Premieres tell some interesting stories, sometimes even better than the movies being screened
Premieres tell some interesting stories, sometimes even better than the movies being screened
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Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta at the premiere of Black |
In the glint of their eyes, I can recognise myself 27 years ago. The first premiere I attended as a journalist was that of Biddu's Star in 1982. It was a mega-event. Star's hero, Kumar Gaurav, cresting on the success of Love Story was the flavour of the season; and heroine Rati was the It girl after Ek Duuje Ke Liye. A couple of weeks prior to Star's release, I had interviewed Biddu, the music composer-cum-director of the film, and we had got along like a house on fire. Much before the film premiered, I had fallen in love with the songs of Star: Bolo bolo bolo bolo na, Aye dil mere chal re, Boom boom are songs I would like to introduce to my daughter, Nikita. The cream of the crop had to be Yeh dil tere liye hai sung by Nazia Hassan. Her sparkling voice had the quality of crystal-clear water tinkling out of a fluted glass.
At Star's after-premiere party, an elated Biddu was being chaired and taken around the room by friends while Rajendra Kumar, Simi Garewal and Bindiya Goswami watched. Suddenly, Biddu spotted my shining bald pate I had shaved off my hair a la Yul Bryner, in the hope of a better crop of hair and he boomed across the room,
"How did you like the film?" I waved back excitedly and shouted, "I loved the song picturisation but the film..."
My voice trailed off and I spontaneously made a thumbs down gesture. Biddu's mood dipped; and I slipped out of the room, with the acutely uncomfortable realisation that I had goofed.
Premieres, I've learnt, are a time for heightened excitement and honeyed compliments; not for anything glum. It's a night redolent with the blur of flashbulbs, an array of stars, chiffon saris, penguin suits, fake smiles, limp handshakes and air kisses galore. And, above all, the expectant, dilated eyes of the host-filmmaker.
The first premiere I attended was courtesy my dad when I was still a school-going kid. He knew that I adored Sadhana and decided to pamper me by taking me to the premiere of Anita at Liberty Cinema. Anita was the third in director Raj Khosla's suspense trilogy (post Woh Kaun Thi, Mera Saaya) starring Sadhana.
As Elvis would put it: 'What a night it was, it really was such a night'. I barely watched the film. Sadhana made her appearance much after the film had started; and along with half the audience, I trailed the beauteous star as she politely pierced her way through the thronging crowds in the foyer. I don't recall Manoj Kumar, the hero, being present at the premiere, but I remember Raaj Kumar, a guest, puffing at a cigar and wearing his patent bemused look. I was a happy child because I had seen Sadhana in flesh and blood.
I also attended the premiere of the Shammi Kapoor-Asha Parekh starrer Teesri Manzil but my oopari manzil has a very misty recollection of the premiere.
I wish I had kept a scrapbook. Now I have only scraps of memories of scores of premieres I have attended. For instance, the only thing I recall of the premiere of the Sanjay Kapoor-Tabu starrer, Prem, is shutterbug Rakesh Shreshta, star aspirant Preity Zinta and me watching the film from the fourth row of Metro cinema and Preity rattling off a running commentary. At the Henna premiere in Metro, Poonam Dhillon, who was in the next seat, conspiratorially whispered to me, "I am told Zeba looks like me. Do you think so?" I escorted veteran Nadira to the premiere of Prem Granth.
While climbing the stairs of Minerva theatre, Nadira got emotional and sniffed into the white lace kerchief she always carried with her. The theatre, she told me, brought back memories of a film, Sipahsilar, that she had done as the heroine of Shammi Kapoor (he had a stake in Minerva).
Today, I grudge going to a premiere that is a stone's throw from my office, but time was when I accompanied press contingents and Amitabh Bachchan to Kolkata, Delhi and Jaipur for the premieres of Agneepath (1990), Hum (1991) and Mrityudaata (1997) respectively. There was no mistaking the craze for Amitabh.
