RAFIANA REVIVED
IT was an anniversary with a difference. Thousands of MOHAMMAD RAFI fans thronged Kuala Lumpur’s Empire Bollywood to pay tribute to the legend on July 29, on the occasion of his 20th death anniversary. With, what else, but a music nite, wherein some of Rafi’s most popular tunes ever were belted out by Malay-born singers like Minder, Gurucharan and Balwinder Kaur.
So what if the local singers weren’t quite in the same league as Rafi? The haunting, elegiac masterpieces like Jaane wale kabhi nahi aate, Chahunga main tujhe shaam savere, Tu mujhe yu bula na paoge, Suhaani raat dhal chuki and Nafrat ki duniya ko rent the air, bringing tears to most eyes and lumps to the throat.
Avid SCREEN reader and Rafi-buff, the Melaka-based S Hardeep Singh, even put up an ad in the local newspapers paying tribute to the legend. Here’s how it read:
Eh tujhe adat kahan se aagayi,
Aye marize dil, ye himmat kahan se aagayi,
Kal to kahte thay ke bistar pe utha jaata nahin,
Uth gaye duniya se, uth gaye duniya se,
Ye taqat kahan se aagayi
Ye Rafi Saab ki taqat jo aaj hamare beech nahin hai,
Is liye to hum kahte hain ke ek shayar yaad aajata hai,
“Char phool un par bhi chade,
Char phool un par bhi chade,
Char lok milkar unhe utha rahe the,
Char lok milkar humme bi utha rahe the,
Fark sirf itna hi tha ke unki ‘doli’ ja rahi thi,
Hamara janazah ja raha tha,
” Peeche koyi ga raha tha,
“O door ke musafir, hum ko bhi saat le le
Hum rah gaye akele, Hum rah gaye akele,”
Says Hardeep, “If only someone from the Rafi family were around to witness the Kuala Lumpur function. It would have moved them no end to know how much the legend is venerated even outside India.”

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DANCE DIRECTOR TO PLAIN OL’ DIRECTOR
ACE choreographer FARAH KHAN is all set for an image overhaul. She’s turning director with a Shah Rukh Khan-starrer for Dreamz Unlimited, the production outfit run by Shah Rukh and Juhi Chawla. But Farah is mighty peeved with reports in a section of the press suggesting that she is to direct films for Sajid Nadiadwala and a couple of other big time banners, too.
“It’s true that I am about to direct a film, but at the moment I have finalised only one project. It’s surprising how people rush into print when news can be easily confirmed on the telephone,” says Farah, irritation writ large on her face.
The Shah Rukh movie, incidentally, is an action extravaganza, we hear. But an actioner from a choreographer? Well, why not? With many technicians poised to wield the megaphone on the sets, it’s about time, perhaps, for Farah, too, to turn director. That one’s to be launched in the next millennium, in February to be precise. There’s also some talk in the industry that Farah’s to direct Hrithik Roshan in yet another venture. Farah declines to either confirm or deny the rumour, though.
Meanwhile, Farah’s keeping a bunch of visiting cards ready in a purse she carries wherever she goes. “It’s for the over-eager journos, so they can contact me easily, before they decide to print lies and nonsense,” she hints, darkly.    

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KBC JOKES GAIN CURRENCY
AFTER the stupendous success of Kaun Banega Crorepati, AMITABH BACHCHAN has become the piece de resistance, all over again, with all and sundry now taking to a brave new pastime: cracking KBC jokes at the Big B’s expense. It happens everywhere, both on Mumbai’s local trains, and kitty-parties in the capital.
Take the case of the recent Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke bash in New Delhi, for instance. When SHAKTI KAPOOR was invited on stage to talk about the film, he was so overwhelmed by the occasion, and the presence of the Big B in the front row, that he forgot his practiced lines, and took a few digs, extempore, on the Bachchan. He set the ball rolling with a KBC wisecrack or two, and when he’d sufficiently warmed to his theme, he took to lampooning Bachchan himself. So what if he did manage to raise laughter from a section of the audience, Bachchan himself was least pleased. For the most part, he put on a look of sheer ennui and boredom, while Shakti went about shoving his own feet into his mouth in right earnest.

