West Bollywood

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“He is so sexy. Sexy man!” she screamed. [Link]

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And this was no tween pining from behind a roadside barrier. The ‘she’ in question paid upwards of $100 for a ticket to the premiere of Mani Ratnam’s Guru, held at the gorgeous Elgin Theatre last night. As in, she was inside. And still screaming. Frenzy does not even begin to describe the spectacle that is a Bollywood West premiere. Short video of the madness here. Had TMBWITW not discovered my (sizzling) relationship with Abhishek (call me!) perhaps I too would have been a part of this much-hyped affair. Kaash…

Last September, when Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, the story goes that far more people turned up at its screening than at the Babel screening which happened on the same day. Brad Pitt in the flesh could not conjure crowds like the Bachchans and SRK. The year before, Lisa Ray and John Abraham appeared on an Eye Weekly cover after Water’s debut. Eye is a highly popular Toronto magazine that provides excellent insight into arts and culture happenings. Its covers are usually dedicated to indie bands and other hippy shit. To think that John Abraham, he of little faith in barbershops, is now actually a part of that hippy shit…It makes me proud.

If there’s one thing Toronto does well it is luring film dollars to town. Hence the frothy excitement generated by Guru’s premiere among suits on both sides. Numerous Bollywood productions have used Hogtown as their backdrop and City Hall is finally realizing that there’s more to film than production. With South Asians poised to become the largest minority group in Canada within ten years, the domestic market for such films is – to put it lightly – huge. Ever so in love with all things multiculti, our Mayor Miller personally extended an invitation to Bachchan and Rai to grace the premiere with their fairy dust. Meanwhile, Guru has taken on the title of Bollywood’s first ever mainstream international release. I have a slight bone to pick here. This mainstream release business sounds grand but the film is only opening in two cinemas in the Toronto area. On top of this, Toronto’s only dedicated Hindi cinemas are not releasing it this weekend which I’m sure is going to leave a bruise. Is it a similar issue in your town? Could this be the beginning of the end for the smaller players? AMC and Cineplex better start stocking samosas and chai if this is the case.

What I really want to point your most generous eyes to is the hair on Abhishek Bachchan’s perfect head:

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It is as if he just strolled out of apdu Joshi Saloon where my mum personally poured a half bottle of Parachute oil into his mop and tel maalished the smile off his face. Because it is only in my darkest, post-oiling, moments that I have ever felt the need to utilize such an instrument of torture. A wire hairband. No matter, my prince, I know you’re only trying to make yourself greasy so that this MBWITW person can leave you be. I can deal with that 🙂

22 thoughts on “West Bollywood”

  2. step off neha, abhishek is all mine (but this can be negotiated with a shipment of mangoosteens ;))

    i heard aish and abhisheks stars don’t match or something of that affect… they have been going to temples galore doing pujas to make this bad omen affect their upcoming marriage.. (sigh :(), even walking barefoot to the ganapati temple for 10 miles, barefoot, in mumbai…

    i don’t think neha and i would trouble him so, eh?

    (jesus… me & bollywood gossip ???–but that hairband makes me swoon so ;)).

  3. So get this. Apparently, like, the Bachchans were TOTALLY pissed when Ash like made out with Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2, right? But like, Abishek TOOOTALLY kissed Rani Mukherjee in Bunty Aur Bubli! Like THREE TIMES! ON the LIPS! Like, omigod, what gives?

  5. Hey Neha 🙂

    Don’t know if Abishek has been to Cowtown, but we do get Bollyceleb sightings every summer – when they come ALL THE WAY HERE to shoot a 2 minute writhing-in-the-mountains sequence.

    TMBWITW has been here a few times, and everyone I know who’s run into her has said that she’s very down to earth and quite a sweet lady. Sigh – I just wish that she could act!

  6. Damn Beckham and Bachchan, SM you just made my weekend! Eyecandy rocks! Wooohoooo… Now if you could just fit in a pic of John Abrahams without his shirt somewhere. Please:)

  7. badmash: TMBWITW went to school in bombay with a good friend of mine… and according to her, she is really nice and down to earth… a masseuse at the taj hotel in fort aguada, in goa, who has met her and massaged her head also attests to the fact..

  11. So..if anyone knows, Is ‘Guru’ watchable?

    I saw it last night (never miss an Aishwarya movie). It was a good movie but not near my favorites list. It stands out because it’s not a run of the mill Indian movie and I think Abhisek did a great job – he was really channelling his father towards the end. The cinematography (is that the word?) is great – some of the shots during the songs are breathtaking – definitely unlike anything I’ve seen in other Indian movies.

