Command Performance

Bollywood king Shah Rukh Khan has a simple aim: to put a smile on his fans' faces at home and abroad with his films, the actor tells P. Ramakrishnan.

"I don't know if the Hong Kong audience will identify with our style of action - bu it has that element of humour and thrills"

Shah Rukh Khan, of Chennai Express.

It is hard to measure the magnitude of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's fame and popularity. Long known as "King Khan" for his box office drawing power, there are fan sites dedicated to him in Asia, but even fans from Estonia, Mexico, Chile and New Zealand wax eloquent about his dimples, his hair, the intensity of his eyes and his smile.

Thanks to subtitled and badly dubbed DVDs that reach far-flung frontiers, there are few places on earth where that face and tousled hair aren't recognised.

When asked about his broad appeal, Khan says, "I have never tried to analyse my fans, why they love me, why they want my picture … I'm just glad to have them. Whenever I travel and see the response and love, I am humbled. I just want to hug them all."

If he didn't have his arm in a sling, the Indian superstar probably could have hugged thousands of his fans from Hong Kong and elsewhere who saw him in Macau last month. As he walked, bracketed by beefy bodyguards, into the Venetian Macao to co-host the 14th International Indian Film Academy Awards, the fanatical frenzy he inspires was difficult to miss.

Shah Rukh Khan & Deepika Padukone in Chennai Express

Not bad for a father of three who turns 48 in November and who first erupted into the national consciousness as a TV star in the military themed tele-drama Fauji ( Soldier) 25 years ago. With appearances in more than 75 films since making his cinematic debut in 1992, the Indian Muslim actor's next appearance will be in Chennai Express, whose worldwide release is timed to coincide with the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Fitr.

Chennai Express is an over-the-top action-comedy about a man's journey from Mumbai to a small Tamil Nadu town and what happens along the way after he falls in love with the daughter of a crime boss. The film is expected to do exceptionally well in India and the overseas Indian (non-resident Indian) market on which Khan has an unshakable grip. Khan stars in a staggering seven out of the 10 highest-grossing Indian films of all time in the overseas market, and an impressive 12 out of the top 25.

"There's no one to beat Shah Rukh Khan's magnetic draw," says Sunil Datwani, who has bought rights to several of Khan's flicks over the past decade to show Hong Kong cinema-goers. "Of course the South Asian community comes out in full force, but there's even a Chinese Bollywood fan club. And several British and American fans you can spot in the crowd."

Within the Indian film industry as well, his contemporaries are in awe of the actor, who has turned romancing with a strumming guitar and outstretched arms into a signature art form of its own.
"I was a huge Shah Rukh Khan fan when I first met him and did my first film," says his Chennai Express co-star, Deepika Padukone. "Now, even after meeting him several times and working with him the second time around, I'm probably a bigger fan. He is just … amazing. Just … wonderful," says the actress, who made her film debut in Om Shanti Om (2007), which was produced by and co-starred Khan.

Khan brushes off the praise. "When I hear such things, it's nice but they are being too kind. They are wonderful actors and it's just their affection for me that translates into their kind words."

As Chennai Express' release date nears, its lead actor doesn't sound anxious about how the film will be received. "It is a Rohit Shetty [directed] film, and he makes these big, big movies, and the stunts and action are just amazing," Khan says. "I'm a huge Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee fan. Even without subtitles, I can sit and watch their films for the comedy and action. I don't know if the Hong Kong audience will identify with our style of action - but it has that element of humour and thrills. I hope they … enjoy it too."

Khan, who won several acting honours for the dramatic My Name is Khan (2010), knows his latest film's surreal antics and slapstick will not be everyone's cup of tea.

"When I do a serious film like Chak De India ( Go! India), Swades ( Homeland) or My Name is Khan, there is a realism to the performance to go with the style of the movie. If I did that in a film like Chennai Express, it would be completely out of sync," he says. "You mould your performance and character according to the movie - as any actor would."

And are there any fears of the film not getting into the club of films grossing 100 million rupees (HK$12.7 million) at the home box office? "None," he says with quiet confidence. "The figures are irrelevant. I just want to do better movies, better roles; work harder every Monday when I hit the set to make as many people happy as possible. I don't count the money a movie makes, I want to count the smiles that audiences have when they leave an auditorium."

Chennai Express screens at UA iSquare from Friday

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Command performance

Chennai Express
In Hindi with English Subtitles
Aug 9 (Fri) 21:50 (IMAX)
Aug 10 (Sat) 21:50(IMAX)
Aug 11 (Sun) 18:30 (IMAX)
Aug 12 (Mon) 21:30 (House 2)
Aug 13 (Tue) 21:30 (House 2)
Aug 14 (Wed) 21:30 ( House 2)
Tickets: HK$150-$200
Venue : UA iSQUARE, Tsim Sha Tsui
Tickets at Morning Star, Tel: 2368 2947


Produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Red Chillies Entertainment, Chennai Express will hit theatres worldwide on Eid - 9th August 2013.


Flashback: My first interview with Shahrukh Khan when he came to HK here.

Show & Sell: Macau to host Shahrukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra

A night of song-and-dance in Macau showcased the best of Hindi cinema far from the magical, musical shores of Mumbai, the land where the term ‘Bollywood’ was born and bred as a distant, tan cousin of Hollywood. Now bigger than ever before, are you ready for an Asian invasion from the largest film industry in the world?

By P. Ramakrishnan
(ramakrishnanp @ hotmail. com)


As the constellation of Indian stars descended in Macau, working the red carpet as it led to the copious and cavernous CotaiArena, at The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, only a hall of its 15,000 seat capacity could shelter the largess of Bollywood and its fervid fans. The event, Zee Cine Awards, an annual affair that rewards the Hindi film industry’s best and brightest luminaries with a golden trophy on a dais littered with star dust. Many in the audience shelled out a dear dime to watch screen-icons live on stage, as a four-hour extravaganza, filled with song, dance and comic skits came alive far, far away from the film capital of the world, Mumbai.

The South-East Asian community (the Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis) descended en mass, filling coveted seats, as expected, but in the audience, there were many Macau residents, Chinese, Malaysian, Western faces, enraptured by the glitzy affair. Crossing cultural borders, the musical mayhem that lights Indian cinema finds a mélange of surprising fanatics.

Stella Choi, a PR representative from a major luxury brand, born and brought up in Macau, had a prime aisle-seat at the show at the Venetian. “I first saw the Indian film ‘3 Idiots’ on screen and loved it,” she says, with an unstoppable grin. “I loved it so much, I’ve seen it three times. And I can do the first steps in the song ‘All is well’ from the movie. I was so surprised that the college guy/actor in the film was 40 something years old! And the girls are all so pretty in movies.”

