Kilgore Trout
Jan 15, 2007, 4:09 PM
i'm not a big fan of bollywood movies, but it's interesting to see bollywood becoming mainstream in canada. in toronto, there are usually several bollywood flicks showing at any given time, often at chain multiplexes like square one in mississauga.
even in montreal, the AMC forum downtown programs new bollywood films every week.
Now Indian cinema eyes Canada
Neelam Raaj
Times of India
NEW DELHI: After a record-breaking year at the US box office with seven films grossing over $2 million, Bollywood is now wowing the Canadian market. Thursday saw Toronto host the world premiere of Mani Ratnam's Guru, a first for a mainstream Hindi film.
The $100,000 gala had fans waiting in the cold for hours to see Ash and Abhishek's star turn and forking out $500 for a front-row ticket.
It may be money well spent for the movie's Canadian distributor Roger Nair Productions which is hoping the film will double revenues and set a benchmark for the future.
"In two years, the Canadian market for Bollywood films will be as big as UK's," predicts Roger Nair. Canada's huge South Asian population certainly is a captive market.
According to immigration trends, South Asians will be the country's dominant visible ethnic group by 2017, with a projected 1.8 million South Asian population.
Bollywood world premiere wows Toronto fans
JOHN MCKAY
The Globe and Mail
http://images.theglobeandmail.com/archives/RTGAM/images/20070112/wbollywood0112/0112bollywoodbig.jpg
TORONTO — Forget Brangelina. Or TomKat.
When it comes to Bollywood cinema, no screen couple is hotter than Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. And Toronto's South Asian community was out in force Thursday evening for the world premiere of Guru, the pair's latest film.
“Absolutely gorgeous. Both of them. Just stunning!” Arpana Vora declared with glee moments after the darling duo was whisked along the red carpet and into the screening.
“They're the Brad Pitt and Angelina [Jolie] of the Indian community!”
Rai, who wore a white sari, and Bachchan, who donned a black suit and headband, were several hours late for the gala because of flight schedules and didn't stop for questions.
The delay only served to build momentum at the historic Elgin Theatre, where police estimated 1,200 fans had been standing and screaming on the sidewalk behind barriers for up to six hours.
Another 1,200 or so filmgoers — some clad in vibrant Indian saris, ghagra cholis and salwar kameezes — were inside, along with international media outlets, many from India.
“We couldn't see her but we saw him and ... he looked so amazing!” said one fan who was amongst the dozens of ticket holders clogging theatre hallways and stairwells hoping to catch a glimpse.
“He is so sexy. Sexy man!” she screamed.
The producers chose Toronto for the premiere after an impressive response to another Bollywood film, Never Say Goodbye, at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The gala crowd far outnumbered that for Brad Pitt's film Babel.
“The South Asian community is very important to our city and so is the film industry. Bollywood brings them together,” said Mayor David Miller as he walked into the screening.
Miller also stopped to chat and rally up the giddy fans and stated with a smile, “I've never seen anything like the adulation tonight.”
Producer Bobby Bedi ( Bandit Queen, Fire) said at the premiere he chose Toronto for his premiere because it “by far is one most cosmopolitan cities in the world.”
Guru is loosely based on the life of a young man who rose from poverty in a small Indian village in the 1950s to defy the odds and become a major textile merchant. In the film version, the character of Gurukant Desai (Bachchan) employs unethical methods to achieve his materialistic goals but does what he has to do to crack a market firmly controlled by the rich and privileged.
Rai — who has been described as giving Halle Berry strong competition for the unofficial title of most beautiful woman in the world — plays his wife Sujatha.
“She was stunning. Stunning. Very beautiful,” said Adesh Vora after he caught a glimpse of Rai. Looking at his wife though, he hesitated to concur that Rai is the most beautiful woman on Earth.
“My wife is number one,” he said.
[b]Bollywood set to take TO by storm
Globe and Mail Update
Toronto — Canada's most populous city is bonkers for Bollywood this week as stars from India's hugely popular film industry are set to arrive for the landmark world premiere of Guru.
It's rare for such events to take place outside of India, and the premiere has many in the city's South Asian community buzzing with anticipation. Some fans have dished out hundreds of dollars for a ticket to Thursday's red-carpet gala screening.
“I'm really excited! I'm a great fan,” said Subakar Thayalachelvam, co-owner of the Bollywood DVD Center in Toronto, adding that he has to be out of town Thursday.
“I've actually purchased a ($250) ticket but then I gave it away because I couldn't go.”
Several Toronto-based fans on the Internet forum bollywood.meetup.com also said they were thrilled about the soiree.
