| | | | Vishal Bharadwaj, Viveik Oberoi and Ajay Devgan | Dateline: May 20, 2006
The venue: Carlton Hotel, Nikki Beach, Cannes
The host: Eros International's Kishore Lulla, the international distributors of Omkara
The event
Lulla, along with Ajay Devgan (Omkara), Viveik Oberoi, Vishal Bharadwaj and the producer of Omkara, Kumar Mangat, launched the book Omkara, written by Suprateik Sen. Ashok Amritraj released the book. Omkara is Vishal's interpretation of William Shakespeare's Othello.
Vivek Oberoi, who plays Kesu (Cassio), summed up the occasion perfectly, when he said that the adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello was the best way to communicate to the cinema world that Indian filmdom means business.
In the afternoon, it was Oberoi again who was called upon to introduce the characters in Omkara at a press meet on the ship, Five Angels, as he had studied Shakespeare at Trinity College, London.
About the book
| | | Karan Johar, Vishal Bharadwaj, Ajay Devgan and Gurinder Chadha | Said Devgan, "It's a coffee table book on the making of Omkara. It also talks about how the thought came to Vishal to make a film based on Othello. The showreel on Omkara was appreciated by all the people there."
Adds Mangat, "There was a six-minute showreel of Omkara shown at the party, and Roland Emmerich (director of Will Smith-starrer, Independence Day) loved it. He told Vishal, 'I didn't know that India can make such great films'. Most of the people were dancing to the songs showcased in the showreel."
Nikki Beach has earlier played host to other celebrity events, such as Madonna's concerts. The party rocked till 5 am, while Devgan came away at 2 am, as he had to catch an early morning flight to London.
| | | Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha and Sudhir Mishra | "It was a very happening party," informs Devgan. And what did he and Roland Emmerich have to say to each other? "He freaked out over the promos of Omkara and was talking about his new film being premiered at Cannes."
"It was my first times at Cannes," says Devgan. "The experience was amazing! Cannes has a great film market. I didn't have the time to watch any other film, as I was there only on May 21, after flying in from Nice."
Who came?
Apart from the cast and crew of Omkara, media and distributors from all over the world, Karan Johar, Jagmohan Mundra, Sahara One's Sandeep Bhargava, Vijay Singh (One Dollar Curry), Gurinder Chadha, with husband Paul Mayeda Berges, Ruchi Narain, Bobby Bedi, Krishna Shah, Wizcraft's Sabbas Joseph, Poonam Dhillon, BBC's Parminder Vir, Suneel Darshan and Roland Emmerich.
…who didn't
Kareena Kapoor (Dolly/Desdemona), who had a prior commitment to her Rockstar tour, on in USA. Saif Ali Khan's (Langda Tyagi/Iago) return ticket couldn't be confirmed and he had to come back before May 22.
Bipasha Basu was down with fever. She wanted to come but her return ticket, too, couldn't be confirmed.
The food
Says a source, "The party was on the beach, but there were glass doors all around. It was a bit chilly at night. There was champagne and wine. There were seafood snacks; lobsters, prawn platters and several cake platters." |
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
Cricket
Seher Hone Ko Hai
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