Indeed they are; with a bevy of beauty queens with silken sashes (six Miss Worlds, two Miss Universes and two Miss Asia Pacifics have all ended up on screen), it’s almost a prerequisite for a leading lady to enter the Hindi film industry with a sparkling tiara and title at hand. To break into Bollywood, it’s near impossible for an actor without a notable surname to make it to ‘hero’ status; the industry is notoriously nepotistic where nearly every contemporary actor is the son of… somebody with a film credential! The current lot of stars are mostly progeny of other actors, directors, writers and carry the rewards and burden of fame that comes with showbiz.

And what a business it is; with an average of over 800 films released each year in 24 Indian languages, the Indian film industry earns roughly US$2.2 billion. Budgets of Hindi films seem paltry when compared to American, the most expensive Indian films cost less than US$5 million to make. It’s not just the billion plus population of India, but beyond country lines, the entertainment industry finds audience and eye-balls from Georgia to Japan.

Which perhaps explains why the distinctly Indian show was staged in the foreign shores of Macau. Punit Goenka, Managing Director and CEO of Zee television network says, “With each edition of Zee Cine Awards, it has been our earnest endeavor to take Indian cinema in all its glory and splendor beyond national frontiers and leave a memorable footprint at an exciting new global destination each year. The response from Macau has been overwhelming to say the least.”

Concurring with Goenka, the CEO of one of the largest television networks in the world, Edward Tracy, President and CEO of Sands China Ltd, says, “The Venetian Macao couldn’t be happier about hosting the Zee Cine Awards this year. It’s such an outstanding event, and the CotaiArena is the perfect choice for a venue.”

With the telecast of the show to air on television in over 167 countries, 600 million viewers globally have the opportunity to watch the festivities. In comparison, this year’s Golden Globes hosted by Ricky Gervais saw 17 million viewers. For some, Pitt, Jolie and Cruise means nothing, where Bachchan, Khan and Kapoor resonate deeply.

Such is the mass appeal of Indian films that even Hollywood has to kowtow to the facts and figures; reports suggest over 1.8 billion people watch Western films (ie English language movies) each year, but over 2.8 billion pairs of eyes watch Hindi movies (not counting the other regional films that also churn out of India), either in its original format, or in subtitled, dubbed versions.

The numbers are astounding, and yet, as avant-guard Indian film director and producer Anurag Kashyap says, “Well, in the West, Bollywood is there for comic relief. Whenever we say the word Bollywood, they move their bodies, do a song-and-dance.”

Indeed they do. For all its international viewership, fiscal success and fanclubs, Hindi cinema doesn’t perhaps garner the respect or critical acclaim of an Akira Kurosawa film. Rarely will you see an Indian film listed in the Academy awards under the Best Foreign Film category. The escapist fare rarely does well at film distribution and exhibition fairs at Cannes or Korea. But does it matter?

When asked if he can be the cross-over star to jump into the Western hemisphere and bring Bollywood to the international arena, leading actor Shahrukh Khan says, “We don’t need to go to them, they are coming to us.”

At the press conference held at the Sicily Room Convention center at The Venetian Macao, international representatives from Singapore, UK, US, Fiji Islands and international cable networks had set up shop. When a blonde-blue eyed media rep from Time Out gushed to Shahrukh Khan in broken Hindi, “Main aapki sabse badi fan hoon,” [I’m your biggest fan], Khan humbly held the palm of his hand to his heart and bowed.

The format of the Hindi film, with its requisite song and dance, is in fact what’s bringing in an increasing global audience. Despite its non-linear, often nonsensical narrative and the purple pleasures of its picture-perfect scenes and scenarios - the latest Hindi films are beautifully shot and have a technical finesse that’s a far cry from its predecessors - there’s an order in the chaos that provides real pleasure to the reel endeavor. This year, Khan’s own films premiered not just in regions with a strong South-East Asian population but in Germany, Japan and Russia. The fan-following in non-Hindi speaking Malaysia is so large, Khan received the title of "Datuk" (equivalent to British Knighthood) from the governor of Malaysia's southern Malacca state.

Gone are the days of dancing around trees, singers and Grammy-nominees Ashanti, Tina Turner, Akon have collaborated in Hindi films. The Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Rowland, Britney Spears, Ricky Martin have suffused Bollywood beats and tracks into their own. When Indian actors graced the stage of the Golden Globes last year to give an award, Emma Thompon and Paul McCartney whistled in delight at their sight.

Khan is more than right, Indian films are not shape shifting to suit audiences abroad, but the audience is adjusting its view of Hindi films.

As Time magazine columnist Richard Corliss, with a self-professed ‘diagnosis of Bollywood fever’, says, “A cinema marked by vigor, visual ingenuity, signposts to a land so remote and exotic it is measured in decades, or ten time zones. These are territories I can explore for years, yet not exhaust their riches.”

To be sure.




SIDE BAR

The A-to Zee of Bollywood, Cliff’s notes on the crème de la crème of Mumbai’s glitterati who glistered in Macau during an eventful weekend;

The Reign of Khan


SHAHRUKH KHAN: Part of the trinity of Khans who are the definitive leading men of Bollywood (which also includes Aamir and Salman Khan - no relation) Shahrukh Khan, 46, is often called ‘King’ Khan for his unprecedented reign at the box-office. Perhaps the sole exception to the rule of being a leading man with no link nor lineage in the film industry, a once stage and television actor kicked off his remarkable cinematic career back in 1992. Two decades and 75+ film appearances later, he is one of the most influential (and wealthiest) men in Mumbai who brings his oft imitated and rarely repeated gimmicks and gumption to the screen.

The Seminal Scion


RANBIR KAPOOR: If ever there was one to the manor-born, it’s the fourth generation Kapoor, Ranbir, who’s family has been in the film industry since the 1920s. All the Kapoor men have been in the film industry in some way or form for so long, its hard to imagine the Hindi film industry without a Kapoor anecdote or antecedent. At age 25, when Ranbir appeared on screen after a brief tryst of studying abroad, the scion continued tradition as expected by gracing the silver-screen. As one of the young heartthrobs of the nation of a billion plus, Kapoor teeters well between being seen as a capable actor and a shirtless poster-boy.

The Dreamer, the Dancer

SHAHID KAPOOR: Perhaps better known for his stylised and indomitable dancing skills on screen and stage, young Shahid Kapoor has the burden of being the eldest son to multi-award winning actor and director Pankaj Kapoor - and the inevitable comparisons that arise with such a precedent. Though a competent actor of note, he dreams of being known more for his turn as a thespian instead of those perfect turns he does with a leading lady during an unforgettable song-and-dance routine.

