta (Miss India 1965) who skipped Bollywood altogether and made an appearance in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), followed by B-grade brigade appearances in Nighthawks, Megaforce and Deadly Intent. In 1986 she was seen briefly in MacGyver and by 1996 - two years before she succumbed to a heart attack in Mumbai - she was doing two-bit-roles on TV as "the Indian ambassador'' in Lois & Clark and other shows on cable networks.

Maybe, though, Rai should take a leaf out of Rekha's book. At an international film festival in Italy last year, the siren of 1970s Indian celluloid, was asked with her perfect English and pulchritude, why she didn't give Hollywood a go. She simply said, "Why go to the West and be treated like a maid, when I can be the Queen in India?''







Picture Caption: Beauty & the East: Hollywood has its eyes on former Miss World Aishwarya Rai. Image Courtesy of L'Oreal.

Kuch Na Kaho, with Aishwarya Rai and Abishek Bachchan (In Hindi, with English subtitles). Saturday, September 6, 8.30pm. Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai
Sunday, September 7, 3.30pm and 7pm. HK Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Rd; Wanchai
Ticket hotline 31 288 288 (For 2 shows at HK Arts Centre), www.hkticketing.com. Tickets: $80, $120, $150


Originally published in South China Morning Post,
Thursday, Sept 4, 2003

P.Ramakrishnan is the unofficial Bollywood correspondent for Hong Kong's leading daily. Write to the writer at rama.p@scmp.com