“Oh this is so exciting!” wrote a poster with the alias “Cecilia.”
“I think I will try to go there after work with my camera of course and try my luck, although who knows how I will make it past the hordes who are expected to show up.”
Directed by Mani Ratnam, Guru is a rags-to-riches love story starring Bollywood superstar Abhishek Bachchan as a man who strives to climb to the top of the business ladder.
Bachchan and his co-star/rumoured girlfriend, Aishwarya Rai, are to walk the red carpet with the rest of the cast at the Elgin Theatre Thursday evening. A press conference originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon was postponed until Friday morning because of changes to the stars' flights, said organizers.
City officials said they expect up to 10,000 fans to line the streets outside the Yonge Street theatre to catch a glimpse of Rai and Bachchan at the premiere.
Officials asked police to block off part of the street in anticipation of the hysteria.
“There's a huge buzz,” said Peter Finestone, director of investment marketing for the City of Toronto, which has been helping the film's distributors with the premiere.
“I think (it's) just fabulous and a huge benefit to the city.”
Toronto Mayor David Miller had personally invited the cast for the world premiere after Roger Nair Productions, based in Mississauga, Ont., acquired the Canadian distribution rights of the Hindi film.
Nair said demand for tickets to the gala was hot.
“It is insane. It's insane!” he said Wednesday over the phone, adding that theatres across the country have been calling asking if they can show the film.
Top price for the gala is $500, although fans need wait only another day to see the film at regular box office prices. “Guru” opens in cities across Canada on Friday.
Toronto is an excellent place to launch the film because of the region's large South Asian community, said Finestone.
Thousands of Bollywood fans showed up outside a city theatre in September for the premiere of another Indian export, “Never Say Goodbye,” at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“It was shown on the same day as ‘Babel,' the Oscar-touted movie starring Brad Pitt,” said festival co-director Noah Cowan.
“Let's say the crowds for ‘Never Say Goodbye' were probably 10 times the size of the crowds that turned out for Mr. Pitt. So the fact that there's excitement in the city for a major new movie by a director I consider one of the best working in South Asia is no surprise at all.”
Thayalachelvam said several of his friends have paid big dollars to be at the premiere.
“I know a couple of people who actually bought tickets for $350,” he said.
“Bollywood is a big thing down here . . . so everybody knows it now. Everybody watches Bollywood movies in Toronto. It's more multicultural and diverse.”
even in montreal, the AMC forum downtown programs new bollywood films every week.
Now Indian cinema eyes Canada
Neelam Raaj
Times of India
NEW DELHI: After a record-breaking year at the US box office with seven films grossing over $2 million, Bollywood is now wowing the Canadian market. Thursday saw Toronto host the world premiere of Mani Ratnam's Guru, a first for a mainstream Hindi film.
The $100,000 gala had fans waiting in the cold for hours to see Ash and Abhishek's star turn and forking out $500 for a front-row ticket.
It may be money well spent for the movie's Canadian distributor Roger Nair Productions which is hoping the film will double revenues and set a benchmark for the future.
"In two years, the Canadian market for Bollywood films will be as big as UK's," predicts Roger Nair. Canada's huge South Asian population certainly is a captive market.
According to immigration trends, South Asians will be the country's dominant visible ethnic group by 2017, with a projected 1.8 million South Asian population.
Bollywood world premiere wows Toronto fans
JOHN MCKAY
The Globe and Mail
http://images.theglobeandmail.com/archives/RTGAM/images/20070112/wbollywood0112/0112bollywoodbig.jpg
TORONTO — Forget Brangelina. Or TomKat.
When it comes to Bollywood cinema, no screen couple is hotter than Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. And Toronto's South Asian community was out in force Thursday evening for the world premiere of Guru, the pair's latest film.
“Absolutely gorgeous. Both of them. Just stunning!” Arpana Vora declared with glee moments after the darling duo was whisked along the red carpet and into the screening.
“They're the Brad Pitt and Angelina [Jolie] of the Indian community!”
Rai, who wore a white sari, and Bachchan, who donned a black suit and headband, were several hours late for the gala because of flight schedules and didn't stop for questions.
The delay only served to build momentum at the historic Elgin Theatre, where police estimated 1,200 fans had been standing and screaming on the sidewalk behind barriers for up to six hours.
Another 1,200 or so filmgoers — some clad in vibrant Indian saris, ghagra cholis and salwar kameezes — were inside, along with international media outlets, many from India.