The Beauty Queen


PRIYANKA CHOPRA: At age 19, Priyanka Chopra was one of the youngest beauty title holders (Miss World 2000) to slip into Bollywood and take it by storm. Unlike most of her contemporaries, Chopra has zero relatives linking her to the film industry; she’s the eldest daughter in a family of doctors. She won Miss India and Miss World consecutively over a decade ago, that garnered enough attention from film producers to make a beeline towards her crown and glory. With a quiet confidence and a killer bod, the wonderfully articulate Chopra is slowly etching a niche in the fiercely competitive industry.

The English Rose

KATRINA KAIF: The anglo-Indian former model (with an English mum and a Kashmiri father) Katrina Kaif has made it to the upper echelons of Bollywood, one film at a time, polishing her once non-existent command of the film vernacular all the way to being a contender to the top slot. No one’s quiet sure of how to encapsulate the unprecedented success of Kaif, who’s mostly known for his polished demeanor more than her dialogue delivery. In a visual industry that relies heavily on a pretty picture and pulchritude, she makes for fine, refined pixels.

Beauty and the East


VIDYA BALAN: Actress Vidya Balan came into the game a little late, but she proved herself to be the game-changer. A versatile actress of note, Balan did over 300 commercials, acted on television and auditioned multiple times before she hit the screens in 2005. With classic south Indian looks, the curvy belle of the Bollywood ball is not model-size but is its model citizen. Known for her finely tuned performances and opting for roles and films of merit, Balan may not spin box-office gold all the time, but her performances go for gold every time.

Bollywood's brightest stars heading for Macau awards extravaganza

A constellation of Indian stars will be shooting over to the Venetian Macao for the annual Zee Cine Awards on Saturday. A ceremony honouring the best and brightest of the Hindi film industry and its all-singing, all-dancing escapades of the past year, the show will feature a roster of top acts, led by the unofficial king of Bollywood, Shahrukh Khan, and former Miss World Priyanka Chopra. They will be hosting a 31/2-hour show with music and dance acts.

Also appearing will be young heartthrobs Ranbir Kapoor (tipped to be rewarded for his performance in Rockstar), Shahid Kapoor (no relation), Vidya Balan (also expected to win for her scintillating act in The Dirty Picture) and gorgeous leading lady Katrina Kaif, who is set to perform her chart-topping dance numbers. Old-school Bollywoodites will perhaps be more thrilled to see the still-stunning Zeenat Aman, a former Miss India and Miss Asia Pacific, who is expected to grace the stage to dish out a few gongs.

The Zee Cine Awards celebrates a billion-dollar film industry, with 14 million Asians estimated to visit the cinema daily and 1,000 films produced annually. If the overwhelming success of the subtitled Hindi film 3 Idiots in Hong Kong and the mainland is any indication, the local cinema circuit will be spiced up with regular Indian features in 2012. Sunil Datwani, a Hong Kong-based Indian film promoter and distributor, said: "I plan to showcase some of the best and most anticipated Hindi films in regular cinemas this year. There's clearly an audience for it."

Ticket prices for this Saturday's show range from HK$988 to HK$6,888. For details go to www.venetianmacao.com/zee_cine_awards.

Byline: P. Ramakrishnan

January 18, 2012

Bad intentions: Producer, Director, Actor Farhan Akthtar's Don: A Remake

Forget the schmaltzy musicals, thanks to maverick filmmaker Farhan Akhtar, Bollywood has fallen in love with the ultimate anti-hero. P.Ramakrishnan talks to the man behind action blockbuster Don 2.


"If your mother knew what you had done, she'd shoot you herself," says an exasperated inspector in an undisclosed Kuala Lumpur prison, confronting the master criminal.

"You didn't know my mother," grunts the tattoo-covered, muscle-bound Don, the hint of a wicked grin escaping his lips.

It took the penmanship and directorial moxie of screenwriter, director, actor, singer and lyricist Farhan Akhtar to turn actor Shahrukh Khan, 46, gleefully bad on celluloid. A return to form, "King" Khan (as he's known by the Mumbai media, for his unprecedented box-office success) plays the bad guy with relish once again in Don 2. The King is Back after years of whisking away leading ladies in song and dance.

"In the first film, we had played against prototype," Akhtar, 37, says of the 2006 movie Don: The Chase Begins Again. "We let the bad guy get away with it. He killed the hapless hero, he murders the leading lady's brother and the audience was in on it. They enjoyed the fact he got away with it in the last reel - and we didn't justify the 'badness' of the character. There was no psychological cause, tormented background nor redeeming factor about Don. He was just bad - and liked being bad."

The open-ended conclusion hinted at a sequel, but the filmmaker clarifies: "Honestly speaking, when we wrapped up the first film, we seriously didn't consider it. But psychosomatically, it came about. Everywhere we went, people kept coming up to me and asking when the sequel was coming out.

"While we worked on other projects, Ritesh [Sidhwani, the producer] and I kept thinking about it. So we sat down with two other writers and fleshed out a plot about two years ago. On a trip to Germany back in 2007, Berlin's untapped cinematic potential [made an impression] - it's a city meant for panoramic cinema. So we kept that in the background, too."

Given the success of its predecessor, expectations were high, so the trick, Akhtar says, was learning how to keep an audience interested.

"The viewer is already wise enough to know that there's a twist coming, so the hurdle we had to cross was to keep the audience second-guessing," he says. "It's the nature of the film and the genre; so we had to create enough sequences and surprises to keep the audience at the edge of its seat at multiple turns. The fan base already knows he's going to get away - but how? And then to make it plausible - well, cinematically plausible."

Sequels are often derided as pale imitations of the original, exceptions being The Godfather: Part II and one or two others.

"In India, we have the opposite; people look forward to sequels. There's a ready-made audience that already knows the characters [the main leads are back for Don 2], so each successive film gets a larger viewership - the curse of the sequel doesn't worry us."

Indeed, Akhtar sounds remarkably calm in the lead-up to the opening of his latest big-budget action caper, which comes in the wake of Khan's much maligned film Ra. One, which was released in October. Ra. One recovered its enormous cost - such is the popularity of Khan - but the media panned the bloated, special-effects-laden movie.

"I'm not at all worried in that aspect," says Akhtar. "We've been in the business for long enough to not let what 15 critics say affect us too much."

The son of legendary Indian poet and writer Javed Akhtar (who has an unprecedented 14 Filmfare awards - the Indian equivalent to the Oscar) and former actress and award-winning screenwriter Honey Irani, if not by genetic predisposition (his sister, Zoya, is also a writer and director), then by sheer osmosis the raspy-voiced son was to the writing-manner born. When asked about his hefty literary lineage, he says, laughing: "Thankfully, I live under no pressure from being born under the shadow of my parents' vast achievements.

