Let’s get done with acknowledging the white elephant in this year’s International Indian Film Academy Awards in Singapore. The Khans or the Kumars were absent from the three-day Bollywood bash. But was the party any less fun? The answer is: yes and no.
On the first day, there were some withdrawal symptoms among journalists who were looking for a quick star-fix. Unlike the previous years where comedies and epics threw open the festival with much fanfare, this year it was a slightly less glitzy drama, Shanghai, that made it to the opening film roll call. It wasn’t a mainstream musical and it wasn’t sold as one either, with thinking man’s favourites Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin and director Dibakar Bannerjee on board.
It looked like the IIFAs were embracing the young rising stars -- possibly over the old guard.
“Absolutely, we are showcasing the young face of India cinema this year,” said Sabbas Joseph, director of Wizcraft International, the IIFA organisers.
“As we celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema, we want to focus on the young generation and today’s cinema is not dependent on stars – audiences now are lured to good direction and narratives,” he added.
So far, so good. But there’s nothing like a good-looking face to elevate cinema to a whole new level. Enter Ranbir Kapoor, who took charge this year.
“We feel responsible. It’s the order of things … we are not taking anybody’s place,” Kapoor told tabloid!. For the first time in four years, veteran actor Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh were shown the door as young actors Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar hosted.
“All I know is that the responsibility is on us to entertain,” said Shahid Kapoor.
Entertain he did. The Kapoor clan took it upon themselves to add masala -- that essential Indian spice -- to the event. In a first, Rishi Kapoor and son Ranbir danced together and provided some iconic memories for Bollywood fans to return home with.
In other ways too, this year’s IIFAs provided firsts. Bollywood’s cousin, South Indian cinema, was given importance, with Kamal Haasan lending his support to the event. This awards outing also saw the emergence of some new Bollywood clans.
The Akhtar trio (Javed, Farhan and Zoya), who scooped all the major awards with the film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, are turning out to be a force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile Priyanka’s cousin Parineeti is flying the Chopra flag high.
“We could be the new Chopras in Bollywood,” quipped Priyanka as she congratulated her cousin on winning two awards that night.
We will toast to that.
