Bollywood Gallery #13 - Page 9

Where has professionalism gone? They could have been Carmen F irst things first. Shyam Benegal the master auteur of as many as 22 feature films and several documentaries, shorts and television series, and also the winner of innumerable National and international awards, is also a Rajya Sabha M P. He is the creatively agile director who has wanted to make Carmen – the classic story of a fiery woman with two lovers, which has inspired 50 movies and TV series ever since cinema was invented. The most famous among the ver- sions is Carlo Saura's Carmen, which is hot even in the city's DVD circuit. Down the decades, Benegal has thought of various actresses to play the once-in-a-lifetime role – starting from Neena Gupta at one point and then moving on to Mad- huri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor. Carmen jinx Immediately after he had com- pleted Bose: A Forgotten Hero, pre- production had begun work with a producer on Carmen. Kareena Kapoor's name was heard for the title role.. but eventually the choice was Urmila Matondkar, fresh from her livewire perform- ances in Ek Haseena Thi and Naina. Jimmy Sheirgill was finalised as the male lead. Even the costume measurements of the acting crew had been taken.. and the location was to be Rajasthan.. all seemed to be set for the film- maker's vision of the legendary Carmen as a gypsy woman of the deserts. Then without any warning came the news that Sanjay Gupta had announced a plethora of films to be made under his White Feath- er banner. This would include the directed Apoorva Lakhia Shootout at Lokhandwala, a series of featurettes by different direc- tors under the title of Dus Kahaniyan, a project by Meghna Gulzar and surprisingly, Chamki Chameli by Benegal. So far, so terrific. But nothing seemed to be moving for Benegal. Meanwhile Urmila and Jimmy were clueless too, their dates had been earmarked but not utilised. Came rumblings from Gupta's office that he wanted Benegal to "upgrade" the project.. it was con- jectured that Benegal's Carmen would now be Priyanka Chopra.. and she would be paired with San- jay Dutt. The distributors would pay up more money for a star-lined movie, wouldn't they? Different tune Quite unprofessionally, Urmila was out and who knows if Priyan- ka had agreed to step in or not. Meanwhile, Benegal diligently immersed himself in working on the music score with A R Rah- man in Chennai. Evidently, five outstanding tunes are with Bene- gal now.. sung by the composer as well as some new talents. On the other hand, Gupta was seen and heard mainly at splashy parties like the one held for Shootout at Lokhandwala – co- hosted by production partner Ekta Kapoor. Neither White Feather nor Balaji Films, howev- er, talked of Chamki Chameli.. on the contrary a sequel to Dus Kahaniyan was announced, mean- ing they would end up making Bees Kahaniyan. In black and white Benegal maintained a dignified silence.. till he understood that he had not been behind the camera for more than 18 months. He sent a letter to White Feather.. signify- ing that since things had not worked out, for reasons beyond his comprehension, he was moving on.. which he has. Benegal will now be directing a film – a political satire tentatively titled Mahadev – which will be largely shot in Hyderabad. Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Rao are being considered for the lead roles. The story clearly indicates that Gupta has taken a stalwart direc- tor for granted. When we met Benegal, he laughed the entire unpleasant chapter as, "It's okay, I only wish things were made clear.. it is no point wasting my time or his. I have sent them a let- ter.. and I do not want to comment on what has happened.. it would not be dignified." Sanjay Gupta was called for three days to give his side of the story. He did not respond or have the courtesy of sending a "no com- ments" sms. But then to paraphrase that vintage song.. yeh hai Bolly- wood meri jaan..

Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics announced the winners of the 24 FPS Animation awards for 2006-07. Rakesh Roshan was awarded the Personality of the Year and Pankaj Khandpur, cre- ative director, Tata Elxsi, the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to computer graphics, visual effects and animation industry Rakshanda Khan hosted the evening. Manmohan Shet- . ty also graced the occasion. WHAT Animation Academy Awards WHERE Grand Hyatt, Santacruz WHO Rakesh Roshan, Ketan Mehta, Deepa Sahi, Atul Kulkarni, Rakshanda Khan.. PHOTOS: DIPAK HAZRA

Another north Indian restaurant Angeethi opened on Friday at Vile Parle. The open- ing ceremony had bhangra and Punjabi folk music alongside lassi and pakodas to keep guests entertained. The evening was hosted by P B Nichani, the founder and promoter of the BJN group that owns the restaurant. WHAT WHERE WHO Angeethi restaurant opening Vile Parle Uddhav Thackeray, Dharmendra, PB Nichani