"Fortunately, we [Farhan and Zoya] have been left to our own devices and have a huge support system. There's no pressure to meet their records. The benefits have been endless, we can talk about films for hours, as well as politics, art, literature. There was no expectation to follow anyone, to amass the trophies. They want us to do well - like any other parent."

With his first film, Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Akhtar established himself as a game-changer. A hit with the collegiate demographic, the Hindi production captured the zeitgeist of Indian youth who were cosmopolitan, wealthy and idle - his three protagonists spend a lot of time on the beaches of Goa. The rom-com has characters with devil-may-care attitudes who nevertheless find their bearings.

Akhtar then went beyond the boy-meets-girl Bollywood musical template. His second film, Lakshya, traces the life of an aimless student who makes his mark as a soldier. It may not have set the box office on fire, but, as most critics noted, Akhtar was the man to watch.

Then followed Don, a remake of a 1978 film.

"When I saw the original Don, which was written by my father and Salim Khan, I remember being a little scared of the character," says Akhtar. "[Amitabh Bachchan] was the bad guy, who was the lead and unapologetic about it. That stayed with me. So when the opportunity came to bring back the subject, it was an exciting option.

"In the Hindi film industry, we're used to pigeon-holing the leads: the all-around good-guy hero, the virginal heroine, the skimpily dressed vamp, the pipe-smoking villain. The boundaries are set. This was an awakening; you get to break the rules."

Akhtar based his reboot loosely on the original but brought it into the new century with a polished veneer, a remix of songs from the 1970s and a novel twist.

"When the first draft of the script came, we could only see Shahrukh Khan doing it," says Sidhwani, who has co-produced all of Akhtar's films. "We needed someone who had the charisma to ensure that the audience didn't repel from the fact that this guy kills people and keeps getting away with it."

Nearly two decades ago, Khan played the bad-guy role in a trio of Hindi films: Baazigar, in which his character kills one of the lead females; Darr, in which he plays a serial stalker; and Anjaam, which saw him play a sociopathic killer. But in the years since, Khan has played the saccharine, guitar-strumming protagonist in a slew of romantic films, wooing beauty queens and family audiences, and in the process becoming the highest-paid Hindi film actor to date.

"For someone who doesn't even like love stories, I've played an awful lot of lovers," Khan has said. "Personally speaking, I wouldn't see any of the romantic films I've acted in."

Which perhaps explains how eagerly he jumped at the opportunity to play Don, in his 58th and 75th film appearances.

"I did enjoy him as the bad guy," says Akhtar, as he heads to Dubai with his cast for the premiere of the film. "The capacity to play bad in a very, very interesting way takes an actor of Shahrukh's calibre, and he pulls it off with such panache.

"What I liked about Don was that we never justify his greed, the need for power. He doesn't claim to be anything but his bad self - the audience prefers that lack of hypocrisy. If we had turned the character good - given him a subplot to explain the way he is - then the film wouldn't have worked."

Akhtar grew up in Mumbai (Bombay as it was then) in the 80s, uniformly recognised as the worst decade for Hindi films; an excess of mindless musical mayhem that needed a transfusion of fresh blood.

"God, there were some awful movies made in the 80s, which gave birth to so many cliches," he says. "You really have to sift through to find the cinematic gems. But now, things have changed."

Nonetheless, he says, "I enjoyed Hindi films a lot growing up. I never looked down on them. And in equal measure, I was crazy about dramas and action films from Hollywood - the Bond movies and Die Hard. Especially Die Hard!

"Friends used to make fun of me, but I used to watch Bruce Willis' action - or parts of it - every day. Die Hard I, II, III and IV - I loved them all. Fast-paced action, non-stop movement and exposition, the lines - which, as a teen, I thought were brilliant. Now I flinch a bit. But I still love it and know every word."

And therein may lie the genesis of the slick and expensive action sequences in his own films. With an international crew and the latest technology, the sheen and patina of Don 2 is several notches above the average fare - and if the chase scenes seem reminiscent of The Bourne Identity it is for good reason.

"The Mumbai movie-watcher is different from those of anywhere else as we're fed on both Indian films and Hollywood flicks, so our generation of movie makers has that duality in them. We want to make films where the action is on par with an American counterpart, but we won't shy away from the song-and-dance routine," says Akhtar. "I have to say, I enjoy the music, too - as long as it pushes the story forward. The days of mindless, 'lets put a song here to give the audience time to go to the loo' are over. I hope."

Don 2 is less than two hours and 15 minutes long - shorter by three quarters of an hour than the average Hindi film - and most of the songs hum along in the background.

"We added a background score for Don, and there aren't many lip-synced dances that the leads break into. Depending on the nature of the film - its genre - the song-and-dance bit is often integral to Indian cinema, and it would be a disservice to take it out. The Frenchman in the hall or the German or the Malaysian or Indonesian, they expect it just as much as the Indian audience does.

"The rate of inflation aside, Don 2 is on a much larger scale [than the first Don]. We had established that Don was wanted all across Asia for the crimes he committed in the first film - so why not take over the world?" says Akhtar. "We had an excellent crew and cast [in Berlin] - and if you've heard the expression, 'India has the largest cinematic audience', well, we witnessed it. Everywhere we went, even in the winter, hundreds of people gathered to watch. Shahrukh celebrated his birthday during the shoot and hundreds of people congratulated him - he was very moved."

Don 2 was simultaneously released in India, the United States and Britain, where there is a large Indian community. Russia, France, Malaysia, South Korea, Germany, Hong Kong and the mainland also got to see the film last weekend, as the market for Indian films with subtitles or dubbed versions grows rapidly.

Says producer Sidhwani: "In India, we got lucky that Mission: Impossible [Ghost Protocol] was released a week before Don 2. But we're also lucky that an Indian audience is not divided by a Hollywood option. A nation of a billion, if given an option, would patronise their local industry."

And will there be a Don 3?

Akhtar laughs: "Ring me back after you watch the film. I'll answer then."


The stars of Don 2, Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra, will host the Zee Cine Awards at the Venetian Macao on January 21. Tickets are available at www.venetianmacao.com/zee_cine_awards. Don 2 had a limited run over Christmas and may return in the new year. In the meantime you can visit www.don2thefilm.com to conduct your own investigation into his crimes.


Feature by P.Ramakrishnan, ramakrishnanp @ hotmail.  com [spaced out so I don't get spam - and I mean more spam! Rama).

Hold the romance - Shahrukh Khan's back to being a baddie in big-budget Bollywood export

After a string of Bollywood rom-coms over the past decade, Shahrukh Khan returns to form as a ruthless underworld kingpin in Don 2. Khan's rise to the pinnacle of fame in films where be took the role of villainous anti-heros, film producer Ritesh Sidhwani said.