    And, of course, I think Aishwarya is great – but my opinion on that doesn’t waver much =)

  12. I saw that crowd, had no idea what it was for. The mob behind the barrier seemed diverse (was driving by, didn’t get a close look). I wouldn’t have guessed it was a brown thing.

  13. Oh yeah, I was JUST in India, and those wire headbands? ALL the rage for the guys there. I saw Abhishek wearing one a while back when he was doing a press conference for Umrao Jaan, and maybe that’s where it caught on from! At the time all I could think was: “Beckham wannabe!”

  16. after seeing guru, it’s clear that aishwarya is a director’s actress. she puts in very creditable performances under the likes of mani ratnam, rajiv menon, rituparno ghosh, and even sanjay leela bhansali. the theater was packed, and unlike during other movies, there was very little background chattering by the audience and only one or two people used the songs as a bathroom break.

  17. i dont know what to make of this. this is just all so uncanadian. i find the attention getting so indian, so american. i hope the market in the US develops faster and these guys just go straight on over and leave us alone. they’ll be more comfortable there. i’ll be more comfortable here.

    chakk dey phattey, kiss my thattey.

  18. there’s more to it than some vain fools tripping the red carpet tho’.

    maryem tollar is an egyptian canadian singer who met rahman on the set of bombay dreams or somethin like that – and one thing ed to the other – and she ended up singing maiyya mayya a song on the guru soundtrack – despite not knowing a word of hindi. will be interested in your (WGIIA) opinion on how it came out. Also heard on CBC – she tried to get tickets to the premiere but heard that she’d still need to pay 250 for a ticket that was priced at 350 at the window – she demurred

    wente writes for the globeandmail

    Mr. Bhatia, who helped engineer this week’s star-studded premiere, is the kind of man who makes you swear that immigration is the greatest thing this country has going for it. He came here in 1984 from New Delhi, and now, at 53, he’s a classic immigrant success story.
    And yet, Mr. Thomas is not as cheery as I am about Canada’s great multicultural experiment. He points out that we, too, share the European disease of ghettoization, where people clump together in their own tribes. “You’re the first white person I’ve talked to all month,” he says, only half-facetiously. And alongside the spectacular successes such as Nav Bhatia are the failures who get stuck in marginal self-employment or behind the counter at a fast-food outlet. “That is when feelings of exclusion creep in,” says Mr. Thomas. “People get trapped in the ghettos of their own minds.”He argues that official multiculturalism, with its emphasis on race and difference, only makes matters worse. “We glorify something that never should have been glorified,” he says. “Multiculturalism means you’re always thinking about somebody’s skin colour. In Mumbai, people don’t think, ‘Oh, I have to be inclusive with this guy.’ People think, ‘How can I do business with him?’

  19. hi, hairy_d. well, i’m no music expert, but here’s my gut reaction to the song: i liked it, but found it a bit out of place in the context of the movie. it’s picturized in a Turkish setting in the 1950s, but sounds too modern to my amateur ears (but then again I don’t know too much about 1950s Turkish or more accurately, Arab music). it may also have something to do with it being projeted onto Mallika Sherawat, playing a belly dancer. i found some of the choreography too “modern” for what i imagine bellydancing from that era would have been like. but again, perhaps someone more knowledgeable might have a different opinion.

    overall, i liked the movie and found the acting and the music to be the strongest points. there are weaknesses in the movie in every area, but overall, it left a favorable impression on me. it was good to see mithun chakraborthy and both madhavan and vidya balan were underutilized. also, i wish guru’s rise had been explored in more detail.

  21. “he of little faith in barbershops”

    heh heh. You funny and I miss your postings. This is belated, but SO glad to see you back!

  22. I just googled Guru and Roger Nair I got 177,000 hits,but guess where? all the main stream news.The premiere pictures are all over the news.The Toronto Star Toronto Sun,Globe and Mail,National Post, Hollywood reporter,Variety,Canadian Business,Filmfare,LA times,New York Times,BBC,CBC,CNN the List keeps on Going.It is in the news even now .Every time they mention Bollywood they now mention Guru and how Roger Nair pulled it off.Its now called the Guru Phenomenon.Unreal !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kudos to Mr. Nair for bringing this premiere to Toronto