Bush wasn’t the only imperial American to visit India last week. Mega-movie star, sometime rapper, and potential aspirant to the presidency Will Smith was also there as well. While he was in India to promote a new English language movie channel, he graciously complimented the competition, endearing himself to Indians with his love for Bollywood:

“The first Hindi film that I saw was Sarkar,” he explained, “and I was blown away by the Big B (megastar Amitabh Bachchan). I want to be known as Big W from today.” [Link]

“Just recently I got to know the number of films Bollywood makes a year – a whopping 800. And each with its share of song, music, dance and drama… I am simply enticed to be part of it” [Link]

Although his representatives denied that Smith had any concrete plans for a crossover movie, he did spend a whole day meeting with various filmi types, so something may be in the works.

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p>For me, the highlight of Smith’s visit was his appearence on Indian Idol. There he imitated Tom Cruise by jumping up on the sofa (scaring the presenter Mini Mathur half to death) where he mugged and sang:

Telling the contestants how to deal with butterflies in their stomachs, Will said, “It’s hard going on stage, and I used to have a weird feeling in my gut too. Sometimes, I still do. And when I really want to make sure I’m ready for stage, I go to a really crowded place, like a mall or something, I just climb up onto something (jumps onto the sofa) and do this!” He screams his guts out, wildly, his lunatic expressions all over the place. [Link]

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p>[To see a flip book animation of his performance, click here] While on the show, he not only performed “Getting Jiggy With It” but he also ventured a duet of “Aati Kya Khandala” with one of the contestants. Unfortunately, one of the male contestants was considerably more self-conscious than Smith was:

Will got off the couch to raucous applause, encouraging the lad right next to him, Sandeep, to do the same. “Go ahead, man, go for it! Your turn now!”

And this is where the Idol hopeful blew it. If Will Smith tells you to leap onto a sofa and yell your head off on television, you do it. Sandeep hesitantly got to his feet, perched atop the couch as if made to stand to attention, and then, instead of just shouting, he fumbled around for a microphone. Even as Will kept egging him on, Sandeep managed a lame ‘Woo’ sound, then stood there grinning haplessly. [Link]

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p>Why am I not surprised?

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p>Unlike the President, Smith also had time in his schedule to visit the Taj Mahal with his son, where he communed with the spirit of Shah Jahan:

He said: “In my home in Los Angeles, I’ve built a lake and called it ‘Her Lake’ as a token of my love for my wife. “I totally understand that feeling of building a monument to show your love for your woman…. When I was walking through the Taj Mahal, I kept saying, I am that man…” [Link]

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p>In yet another politically shrewd move, he announced to the press that he had always wanted to work with Ash:

“I really wanted to work with her in Hitch but she was shooting for Bride and Prejudice at the time and she couldn’t do it,” he said. “She has this powerful energy where she doesn’t have to say anything, do anything, she can just stand there. Anything she’s making, I’ll be there…” [Link]

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p>And went so far as to offer her a role in a forthcoming film:

The meeting lasted a good one and a half hours and after the initial pleasantries, Smith sat down and gave Aishwaraya a detailed narration of the film’s story after which he offered it to her… [Her manager said,] “It is a fantastic story and Ash was absolutely delighted on hearing it. She was more than pleased to accept it…” [Link]

I was quite impressed by Smith’s astuteness, his ability to strike the right notes an so thoroughly ingratiate himself to a people. By genuflecting in the direction of both Amitabh and Ash, he paid homage to India’s secular religion. He was just as sure footed when it came to India’s older religions, at ease when he was welcomed with an aarti and quite happy to receive a brass statue of Ganesh from Aish’s team. Honestly, this guy puts Bubba to shame as a man of the people, and that’s saying something.

The only false note he sounded was culinary. He said he wanted to taste “authentic” Chicken Tikka Masala in India, yet he would have to go to the UK to do that:

Chicken Tikka Masala is thought to have originated from the kitchens of Bangladeshi chefs in Great Britain… British politician Robin Cook described it as “a true British national dish”. [Link]

Still, I’ll be generous and “forgive” him this one faux pas … Will, if you need a Sikh extra co-star in your next movie, you know where to find me