"We remember him as the bad guy in Darr [Fear]," Sidhwani said by phone from Dubai, where he will attend the emirate's premiere. "He was so thrilling to watch. When we started making the movie, we needed someone who had endless charisma on screen - because we wanted the audience to not repel against a lead protagonist who is essentially bad, he kills people, blows up buildings.

"Who else but Shahrukh Khan to play a role that winks at the audience with a 'you know I'm bad, but you still love me' vibe?"

Who indeed. With inspiration from a series of action flicks, and an international crew, location and massive budget, Don 2 is mercifully short. The leads don't break into a jig at the drop of a hat.

"If we made the lead gangster turn good in this movie - like a Robin Hood character that does bad, but for the good of mankind - then, the film doesn't work," Sidhwani said. "We don't explain why this character is bad. He just is."

The film opens simultaneously this week in Hong Kong, India, the United States, Britain and other countries. "We've found distributors from around the world approaching us, as there's a fascination with Indian cinema that's been on a slow but constant rise," Sidhwani said.

Don 2, in Hindi with English subtitles, opens tomorrow at Kowloon's Golden Gateway and GH Whampoa cinemas.

December 21, 2011
Byline: P. Ramakrishnan
E-mail: ramakrishnanp@hotmail.com

Ra One Premiers in Hong Kong Tonight!

As the five-day festival of Diwali reaches its zenith, a chunk of the more than 45,000-strong Indian community will be queuing outside iSquare this weekend for Ra.One – Bollywood’s first 3D, superhero flick that has been touted as the most expensive Indian film ever made.

“Not just Indians, the Japanese, Malaysian, French and local crowd will be there,” says show organiser Sunil Datwani, who has been bringing Indian films to local screens for the past 10 years. “Tickets have gone off to a flying start. It’s a movie that’s going to break barriers, a really international crowd has bought the tickets already. In sheer numbers, Bollywood is bigger than any film industry in the world.”

Bollywood heartthrob Shahrukh Khan who has been hop-scotching the planet attending premieres in Dubai, Germany and London, said: “I hope people come into the movie with no preconceived notions on a Hindi film or a superhero film. This isn’t like Spider-Man, Batman, which had a budget of US$50 million or more just for special effects alone. We’ve made [Ra.One] on a fraction of [their entire] budget – and I promise you, the audience will not be disappointed by the special effects.

“As a producer and actor, I’ve invested a lot of my own money and time. When I approached established production houses, they rejected the film. They weren’t brave enough to venture and invest into this.”

Hopefully that bravura will pay off. With 10 screenings at the weekend, Datwani hopes that, along with 3 Idiots, Bollywood will open up even more to the local community.

“I’ve paid the maximum for the film and I know the collection of this film will break records. I hope, as I go into the second decade of bringing films to Hong Kong – which I do for the love of Indian cinema – a Hindi film poster will be regularly seen in all cinemas.”


By P.Ramakrishnan
(email: ramakrishnanp@hotmail.com)

Master's Stroke: Actor and Director Amol Palekar works with King Khan; Shahrukh Khan

Since his directorial debut in 1981, Indian filmmaker Amol Palekar has explored a range of offbeat themes on taboo topics. But his latest Bollywood-esque offering is a stark departure, writes P.Ramakrishnan. 

The role of an ordinary man caught in an unusual predicament made Indian actor Amol Palekar the king of middle-class comedies in the Hindi cinema of the 1970s. A bespectacled and soft-spoken actor, he never fitted Bollywood's model of a leading man, but the success of his musical comedies ensured a long career on screen. 

Then, in 1981, he put acting behind him to direct Akriet (Misbegotten), a film that propelled Palekar onto the world stage when it won a special Jury award at the Nantes Third Film Festival in France. 

 "One tends to confuse me as an actor with the [real] person," says Palekar, 61, on the eve of the release of his latest film, Paheli (Puzzle). "All the credit goes to my directors, the best in the country, all of whom I worked with. I was a painter by profession, an actor by default and a director by choice. The movies I make are the ones I want to see." 

In the 24 years since his first award as director, Palekar has shown his capability as a storyteller whose themes centre on sticky social issues few Indian filmmakers would dare to touch or deal with in Bollywood films. He has been lauded as the so-called king of the movie festival circuit and a doyen on the parallel cinema movement in India, referring to independent films far removed from the mainstream Bollywood blockbusters. His directorial work - including Ankahee (The Unsaid, 1985), Bangarwardi (The Village has No Walls, 1995), Daayraa (The Square Circle, 1996), Dhyaans Parva (An Era of Yearning, 2001) - is miles away from the comedies in which he starred. 

"I am greatly influenced by the filmmakers I worked with - how could I not be? I worked with the best in the industry. In fact, what the critics say about my film, what the journalists have to write in print doesn't concern me - but what my former directors think of it matters a lot more," says Palekar, who has won six National Awards in India in his nearly two-decade on-screen career. 

As a filmmaker, Palekar has remained uncompromising in the visual impact of his works and his directing sensibilities. Such unfailing integrity is evident in a rumoured incident during his career. A production company had approved Palekar's script, but days before production was scheduled to start he was pressured to make it more commercially viable. Having films made on sexuality, the plight of village women, transvestites and others who are on the fringes of society, the thought of splicing a chart-topping song into his script was anathema to the director so he found another producer. But the mainstream has its place. 

"There's a misconception that I don't enjoy your average Hindi film. It's tremendous fun to watch a mainstream movie in India - I have been part and parcel of it. But I would like to say certainly I am anti-mediocre cinema, bad cinema." 

So what is bad cinema? 

"That's fairly simple," he says. "The parameters of each and every film, the subject, the story, has its own demands. It chooses the language, the idiom. The story chooses the visuals, the textures and the sound. "A Bollywood film is meant for pure entertainment - so it has its songs and dances. Once you choose those parameters, sincerity is its yardstick. "You have to be true to the parameters that you have chosen. If there is a confusion in one's own mind, [coming] out of that insecurity, how can you try to say something that comes off in a jumble? A hodge-podge of here and there. That's bad cinema." 

With a lineup of Bollywood's A-list names - Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee - Palekar's latest film comes after a three-year gap and is a change in tack from his previous non-musical, non-star, low-budget efforts. Industry rumours say the combined budget of his past two films pales in comparison with the financing of the art direction alone in Paheli. 

"I chose actors for the role, not stars. The stars in the film just happen to be the biggest in the country," says Palekar, who shot the film in just 45 days in an industry notorious for lengthy delays and year-long production hassles. "When I first narrated a part to Shahrukh, he loved the script so much he said he wanted to produce the film. Each and every person we approached agreed immediately [because it was] based on Sandhya Gokhale's writing, and that script is the backbone of this film." 

