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MOVIES:
MOVIES:
IIFA’s best performer, Hrithik Roshan to perform
at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa
Host duo, Shahid Kapoor & Farhan Akthar are back
to host the Tata Motors IIFA Awards
Over a 100 CEO’s from India to attend
the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum
Tampa Bay will bear witness to superstar, Hrithik Roshan’s signature moves as the ace performer takes to the Tata Motors IIFA Awards this year. Speaking on his performance, Hrithik said, “I have been a part of many IIFAs where I have performed at different locales. IIFA was in fact my first international performance and something I have always treasured. I am honoured to be a part of this major milestone in IIFA’s journey as they venture into the United States of America, showcasing our film industry in Tampa Bay this year.” Roshan has previously performed at IIFA in Sun City, Singapore and Colombo. This will be his first performance in the US in a decade.
Announcing the winners of the Zest for Stardom Contest, Ms. Delna Avari, Head-Marketing Communications, Passenger Vehicles, Tata Motors said, “Close on the heels of unveiling The ZEST, a true dynamic sedan, from Tata Motors that meshes killer instinct with elegance, we announced the ‘ZEST for Stardom’ on February 26, 2014, in association with IIFA. The response to this unique contest was overwhelming, with entries pouring from all over the globe, including USA. Owing to the phenomenal response we have received, it is our pleasure to announce that there will be not one but three winners, two winners from India and one from USA. We are delighted to announce that Mr. Himanshu Singh and Ms. Pallavi Kalra –from India and Mr. Mohit Batra, from USA are the lucky winners of the Zest for Stardom contest who have been bestowed with a golden opportunity to share the Tata Motors IIFA Stage with actor, Ranveer Singh.”
This year, the Tata Motors IIFA Awards will see the reappearance of one of its best hosting duos, actors Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar. After their successful hosting stint in Singapore, the actors will reprise their roles this year. Speaking on hosting the Tata Motors IIFA Awards, actor Farhan Akhtar said, “IIFA’s exalted platform has always given me an adrenaline rush. Having received immense love and appreciation for my previous stint as host, I am excited at the prospects of hosting another year of the spectacular celebration.” Playing host for the third year running, Actor, Shahid Kapoor added, “Hosting IIFA always makes me happy, as it as a chance to interact with the entire film fraternity that gathers together, IIFA is the most prestigious award ceremony which honors the best of our Industry.”
Dance guru, Shiamak Davar will also be a part of IIFA this year as the event’s official choreographer. Renowned for some of the biggest dance performances including his highly acclaimed work on India’s first musical ‘Zangoora’, Tampa Bay will mark Shiamak’s 11th year with IIFA.
Going beyond entertainment, IIFA has long been committed to building bridges between India and the global arena as it strides across the world. With the trade relationship between the U.S. and India at its peak, the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum creates a perfect opportunity for exchange. This forum will bring together business leaders from India and America to explore new economic opportunities, providing a platform for Indians and Americans to engage in discussion and professional development. Hosted by the University of South Florida College of Business, the forum will be a two-day event on the theme - "Indo-U.S. Partnership: A Catalyst for Economic Growth". Eminent speakers of the event include Rick Scott- Governor of Florida, Bob Buckhorn, Mayor - Tampa City, Vivek Lall- President & CEO, Reliance Industries Ltd, N.R Narayana Murthy Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Infosys, Dr. R. K Pachauri- TERI Chairman and Chairman United Nations Panel on Climate Change among others.
Another IIFA initiative, the IIFA Expo is a world fair to be held at the Tampa Convention Center, Florida from 24th to 26th April 2014. Bringing business, products and services from India and USA under one roof, the expo will provide a unique platform to unlock opportunities for businesses and communities, thereby promoting trade and commerce between two countries and cultures.
Mr. Saurabh Dhoot – Director, Videocon group, on this association stated, “In our sixth year of successful association, Videocon d2h along with IIFA, shares a similar outlook of promoting excellence in entertainment. The focus of both IIFA and Videocon d2h is adding variety and value in its entertainment quotient. Videocon d2h which is now Asia’s Most Promising DTH brand strives to provide the best viewing experience in Asli HD through its DTH services and now reaches more than 10 million homes. We provide a very good platform for IIFA as well to reach out to this discerning audience.”