“We couldn't see her but we saw him and ... he looked so amazing!” said one fan who was amongst the dozens of ticket holders clogging theatre hallways and stairwells hoping to catch a glimpse.
“He is so sexy. Sexy man!” she screamed.
The producers chose Toronto for the premiere after an impressive response to another Bollywood film, Never Say Goodbye, at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The gala crowd far outnumbered that for Brad Pitt's film Babel.
“The South Asian community is very important to our city and so is the film industry. Bollywood brings them together,” said Mayor David Miller as he walked into the screening.
Miller also stopped to chat and rally up the giddy fans and stated with a smile, “I've never seen anything like the adulation tonight.”
Producer Bobby Bedi ( Bandit Queen, Fire) said at the premiere he chose Toronto for his premiere because it “by far is one most cosmopolitan cities in the world.”
Guru is loosely based on the life of a young man who rose from poverty in a small Indian village in the 1950s to defy the odds and become a major textile merchant. In the film version, the character of Gurukant Desai (Bachchan) employs unethical methods to achieve his materialistic goals but does what he has to do to crack a market firmly controlled by the rich and privileged.
Rai — who has been described as giving Halle Berry strong competition for the unofficial title of most beautiful woman in the world — plays his wife Sujatha.
“She was stunning. Stunning. Very beautiful,” said Adesh Vora after he caught a glimpse of Rai. Looking at his wife though, he hesitated to concur that Rai is the most beautiful woman on Earth.
“My wife is number one,” he said.
[b]Bollywood set to take TO by storm
Globe and Mail Update
Toronto — Canada's most populous city is bonkers for Bollywood this week as stars from India's hugely popular film industry are set to arrive for the landmark world premiere of Guru.
It's rare for such events to take place outside of India, and the premiere has many in the city's South Asian community buzzing with anticipation. Some fans have dished out hundreds of dollars for a ticket to Thursday's red-carpet gala screening.
“I'm really excited! I'm a great fan,” said Subakar Thayalachelvam, co-owner of the Bollywood DVD Center in Toronto, adding that he has to be out of town Thursday.
“I've actually purchased a ($250) ticket but then I gave it away because I couldn't go.”
Several Toronto-based fans on the Internet forum bollywood.meetup.com also said they were thrilled about the soiree.
“Oh this is so exciting!” wrote a poster with the alias “Cecilia.”
“I think I will try to go there after work with my camera of course and try my luck, although who knows how I will make it past the hordes who are expected to show up.”
Directed by Mani Ratnam, Guru is a rags-to-riches love story starring Bollywood superstar Abhishek Bachchan as a man who strives to climb to the top of the business ladder.
Bachchan and his co-star/rumoured girlfriend, Aishwarya Rai, are to walk the red carpet with the rest of the cast at the Elgin Theatre Thursday evening. A press conference originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon was postponed until Friday morning because of changes to the stars' flights, said organizers.
City officials said they expect up to 10,000 fans to line the streets outside the Yonge Street theatre to catch a glimpse of Rai and Bachchan at the premiere.
Officials asked police to block off part of the street in anticipation of the hysteria.
“There's a huge buzz,” said Peter Finestone, director of investment marketing for the City of Toronto, which has been helping the film's distributors with the premiere.
“I think (it's) just fabulous and a huge benefit to the city.”
Toronto Mayor David Miller had personally invited the cast for the world premiere after Roger Nair Productions, based in Mississauga, Ont., acquired the Canadian distribution rights of the Hindi film.
Nair said demand for tickets to the gala was hot.
“It is insane. It's insane!” he said Wednesday over the phone, adding that theatres across the country have been calling asking if they can show the film.
Top price for the gala is $500, although fans need wait only another day to see the film at regular box office prices. “Guru” opens in cities across Canada on Friday.
Toronto is an excellent place to launch the film because of the region's large South Asian community, said Finestone.
Thousands of Bollywood fans showed up outside a city theatre in September for the premiere of another Indian export, “Never Say Goodbye,” at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“It was shown on the same day as ‘Babel,' the Oscar-touted movie starring Brad Pitt,” said festival co-director Noah Cowan.
“Let's say the crowds for ‘Never Say Goodbye' were probably 10 times the size of the crowds that turned out for Mr. Pitt. So the fact that there's excitement in the city for a major new movie by a director I consider one of the best working in South Asia is no surprise at all.”
Thayalachelvam said several of his friends have paid big dollars to be at the premiere.
“I know a couple of people who actually bought tickets for $350,” he said.
“Bollywood is a big thing down here . . . so everybody knows it now. Everybody watches Bollywood movies in Toronto. It's more multicultural and diverse.”