Palekar is reluctant to reveal many details about Paheli, which is based on Vijaydan Detha's version of a Rajasthani folktale of love. Detha's work entitled Duvidha, is about a woman named Lachchi (played by Mukherjee) who has an arranged marriage to a merchant she's never seen. On the way to her new home, the wedding party rests under a banyan tree haunted by a ghost (Khan) who falls in love with the young bride-to-be. On their wedding night, the groom leaves home on business and the ghost, disguised as her new husband, visits the bride. Years later, her real husband returns and Lachchi has a choice to make, but she is uncertain what she should do. 

"The film's narrative is Indian to the core. We have oral history - stories that are retold over the years by a storyteller who doesn't pen it down on paper, but tells you the tale. A vocal narration of legend and history is our tradition. This movie is an Indian version of a once-upon-a-time fairy tale," says Palekar, who uses vibrant colours and the costumes of Jaipur to bring the ancient tale to life. 

"It is set in the days of yore, we've shot in the most beautiful, palatial homes in Rajasthan, untouched by modernity. Thematically, it's layered on the plight of women. What choices do they have and people could just as easily relate it to contemporary women, not just in India, but everywhere in the world."  

Without a chorus line of scantily clad women dancing to a pop-bhangra-techno beat, the question is will this village tale find box office success? "The story, the cast and the acting of each person in the movie will bring in the audience. Rani's easily one of the best actresses in the country. Her past four films did brilliantly at the box office so there's that superstar element, but well before that I saw her as this great actress who I wanted in the title role of the film." 

So why the sudden leap from the drama of his small-budget independent films to the choreographed magnitude of Bollywood? 

"My process is very simple - when you read a lovely poem, and you love it so much, your first reaction is to share it with your dear ones and hope that they love it as much you did," Palekar says. 

"The same kind of passion and love that I have for a story, I want to share it with everyone, with as many people as possible. This is my simple reason and simple process. Essentially, this is what most directors are - storytellers. I am very fortunate that the number of people listening to the story have been increasing with each film of mine."

Also Read:

• The Race to Oscar Glory: Paheli
• Features: Shahrukh Khan; King Khan of Bollywood. 

 

The Reach of Khan: Shahrukh Khan's interview in Hong Kong: SRK is back. Again

Shahrukh Khan can't sing or dance [says he] but billions of swooning fans couldn't care less, writes P.Ramakrishnan.

Shahrukh Khan was an up-and-coming actor when he first performed in Hong Kong in 1993, having just shifted from New Delhi to the Bollywood capital of Mumbai.

With just three films under his belt, he was nowhere near the main attraction in the Indian musical troupe that took the stage at Queen Elizabeth Stadium - actress Jaya Prada, a star dancer/actress of the 1980s, was far bigger news back then. He wasn't even the second attraction.

Fast forward 11 years and Khan, 39, has earned the sobriquet "King of Bollywood" from the media at large. Forty two films, 10 of the biggest blockbusters of Indian cinema and innumerable awards, King Khan is Maidas incarnate, with a box office smash every year in the past decade. His latest film, Veer Zara, is now ruling the Indian box office and is No 4 in Britain's top 10.

But what are his memories of our shores? "I don't remember much about my last visit to Hong Kong - it was a long, long time ago and I've done so many shows over the years around the world, but I do remember landing Kai Tak - that was very exciting. And the auditorium where we performed, I had to win over the crowd as I was still pretty new."

This year, the battle is all but won. Last month the Asian edition of TIME magazine described Khan as the most famous actor alive - Bollywood's reach being 3.6 billion to Hollywood's 2.6 billion.

"Before a show, I am quiet for a minute or two, settling down. I don't get too nervous because I've done enough shows to know better. If you goof up, you goof up and it's happened many times. It's the imperfections that make a show memorable and fun. Enjoy the moment and move on," Khan says, as he prepares for a pan-Asia tour of the Temptation show in which he stars with a host of other Indian celebrities, including Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Zayed Khan, former Miss India Celina Jaitley and super model Malaika Arora-Khan.

Khan doesn't sing ("I am tone deaf") and doesn't enjoy dancing ("I do what I can, but I'm no John Travolta"), but he has to be seen to be believed. With a background of dozens of perfectly choreographed dancers, he re-enacts scenes and lip-syncs songs from his most successful movies. DVDs of his concerts in Britain and the US show Beatles-like mania with audiences lunging towards the stage as he throws out autographed T-shirts and stuffed toys.

The BBC has extensively covered Khan over the years and part of last year's Edinburgh International Film Festival focused on his epic on-screen romances. Then there's a temple some hardcore fans have built to him in India. "I don't know why I'm loved, but I'm conscious of it and forever humbled. I think there are better actors, better-looking heroes in India," says Khan. "I'm aware that it means they've liked the characters I play - if they met me in person, they'd find me rather boring. It makes me want to work harder, make better films."

For the non-Bollywood audience, Khan explains the vast productions and their indefatigable appeal: "The west has rock concerts, we have musicals. It's a 70-year-plus tradition and unlike any other country in the world. It works better than Hollywood. It's our method of story telling and it's no better or worse than other forms of entertainment. We have to entertain more than a billion people and catering to that mass number means the guy from Assam to the NRI [non-resident Indian] in Jersey has to enjoy the film."

Khan starred in Devdas, which premiered at Cannes in 2002, but says he's never had to defend Hindi cinems before the legions of foreign press. "I've never had to justify a film - regardless of whether I am hanging from a helicopter or dancing on top of a mountain, our style has survived Hollywood.

"It's very colourful, it's very loud, but then, that's our culture of cinema and we have to be proud of it. It may seem silly, but love it or leave it."

Even if that means sacrificing a global audience, which may not be used to someone breaking into song at the drop of a turban? "To a certain extent, changes in Bollywood are inevitable," Khan says, "but I assure you that of 800 films made, only 200 or 300 wiil be non-musicals in the future. We'll always have the tradition of song and dance as that's inherent to us. Why make a Hong Kong film with no action, no Kung Fu, no marital arts? That's why I want to watch those films, not because they're copies of western cinema. Why change Hindi films with their heritage?"

It's easy to see why Khan wouldn't want to change a formula that's clearly worked well for him in the past, earning him five Filmfare awards (the Indian equivalent of the Oscars) in a row between 1992 and 1995 and picking up his seventh trophy last year.

"I've been a sportsman all my life so mentally, the way I see it I've entertained so many people and [the awards] are their way of letting me know their appreciation. I still get excited about the ceremony, what my colleagues say about me and their kind gestures still matter to me," he says without false modesty.

"Achieving success is easy, sustaining it isn't. The process of film making is more exciting than the product. Once the film is done, released, it's in God's hands," he says.