Commenting on its partnership with IIFA, Hari Om Rai, Chairman & Managing Director, LAVA International said, “We are proud to be associated with IIFA for the second consecutive year; IIFA offers us a great platform to demonstrate the true essence of our products that are a perfect fusion of looks, experience & performance. With this association we reinforce our brand's promise to create products with an extremely strong proposition that will captivate the consumers.”
Sabbas Joseph, Director – Wizcraft International and IIFA said “Year after year IIFA has played out at various spectacular locations world over, committing itself to the cause of making Indian cinema global. Loyal to the very cause, IIFA has always lined-up an array of distinguished events which connect India to a global audience. We are confident that events like the IIFA Expo, FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum and various others will prove to be the perfect bridge between India and the U.S.”
Mr. Anil Khera – CEO, Videocon d2h added, “IIFA is the most awaited Hindi cinema award show due to the scale of its grandeur and global presence. Videocon d2h is the fastest growing DTH service in the country and has been at the forefront of innovation & high quality service in this sector. Videocon d2h would like to partake in promoting our cinema’s rich heritage, cinematic values and its resplendent beauty to delight every individual with the magic that Indian Cinema creates on celluloid through IIFA. This is a very good opportunity for both and we would like to take this association further.”
Gaurav Banerjee, General Manager, Star Plus said, “We are proud to partner Wizcraft for over the last ten years in the biggest celebration of Indian Cinema with the IIFA weekend. This year with Tampa Bay as the host, a fantastic line up of talent and support from the industry, we promise to create a blockbuster evening reaching IIFA to millions of households worldwide through Star Plus.”
The Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend is presented by Videocon D2H and the Tata Motors IIFA Awards is presented by Tata Motors and powered by Lava Mobiles. The IIFA Weekend & Awards will be broadcast globally on Star Plus, for the 10th year running. Visit Tampa Bay is the Official Destination Partner for the IIFA Weekend and Awards 2014 and Visit Florida, a key partner. Freedom Health Insurance are co-presenting sponsors for the IIFA Celebrations, Tampa Electric Company (TECO), a sponsor of the unique community event of IIFA Stomp and Mosaic, a sponsor of FICCI – IIFA Global Business Forum. Vishal Sarees is an associate partner of IIFA and Jammu & Kashmir Tourism, a partner.
About IIFA (International Indian Film Academy)
Conceptualized and produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and supported by the key members of the Indian film fraternity, IIFA is the most appreciated South Asian film academy. Also, the IIFA Awards is India’s biggest media event. With a viewership of almost 800 million, it is among the world’s most-watched annual entertainment events. From a one night celebration in 2000 at the Millennium Dome, London, the last thirteen years have seen the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) movement grow into a cine-packed weekend of film-festivals, workshops, exhibitions, film-showcases, global business forums and sporting events, all of which climax into the highlight of the Weekend, the IIFA Awards. www.iifa.com
It was on one fateful day in the summer of 2002 when I made my first visit to my local Bollywood theatre, the Naz 8 Cinemas in Lakewood, completely unprepared for awaited me in the early minutes of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas, when the "Silsila Ye Chaahat Ka" number takes place. Rai has a classic star entrance to a flash of lightning, and any vague thoughts that such an introduction is overblown is immediately erased once she starts to effortlessly command the screen with her movement.
Rai's first collaboration with Bhansali was 1999's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, and clearly he knew what a gift he had in her from the jump, giving her the terrific showcase that is the now-classic "Nimbooda."
1999 was a banner year for Rai, for that year she also starred in Subhash Ghai's Taal, which boasted one of A.R. Rahman's most memorable scores--which, of course, gave Rai ample opportunity to show what she could do, as in this oft-excerpted scene, "Ramta Jogi," featuring another West-familiar face, Anil Kapoor.
One of Rai's major strengths as a dancer is her amazing versatility. She is just as at ease doing classical dances such as "Nimbooda" as she is taking on more modern routines. Look at how easily and comfortably she slips into hip-hop swag (especially compared to her more obviously straining partner, Vivek Oberoi) in the great "No No" number from 2004's generally forgettable Kyun! Ho Gaya Na....
