Sunday, November 5, 2000		Bollywood Bhelpuri

Searing salute to Kashmiriyat
By Madhur Mittal

TWO brave men battle each other... and paradise burns." So, enjoying Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Mission Kashmir? The trade reports have been singularly superb and viewers (in Mumbai, at least) are emerging from the cinema houses with a satisfied smile. There are kudos aplenty for the movie, the moviemaker as well as the cast.

Starring Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff and Hrithik Roshan in lead roles, Mission Kashmir is a searing salute to Kashmiriyat — the centuries-old Kashmiri tradition of religious tolerance and harmony. The story is at once gripping and gutsy, with a whole host of heads having perfected the script and the screenplay. And the performances? They have to be seen to be believed! As a matter of fact, even Preity Zinta and Sonali Kulkarni have risen above their roles to impress their own identities in this male-dominated film.

The background music leaves a deep impact and makes Mission Kashmir a happening film. Incidentally, the main songs have also been imaginatively done by the same trio-team of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and the digital soundtrack truly brings the auditoria alive with remarkable resonance!

But, I bet something you didn’t know is that Chopra had (almost) decided to shelve this magnificent movie when he was told that Jackie Shroff had no dates to match the rest of the shoot schedule in snow-laden Srinagar.

Amitabh Bachchan must be sharing his birthday (October 11) with so very many amongst you readers but his friend and family physician, Dr Surendra Kapoor, takes the cake, literally! He hosted a glitzy bash for Bachchan (and himself, by proxy!) at his sprawling house at Kemp’s Corner with all its elitist trappings. It goes without saying that the venue was chockful of cine celebs, richie rich entrepreneurs... and, inevitably, swarms of (fashionable) gatecrashers!!!

But what I fail to fathom is, when Amitabh’s birthday celebration was splashed all over the print and electronic media, how come the same media hounds didn’t even sniff at the heels of Dev Anand, who’d had a grand gathering for his birthday just a couple of weeks earlier, huh? I mean, surely, this ever and forever handsome "green" hero of Hindi cinema is a living legend who deserves all attention and the best of fonds wishes from the film industry, the filmgoers and, last but certainly not the least, the non-feeling film media. A crying shame, if you ask me.

After the tangy success of Har dil jo pyar karega, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee suddenly seem to have discovered an entire truckload of common, likeable things about each other. So much so, that, nowadays, they insist on wearing ditto dresses to parties (with virtually similar hairdos and accessories!) and remain huddled together (in some secluded spot, preferably)... and all one can hear is heaps of giggles, loud laughter — and louder screams!

Granted that they’ve been signed up for some new films as a delightful duo, but frankly, Rani would be fooling herself if she thinks she can match the wild ‘n’ whacko antics of zapped-out, zany Zinta! In case Rani feels she’s getting something good outa this apparent made-for-each-other relationship — personally or professionally, that’s okay. But — if she’s merely being used as a sounding board or an echo by plotting Preity, well, I’d hate to see the day when Rani’s "Rona" starts!

As I wrote earlier, the do-or-die Divali enthusiasm simply failed to catch up with our Bollywood biggies. Almost all stars preferred to be with their families, bow their heads ‘n’ fold their hands as they prayed (fervently!) to the Goddess of Wealth — Mahalakshmi Maa — instead of the bohemian booze and gambling sprees.

Looks like the taxmen took all the "fun" (sic) outa giving the festival the first degree...! Never mind, our (monied, millionaire) stars have a history of springing right back into the action startlingly soon! Wait for it, folks!