"When I look back on films, I don't reflect on how well they did, whether or not I enjoyed making the film. For me, bad working conditions on a successful film makes the movie forgettable."

Despite the success, Khan says he doesn't have his sights set on Hollywood. "It is not like Steven Spielberg or [Steven] Soderbergh are waiting in Hollywood with a script in hand for me. I'm very happy where I am, with the films I do, with the people I work with. My dream is to be a part of a film that will be seen the world over - an Indian film."

Screen Studies: Shahrukh Khan: Interview with a Bollywood Icon, South China Morning Post

In Indian cinema, there’s no one quite like Shahrukh Khan. Khan’s unprecedented hold on top of the box office remains a feat unmatched. With the advent of Rab Ne Bana De Jodi, will he strike box-office gold… again? P.Ramakrishnan was in conversation with a King. 

"I honestly don't know where I'd be if that film wasn't made," says Indian actor Shahrukh Khan, referring to Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (which translates to The Brave Heart will Take the Bride). The 1995 film was Aditya Chopra's directorial debut and it defied the skeptics' predictions in Bollywood and eventually ran in Mumbai for almost 10 years, earning a record 700 million Indian rupees (HK$110.43 million) and 10 Filmfare awards (India's equivalent to the Oscars). It also propelled Khan to phenomenal stardom. 

He would eventually become the most well-known actor to have emerged from Bollywood in recent years. His popularity has since spread far beyond India through films such as Don and Om Shanti Om. He has a solid fan-base in Hong Kong, for example, where he's been dubbed the "Andy Lau of Bollywood!". 

With the same film production unit that produced Diwale [DDLJ], Khan hits cinemas again after a year-long absence from the big screen with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (God Brought the Duo Together), in which he plays a simple country bumpkin from northern India who gets married to the most desirable girl in his village - much to the young woman's distress. It's a remarkably different role for an actor who is more well-known for playing hunks and there's no swanky cars or designer duds to be seen anywhere. 

It doesn't matter, as Khan says, it will be "one of the funniest films" he has ever done. The 43-year-old - now with more than 60 films under his belt since his movie debut in 1992 - is adamant that the all-singing, all-dancing slant of his commercial films has more value than gritty cinematic affairs. 

"You know when you see a so-called serious cinema offering and fall asleep in the theatre? And about 30 people saw it? I'm not mentioning names, but the director has then failed completely to make a compelling story. That's it. It's as simple as that," he says. 

Despite having won numerous awards, the Bollywood star says box office take is more important to him. "It's always fun and great to get awards but nothing beats box office success. If the audience hasn't been won over, then you've failed somewhere along the line," he says. "I think it's an easy excuse when directors or actors say the film could have been a big hit but it was released before its time and it would do well today. That's just bulls***. You didn't know what your current audience wanted, and made a film that didn't work." 

He adds, laughing, that his past four movies produced by him have not done so well at the box office. "I know what I'm talking about. I've cried when my films have failed." 

As for his upcoming movie, he's confident it will do well. "In a way, I'm undoing what Dilwale did. That movie created this urban, yuppie character Raj, the cool dude," he says. "This movie Rab Ne, is demystifying the character of Raj. You have to take my word for it, I'm shy, an introvert, who essays characters that are cool. I was never cool. I act cool but that's not me. I rarely socialise, I rarely party, I was never trendy. When wardrobe stylists send me clothes, I wear them. "When my character is supposed to be the popular jock, I walk the walk, but deep down, I've always been shy." 

So, as he portrays the bespectacled, white pajama-wearing, tech-nerd Surinder Sahni, is that the real him? "Yes... in many ways. It was so much easier to play that part and I had so much fun doing it," he says. "I tell everyone, don't be fooled by my image. When people ask me to go and hit a party, my reaction is, and then what? I'd rather be home with my wife and two kids. To me, a party is on the set. I was destined to play the role of Shahrukh Khan." 

Rab ne Bana Di Jodi screens in Chinachem, TST East.

Indian Opus: Devdas with Indian cine icons Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit and Shahrukh Khan is heading to Hong Kong

When the blades of a storm fan flew out of control and fatally wounded a film assistant in the face, little did director Sanjay Leela Bhansali know that the tragedy would be the first of many catastrophes to hit the production of his 500-million rupee (HK$81.5 million) opus, Devdas. 

The musical's producer, Bharat Shah, a former diamond merchant-turned-financier, was also arrested for his purported dealings with the Indian mafia (the case is still pending in Mumbai High Court). There were more accidents on the Mumbai set and the death of another member of the production's crew caused India's Movies Action Dummy Effects Association (MADEA) to investigate the most expensive set in Bollywood. 

Bhansali called in the priests and pundits and a "havan" (holy pyre) was lit to appease the gods in the creation of a film the local media had long said was jinxed. Fortunately, the association's representatives and local politicians were so impressed by the Devdas set's infrastructure that they asked the crew to let it stand as a cine-monument in India's film capital. 

Weeks later, production ground to a halt when the musical's crew and cast of hundreds were not paid in time. The producer had suffered a major heart attack during his 16-month stint in prison and Bhansali was forced to borrow money from friends to pay his over-worked staff. Members of the Shah family insisted Bhansali complete his "dream project" and, with the support of his A-list cast, the film was completed in 260 shifts, two-and-a-half years after the musical's first scenes were filmed. 

On May 23, 2002, Devdas' lead actors Shah Rukh Khan, the former Miss World Aishwarya Rai and Bhansali finally had their moment of respite at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered. There was a standing ovation for the three-hour-plus extravaganza and Time film critic Richard Corliss labelled it "the most visually ravishing movie ever," calling Bhansali "a young master of the medium". 

Devdas has a precarious future, however. It has been more than a decade since a tragedy struck Bollywood box-office gold in a country notoriously keen on feel-good romances and happy endings. 

Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's classic novel Devdas has inspired nearly a dozen Indian films, all of which have received the warm appreciation of the critics but only lukewarm responses from their audiences. First published in Bengali in 1917, Devdas' simple story is often regarded as the ultimate tragedy in Indian literature. 

The ingredients of the plot may seem all too familiar: there are poor girl-rich boy star-crossed lovers, a prostitute with a heart of gold, a love triangle and an unrequited love culminating in death and destruction. 

Childhood sweethearts Devdas (Shah) and Paro (Rai) wish to marry but the former's arrogant and affluent family disapprove of the match. Humiliated, Paro's mother curses Devdas' family. Devdas asks Paro to forget him as he can't go against his family's wishes but he later recognises the intensity of his love. On her wedding day to another man, Paro in turn spurns Devdas, who finds solace in alcohol and the dance of courtesan Chandramukhi (the extraordinary danseuse Madhuri Dixit). The courtesan falls for the perpetually inebriated lover who fails to reciprocate her affection and mourns instead for his lost love. While Devdas falls into an alcohol-sodden depression, Paro fails to find wedded bliss. Then the film's three main characters find salvation in their own tragic end. 

