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Dazzling jamboree, yet insular

AFP

The Winners: Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor with their Best Debutant Actor awards

Now that the three-day IIFA award jamboree is over, it’s time to ask many questions. Did it fulfil its goal of promoting Indian cinema outside India ? Was ‘Sarkar Raj’ the right film choice for an international event of this nature? If the occasion celebrated top Bollywood films, which won awards, why were they not screened in the host country? (Except for two DVD screenings at the Foreign Correspondents Club, which got rave reactions).

For someone witnessing the IIFA awards for the first time, the show seemed insular with no attempt to attract non-Indians to the extravaganza.

The Indian community was there in large numbers to cheer the stars. But many did not attend the show because initially, the organisers had declared it to be on an ‘Invitation Only’ basis.

But suddenly they changed their minds and announced the sale of tickets, which were exorbitantly priced at $ 200 to 300 for the first two days, and a whopping $ 1000 to 3000 for the final day.

The information about the ticket sale was circulated only among the Indian community, which meant that very few outsiders such as Thais, or the huge number of expats living in Bangkok got to know about it.

This writer managed to invite two Thai stars, Akara Amarttayakul and Krissada Sukosol, who were totally dazzled by the six-hour show.

Indian films used to once have a commercial release in Thailand, except for weekend screenings, thanks to the effort of one Thai-Indian distributor, the Bollywood-Thai Co. Mr Thakral, of the company, said IIFA was a golden opportunity to resurrect interest in Bollywood cinema here, but it has been wasted.

This was reiterated by Suvanee Chinchiawsharn, vice president of the SF cinema group, who has actively supported the weekend screenings of Bollywood films in her theatres, but who was not invited to the event.

So IIFA’s aim, reiterated by brand-ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, seemed largely unfulfilled in Bangkok.

As for the lone film (‘Sarkar Raj’) screened at IIFA and which had its world premiere here, there were questions about whether it was the right one to showcase Indian cinema abroad, given its theme of power, corruption and violence.

The film attracted prominent Indophiles from the city, including Princess Mahachakri Sirindhorn (who speaks Sanskrit and has made many trips to India), Tourism Minister Weerasak Kowsurat, and senior officials of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the chief sponsors.

The Best Actress, Kareena Kapoor

Meanwhile, three new movies were announced at IIFA — Apoorva Lakhia’s ‘ Mission in Istanbul’ starring Zayed Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Shweta Bhardwaj (‘Shivaji’).

If the music-CD is any indication, the film, which deals with the theme of global terrorism, promises to be sleek, exciting and innovative.

Then ‘Acid Factory,’ starring Fardeen Khan, Aftab Shivdasani, Dino Morea, Manoj Bajpayee, Danny and Dia Mirza among others, which is an intense thriller. And ‘De Taali’, an out-and-out comedy starring Aftab Shivdasani, Ritesh Deshmukh, Ayesha Takia, Riya Sen, has been shot in Thailand.

There was also ‘Love 2050’, a romance set in a space-age scenario, with Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja.

As for the actual IIFA awards, ‘Chake de India’ received the maximum number (although Shah Rukh Khan was missing), followed by ‘Guru’ and ‘Om Shanti Om.’

Kareena Kapoor won Best Actress award for ‘Jab We Met,’ while the Best Supporting Actor and Actress Awards went to Irfan Khan and Konkona Sen for ‘Life in a Metro.’

The three Lifetime Achievement Awards went to Mumtaz (who made a moving speech about her life), Shyam Bengal (who Shabana Azmi described as the ‘Unparalled Director of the Parallel Cinema’) and A. R. Rahman (who was given a standing ovation for his global musical achievements).

One wondered why Rajesh Khanna, whose film ‘Haathi mere Saathi’ was a cult film in Thailand, was not invited. But son-in-law Akshay Kumar stole the show with his pulsating performance and stirring words at the awards night. While the big stars were absent (in particular the four Khans — Shah Rukh, Aamir, Saif and Salman ), the new, young stars made a sizeable impact.

To this writer, the biggest mistake was the absence of non-Indians.

For a country that is ignorant of Bollywood cinema beyond Nirupa Roy, Hema Malini, and Rajesh Khanna, this would have been the right occasion to enlighten them about the new-age Mumbai stars. If IIFA is serious about promoting Indian cinema, it needs to change its tactics at its next event.

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