Bollywood brightens up Yorkshire

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Posted: 18 years ago

Bollywood brightens up Yorkshire

By Alastair Lawson
BBC News, Sheffield

Aishwarya Rai C acknowledges the audience

Aishwarya Rai (centre) turned everyone's head

So Bollywood has arrived in the northern English county of Yorkshire - and with it lavish amounts of glamour, excitement embarrassment and security. Glamour in the form of some of the most beautiful women in the world descending on the town of Sheffield for "Bollywood Oscars" night on Saturday. Apart form criminal activity, it takes a lot to turn a policeman's head in this unpretentious northern town. But the sight of the former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai, making her way through the high street made even the most hardened of officers look twice. Excitement came in the form of large crowds gathering outside the various hotels in the city in the hope of catching a glimpse of the great and good from Bollywood. Early arrivals Sheffield and the neighbouring areas of Leeds and Bradford have large British Asian populations, and there was far more interest this time in the "Oscars" than when it was last held in the UK - in London seven years ago.

The venue for the ceremony was sold out days in advance and overspill areas in Sheffield and Leeds with giant screens showing the proceedings attracted thousands of people. Embarrassment came in the form of a host of B-list celebrities arriving early for the ceremony in the hope of being photographed and interviewed by the mass of journalists waiting outside the venue as the stars arrived. So immersed in Bollywood culture have Yorkshire people been over the last week, most of the big names were instantly recognised. But even the most seasoned Indian cinema fan had difficulties identifying the early arrivals. The system seemed to work this way: least recognisable actors arrived first in minicabs, followed by better-known celebrities in Mercedes and Range Rovers, followed by the real big-wigs such as Ms Rai and her husband Abhishek in limos or Rolls Royces. Security came in the form of what the local press described as a "ring of steel" around the Hallam Arena where the event was staged. Less formal The city was at the centre of one of the biggest security operations it has ever seen, with extra police brought in and fans without tickets not allowed anywhere near the venue. Huge fencing was placed around the site and its numerous marquees, while the car park outside was almost exclusively reserved for the cars of the stars and their families.

Oscar overspill venues also drew huge audiences

The awards ceremony itself was far less formal than its American counterpart. Many of those selected to hand out Oscars to the winners drew attention to the problems of global warning rather than talk about the cinema. And everyone - actors, delegates and comperes - took the trouble to thank the people of Yorkshire for staging the event and making it such a success. The ceremony itself was in part compared by Boman Irani, who early in the proceedings tried to warm up the crowd with his version of the hit song, We Are The World. That was not a success as most in the audience seemed barely to know the tune, but Mr Irani's later comedy experiences - in which he separately wore a kilt and a British army bearskin hat - drew much more applause. Another difference was the way in which the winner of each "Oscar" was named. In the US the four candidates for the prize are nominated, and then the winner is announced who normally makes an emotional speech punctuated by outbreaks of tears and sentimentality. In the Indian version, the winner is announced immediately, and most of the winners kept their acceptance speeches short and sweet. From Yorkshire's point of view, the Bollywood week has been something of a boon. It has brought the county onto global television, with hundreds of millions of viewers watching the ceremony all over the world. It has also brought the area to the attention of Indian businessmen, with deals being discussed over the course of the week that could amount to millions of dollars. Relations between the Bollywood community and their Yorkshire hosts have been so warm over the last week that the king of the Indian film world, Amitabh Bachchan, is now reputed to have a new way of greeting people.

"Ay up! Now then where are you going?" he was overheard saying in a true Yorkshire accent.

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minuu

@minuu

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+ 7

Posted: 18 years ago

gr8 britian geting the bolly fever!! 😆

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fm05

@fm05

Sparkler

Posted: 18 years ago

Thx, its too gd to be true for the UK as we hardly ever get B-wood stars coming here unless for shooting but yaar we all live in our small home towns, who has got time to be out in Central London all the time on celeb watch! 😆 So IFFA has been a real treat for all those that got to go.

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Bollywood brightens up Yorkshire

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