The director probably intended to highlight the tragedy of Devdas with a beautiful backdrop. Complementing the film's gorgeous cast, a coterie of the finest designers - Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla (who outfitted Dame Judi Dench and others at the Oscars) along with National award winner Neeta Lulla - created the 1930s look with richly brocaded, mirror and gold-embedded costumes for the leading ladies. 

Bhansali engaged four of India's leading dance directors for the film's eight songs but his coup was getting the maestro Kathak dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj to compose, sing and choreograph the central dance for the diva Chandramukhi. But while international critics enjoyed Devdas in Cannes, there are doubts about whether this musical melodrama will emulate India's Oscar-nominated Lagaan in finding an overseas audience. 

Defying modern trends, the lengthy romance is chaste; none of the leading characters kiss, let alone do anything else to stir the story's devastating drama. If Devdas' producers hope to make their money back on foreign returns, they face another battle with Hollywood's summer releases. 

Even in India, the year's biggest hits have been Raaz (an Indianised version of What Lies Beneath) and the Hindi-dubbed flick Spider-Man. And according to Taran Adarash of India's Trade Guide, 88 of the 101 Hindi films released so far in 2002 failed to cover their costs. 

Although Devdas is up against the odds, the musical has aroused unprecedented curiosity. Its songs have topped the Indian charts for the past month and the film's advance bookings have been staggering. Even with the best of Bollywood behind it, however, it remains to be seen whether Devdas, the costliest Indian film ever made, will be a historic hit... or a lamentable loss. 

Devdas. 

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and Hong Kong Arts Centre, July 14-18. 

Tickets $220, $180, $120, Ticketek. 

Inquiries, contact Morning Star: 2368 2947 Publication - Date: 11.07.2002 

Author: P Ramakrishman 

Publication: SCMP Column: Screen Studies

Screen Studies by P.Ramakrishnan 

The Race to Oscar Glory: Paheli and Shahrukh Khan

A Bollwood film chases Academy honours. P.Ramakrishnan writes.

Early last week, 5,798 little ballots were sent out to members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and “the most famous actor alive on the planet” (TIME) Shah Rukh Khan, is hoping that at least half of them will tick the little box next to his film Paheli [Puzzle]. A quaint and visually sumptuous Hindi film he produced and starred in last year, up for a Best Foreign Film nomination. Hopefully.

Forget the award, for Indian cinema, even being nominated is an uphill struggle.

When asked at a press conference if he’s going to get a gilt-edged invite for the cinematic event of the year, Khan simply said, “I think it's a long shot… [getting nominated] but it's a good chance of getting Indian cinema some recognition."

Khan was on location in London when Vinod Pande, acting chairperson of the Film Federation of India, announced in Mumbai that Paheli was unanimously voted to represent India in the foreign film category at the Oscars.

When he spoke to the press, a very-much surprised Khan [the film received mixed reviews when it was released early last year] said, "I think its the time for our film industry to get recognised on it's own merit. It is time that Indian films and filmmakers and the audience do not have to be on the periphery of world cinema. I think and I believe we are as good as it gets. I want everyone to know that, and that would happen if we all believe that we are not just an exotic nation of snake charmers but a media literate and educated upcoming economy.”

However, if the past is indicative of the near future (nominations will be broadcast at 5 a.m. UST on Jan 31), well, the figures are working against him. Since the first Indian film, Alam Ara, hit the silver screen in 1931, an Indian movie has made it to the list of nominees at the Academy… erm… thrice; Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay (1988) and Lagaan (2001).

On average India produces roughly 800 films a year, that’s about 59,000 movies over the last century churning out of the largest film industry in the world with an estimated annual turnover of nearly US$1.3billion per year and with a global reach of 3.6 billion, to Hollywood's meagre 2.6 billion. And yet, only thrice has an international celebrity mispronounced the names while reading the teleprompter during the live global telecast.

Nevertheless, Khan isn’t looking back at history, instead, he’s taking example of the movie mavericks like Miramax in Hollywood and noting the song and dance they go through to get the attention of the voters. The producers and distributors of Paheli approached the PR giant Rogers and Cowen for the film's promotion and the campaign is full on. Khan himself attended the two screenings in LA, lobbying for the voters with his trademark movie-star charms, while exquisite stills of the lead actors Rani Mukherjee and himself made it to full-page advertisements in Screen International and Variety. The buzz is clearly in the air among the esoteric circles that watch movies with subtitles.

But will it work? The selection of the film raised eyebrows in India itself where it did average business at the box-office and till date has won few awards in local ceremonies. Movies that garner applause from foreign countries usually are serious dramas, with political undercurrents or historical significance. The magical surrealism of a woman in love with a ghost disguised as her husband in the Mumbai musical doesn’t quite have the ‘Oscar goes to…” ring to it.

Though his own film Iqbal failed to represent India this year, producer/director Subash Ghai defended the selection saying, “Paheli represents Indian colour culture and ethos and mythical beliefs. It's based on an original work of an Indian writer from Rajasthan. These are elements that may have tilted the scales towards Paheli.”



While he backed the actor and wished him well, there are others of a diametrically different opinion grabbing headlines and columns. Indian producer/director Mahesh Bhatt had scathing comments for the film fraternity spending millions of rupees offshore to dollar-loaded audience that doesn’t care for Bollywood. "The manner in which people wag their tails in front of foreign academies and get swayed by them is pathetic and unacceptable," said Bhatt in a televised interview to an Indian channel.

"There are one billion people in this country and they are a better judge of an Indian film than those who sit on foreign soil and pass judgment. The yardsticks are completely different. I think the box-office rating given by the rickshaw-puller in this country who watches the film and determines whether it is worth watching or not is far more important for any filmmaker. When you make a film, you have to keep in mind the interests of the billion people you are catering to here. The idea is not to make crossover films, which a majority in this country may or may not like. If you want to cater to the international audience, go raise your money there!"

If the Golden Globe nominations are anything to go by as a precursor to the big O, Khan might as well take heed of Bhatt’s words and team India can get on their first flight back home. India didn’t, but China made the cut; Kung Fu Hustle, (Columbia Pictures Film Prod. Asia/Huayi Brothers/Taihe Film Investment Co. Ltd/Star Overseas; Sony Pictures Classics) and The Promise, Master of the Crimson Armor, (Moonstone Entertainment) are Golden Globe nominees.

Still, the campaign continues, there are interviews with American channels and appearances on morning talk shows before the ballots are collected and accounted for. After all, its an honour to be nominated. If even that.


Published in South China Morning Post, 2006.