Two Great Vintages...

This appeared in Bombay Times today....
Cheers! To Great Vintages…..
Parmeshwar Godrej refers to herself as a ‘great vintage’. And who on earth can challenge Mumbai’s grande dame? It is an entirely accurate description – I can vouch for it, having seen this great vintage get better and better over decades. And dare I say it, like any memorable vintage, the years have added a golden mellow glow which only enhances Chateau Parmesh. Chin –Chin! All these thoughts came to me as I watched her feverish efforts to stage the Heroes’ Project at Shivaji Park last week. There was an urgency and earnestness in her attitude that was impressive. With no Richard Gere to lend support and star power ( who can forget the Shilpa Shetty kiss fiasco?), and a whole host of high profile events like the IPL to compete against, Parmesh remained motivated and undaunted as she roped in her brand ambassador Hritik Roshan, along with a whole host of friends, to ensure the AIDS programme she is associated with ( Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), received the sort of attention it warrants. There she was running around backstage clad in fitted white jeans that she filled exceedingly well, nervously pacing the area to ensure the flow of events went just so, and the timing was adhered to by all. As Thai lanterns floated skywards, and the evening progressed smoothly, Parmesh finally put in the briefest of brief appearances on stage and folded her hands to convey her gratitude for the support. As always, she didn’t speak a word, but managed a throaty ‘Thank you’. It was left to Cannes-returned Hritik to read out the pledge and get the vast audience to repeat it after him.
Later, Parmesh lamented that not enough attention was being paid to the powerful message and the urgency it demanded given a crisis of such proportions. I felt exactly the same way. Why are we in India still in denial over the issue? Don’t the terrifying numbers tell their own story? 28 million people have died of AIDS worldwide –if that isn’t a wake up call, what will it take for us to be more pro-active in the fight against the disease? It was heart breaking to watch HIV +ve kids at the function innocently and cheerfully dancing and singing with Laxmi – the spirited, feisty, articulate celebrity- hijra from Thane. Laxmi calls Salman Rushdie her friend after she was interviewed by him for ‘AIDS Sutra’, the book that was published last year featuring sixteen essays by prominent writers, with a moving foreword by Amartya Sen. I wondered how much those bachchas knew about their condition and how they coped on a day- to- day basis. I watched Parmesh and Adi’s grandsons hugging a few of them on stage and thought it was a strong message being sent out on the occasion. Ditto for Hritik’s gesture and his emotional pitch. Sometimes the stigma is worse than the disease itself. Our society discriminates and shuns those infected by the virus, making them feel like social outcastes and pariahs. It takes people of some prominence to influence opinion in this area. Internationally, the social register at these high profile benefits is studded with super celebrities like Sharon Stone and Madonna, who go all out to lend their time, energy and voices to this particular cause, as we saw at the Cannes auction. Parmesh is doing her bit. We can all do ours.
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I like the way Anupam Kher handles life. I mean… life beyond movies. Here is one actor in a self-obsessed, narcissistic and frankly, boring business, who takes the trouble to look beyond his nose and contribute something to society at large and his own fraternity in particular. By hosting a special screening of his tour de force ‘ Saaransh’ to mark its 25th Anniversary, Kher was not cornering personal glory. At least, that’s how I saw it. He was drawing attention to what was a landmark movie for him and more importantly for his audience. It was a remarkably mature performance for the actor who was in the full prime of his youth at the time but playing the role of an old man. For this unusual ‘premiere’, Anupam took the trouble to track down all the people associated with the film, down to the last spot boy and invited them to the Sunday afternoon screening. That requires a certain grace and humility. Kher’s involvement in social causes is well known, and having shared the platform with him a couple of times, I can tell you there is nothing shallow about his efforts. Today, he may see himself as a mentor\teacher to a younger generation of actors, but above all he still remains an exceptionally fine actor himself whose best is yet to come…. now, if only someone intelligent would create a first rate role for him and not waste his abundant talent in inane comedies. We saw him shine in ‘A Wednesday’ last year. Let’s hope there is more where that came from.Good going, Kher. You are a great vintage, too!! ********************************************************************************************
First the good news : I received an abject apology from the editor who said , "This will never, ever happen again." Apology accepted. Yes, Kiran, the buck was passed to juniors. But what the hell - the editor's a** has to be covered at all times.
For those of you who lost money on the IPL final last night, my sympathies. I watched the nail-biting match at my friendly, neighbourhood pub, in the President Hotel. There wasn't much of a buzz, and the few people who were there looked like techies from Hyderabad, so naturally they were rooting for the Deccan Chargers. What came as an absolute anti-climax was Lalit Modi's interminably long and boring speech, Oscar's style, in which he thanked his wife and children ( what for?). Katrina Kaif's 'Jai Ho' ruined the song for me - it was thanda, minus oomph and mechanical. The other acts were equally dull and poorly presented. Considering big bucks were spent on the hoop- la, it's a wonder the organisers didn't do a better job. Though, sports fans really weren't interested in that rubbish, and wanted to watch just the prize giving. It was pure torture sitting through the lacklustre 'entertainment' programme full of ugly fellows making God awful speeches. Next time guys, stay out of the picture. Fireworks are fine. But hold the naach- gaana, please.