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Tabu at the premiere of Cheeni Kum |
In Kolkata, the crowds gheraoed the bus containing the stars and the press; and the bus shook as forcefully as the cars do when the back-projection technique is employed in films. We got out of that heady situation, and changed the bus' route to the hotel to avoid more hopeful crowds, lining the roads for a glimpse of Big B
and Mithun. After the premiere, Amitabh and Jaya played gracious hosts and entertained half-a-dozen magazine editors with everybody joining in to sing, drink and narrate anecdotes till 4 in the morning.
The premiere of Hum had the packed theatre reverberating with wolf whistles when Jhumma Chumma played out on screen even as ticketless crowds kept banging on the doors wanting to be let in. Prior to showtime, Amitabh had introduced us to the then prime minister, Chandrashekar, the latter responding to my outstretched for a handshake hand with a namaste. Oops.
Raj Mandir, Jaipur the premiere of Amitabh's Mrityudaata. The first half of the film was so drab, I was dying to fortify myself with a popcorn and coke in the interval. But before I could get away, the PRO foisted a gift pack bearing the Liberty logo. My colleague was mortified. "Liberty underwear for men?" she announced with exaggerated disbelief; but I hushed her quickly, "It's only a set of lighters." That was the most entertaining part of the evening.
I recall I was on the verge of tears at the premiere of Oh Darling Yeh Hai India (1995). Don't get ideas; I had not invested any money in this box office flop. It's just that on that day the magazine that I was editing, had been taken over by another business house and we were part of the lock, stock and barrel that were being handed over.
Shah Rukh Khan may have had an inkling about which way the film was going but nevertheless, at the party that followed, he was in high spirits and danced like there was no tomorrow.u00a0
It is the turn now for two embarrassing, I-can-laugh-about-them-in-retrospect incidents. At the Darr premiere I think it was the Chandni premiere but a friend insists it was Darr a band was positioned at the entrance of Metro and they reached for their trumpets each time a star walked the red carpet.u00a0 When I ambled in with my wife Anita, the band lunged for the trumpets and blew their lungs out. But mid-way, they were not-so-discreetly informed that we were not stars, and by the time I reached out to shake hands with Yash Chopra, the band had stopped playing the trumpets almost in mid-breath!
I had an equally discomforting experience at the Sharaabi premiere. The film began very late and the somewhat somnambulant monologues added to my sleepy state. So we decided to skip the second half and a few minutes after interval quietly sneaked away from our seats and headed for the car. The moment we emerged from the foyer, the crowds who had stayed back for a glimpse of the stars, began cheering at us from afar; but as the distance narrowed and they realised that we were not stars, they began vociferously hooting us.
The price you pay for not being a star.u00a0
A Vinod Chopra film, and its premiere too, always holds promise of the totally unexpected. At the premiere of 1942u00a0A Love Story, Vinod locked the doors of the Metro auditorium a few minutes after the hour specified on the invite! This left a few unfortunate latecomers, biggies included, red-faced and dumbstruck.
At the premiere of Sanjay Bhansali's Black at Imax theatre, Wadala. the Who's-Who of the industry formed a sea of black suits but the man who stood out tall was John Abraham in a smart, long black coat. After the screening, Bachchan and Bhansali waited near the escalators to receive the compliments from his colleagues as they shuffled their feet and muffled their sobs while walking out. And I remember young pre-Saawariya assistant Sonam Kapoor smartly calling out 'Yes Sir' and trotting over when Bhansali hailed her.
I wish I had been around to witness the premiere of Mughal-e-Azam (1960) which was held at the newly constructed Maratha Mandir. Lore has it that the invites were sent out on silken scrolls, tuskers were paraded outside the theatre while a band played music at the doorway. Imagine Dilip Kumar and Prithviraj Kapoor standing shoulder to shoulder and Madhubala sailing past you. Aha!
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