Just as easily as she can play a woman in charge as in that number, she can also be just as convincing playing fetchingly coquettish, never more in "Kannamoochi," from Rajiv Menon's enduringly popular 2000 Tamil language take on Sense and Sensibility, Kandukondain Kandukondain.
Rai has always been a sensual presence on film and a global sex symbol, but she never quite owned her screen sexuality in the way she did in the wildly popular "Crazy Kiya Re" from 2006's Dhoom:2. (I compare it to how Janet Jackson blossomed into full womanhood overnight with her iconic 1990 video for "Love Will Never Do (Without You).")
Not surprisingly, Rai is often called to do cameo appearances for item numbers in films--and often said songs not only become hits, but perhaps the best thing by which the films are remembered. Case in point: "Ishq Kamina," featuring Rai and Bollywood king Shahrukh Khan in their first (and, to date, only) screen appearance together after Devdas , from 2002's Shakthi: The Power.
Another Rai item song, "Kajra Re," has become an enduring hit, certainly helped by being from a box office success (2005's Bunty aur Babli), but perhaps most of all for having her dance alongside both future husband Abhishek and future father-in-law Amitabh.
One of her last huge pre-pregnancy dance showcases was in a truly historic, truly creative, truly insane film, the 2010 Tamil language science fiction actioner Enthiran: The Robot, where she got to shimmy alongside legendary South Indian "SuperStar" Rajnikanth in a multitude of contexts and (most of all) costumes, most memorably in the throwdown club number "Irumbile Oru."
But lest you think that the moves are all there is to Rai's dancing gift, it's also her ability to truly act and powerfully emote to the music. There is no more poignant, gut-wrenching example than this number from 2006's Umrao Jaan, "Pooch Rahe Hain," where the devastating tragedy of the title character's life cuts through even out of story context (and without subtitles--though they are provided here).
I can go on and on, but I will end this going full circle back to Devdas , and what is widely considered to be one of the greatest film dance numbers of recent years (if not ever): the spectacular "Dola Re Dola," where she and fellow Indian screen legend Madhuri Dixit create true cinema magic.
Revisiting these clips makes me all the more eagerly looking forward to her return to the screen. In the meantime, however--congratulations, Ash and Abhi!
Monday night I had a rare advance press screening for a major Bollywood release, Anurag Basu's Kites, starring Hindi film superstar Hrithik Roshan in his first starring release since 2008's spectacular historical epic Jodhaa Akbar. I am embargoed from writing in any depth on the film until the global release this Friday, May 21, but Roshan's characteristically terrific dance number in the film got me remembering (and YouTube-ing) some of the great dance performances he's given over his career, which turns a decade old this year.
Directed by his father Rakesh Roshan, his 2000 debut Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (Won't You Say... You Love Me), is, on the whole, pretty damn terrible, but what most definitely isn't is the younger Roshan's charisma and dancing ability. The "Ek Pal Ka Jeena" ("There's Only a Moment in Life") number (part of a very solid song score with which this very bad movie was blessed) became an instant classic and singlehandedly turned him into a major movie star overnight, and his effortless grace and presence make it easy to see why.
The first film I actually saw Roshan in was Karan Johar's all-star 2001 family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (Sometimes Happiness Sometimes Sorrow...), which features what is probably my favorite Bollywood song/number of all time, "You Are My Soniya." Yes, it's the epitome of bubblegum pop in any language, but damn it if I don't have it frequently pop into my head at random moments in the years since I first heard the song--which has just about as much to do with Roshan's dancing as it does the song's catchy melody.
To this day, the most unique and challenging number I've seen Roshan perform is the limb-twisting "Main Aisa Kyun Hoon?" ("Why Am I Like This?") number in Farhan Akhtar's 2004 war drama Lakshya (Aim). Choreographed by the great Prabhu Deva, it's a dramatic departure from the dance club or traditional dress numbers actors are most often called on to do in Bollywood.
The last time Roshan danced onscreen in a major showcase prior to Kites (not counting his cameo role in last year's Luck by Chance nor an end credits snippet in 2008's Krazzy 4; Jodhaa Akbar exercised just about all of his skills except dancing) was in 2006's actioner Dhoom:2 (Blast:2), which marked his long-awaited first on-screen pairing with arguably the best female dancer currently active in Bollywood, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan--and they did not disappoint.
More on Kites this Friday.
Buy the Kites soundtrack here.
