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