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HERO IN REAL LIFE
WE have seen it all on screen, time and again. Brawny guys lay out scores of the ungodly, rescue damsels with panache, and root stolidly for mothers, sisters, etc. Yet, in their personal lives, our heroes are a far cry from all this derring do. So it’s surprising to see a lead man from the South go out of the way to help a human being in a precarious condition, mindless of whether he gets any mileage out of it in publicity.
V Shekhar, a former SCREEN correspondent based in Chennai, writes in thus: “A friend and neighbour of mine, a retired naval commander, was returning home on his scooter. An ambassador car, whose driver was probably drunk, knocked him down from behind. It was a remote spot, far off from Chennai, so there were very few people on the road. Not even bothering to slow down, the car dragged the poor man (and his scooter) for quite a distance, before speeding away.
The badly injured commander lay on the road in a pool of blood, unconscious, with his vehicle on top of him. To his good luck, a passing car slammed brakes, and stopped. It was Tamil hero Sarath Kumar, on his way to an outdoor location for a shoot. Though the driver warned him about the legal hassles involving road accident cases, Sarath immediately hailed a passing auto, and with the help of his driver and make-up man carried the injured commander to a good hospital. He even instructed his two assistants that if any money was needed at the hospital, it should be paid immediately.
The injured commander lay in the ICU, in a coma, for nearly a week, with four blood vessels ruptured in his brain. However, the timely act of reaching the patient to the emergency ward in the all-important ‘golden hour,’ eventually saved his life.”
Bravo, Sarath. You certainly need no camera to prove you’re a hero.

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A CAMEO APPEARANCE
CUT to The Taj, Mumbai, on the eve of Independence Day. VINOD KHANNA and wife KAVITA DAFTARY with the Godrejs, Parmeshwar and Adi in tow, make a rare appearance at a film party. They troop in hand in hand like a pair of young lovers, and what’s more, even stick by each other for the duration of the stay, which is precisely seven minutes.
Paunchy now, and hair slightly dishevelled, Vinod has the air of a happily married man. Together, the Khannas chat up their hosts, the Shroffs, Jackie and Ayesha, and some of the other glitterati. A whole crowd of fans swarm Vinod for a while, to shake hands or get him to sign a keepsake.
Then, as if they’ve come merely to watch a fleeting parade, the Khannas leave. Hand in hand, once more, and almost as soon as they walk in. Obviously, there’s life outside moviedom and the attendant spotlight for the Khannas. And they aren’t about to trade it in for too long, not for longer than seven minutes at any rate. 

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A ROLE REVERSAL

nANOTHER couple, beaming from ear to ear, and making quite a statement together, hand in hand, at the August 14 bash at the Taj, are the SHROFFS, AYESHA and JACKIE. And why not? Their latest film, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rahta Hain is complete in quick time, all of eight months.
Mahesh Manjrekar, the man in a great deal of demand right now — he’s “booked” till December, 2006, we hear — is the director. And in the cast are Govinda, Sonali Bendre and Rinke Khanna. Govinda plays the title role, that of a man called Ganga.
Jackie’s own home production, Grahan, may be effectively eclipsed for good. But Jackie, bless him, has moved on, or so it seems. The new banner’s called Quest Films, and the producer of Jis Desh isn’t Jackie himself, but wife Ayesha. Jackie isn’t even in the movie’s cast. And for a change, he was seen playing second fiddle host, graciously allowing his wife to take the spotlight at the Taj party. She’s stood by him through thick and thin. So what’s wrong in an occasional reversal of roles, right Jackie?

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VICTIM OF VIOLENCE
RAVEEENA TANDON’s getting ready for her next test at the turnstiles. Daman, a tour de force on marital rape and oppression of women is going to be her next outing. Raveena, we hear, plays the protagonist, or the victim, shall we say, in the heartrending tale of domestic violence, directed by Kalpana Lajmi.
Sayaji Shinde plays Raveena’s sexual sadist husband in the tale that also features the likes of Sanjay Suri, Raima Sen and pop-throb, Shaan. While Raima and Shaan provide the viewpoints of today’s youth on the issue of sexual violence, Suri portrays the views of the sensitive male on the issue. The film, which underlines the mindset of middleclass women trapped in unhappy marriages, has been completed in two schedules at Guwahati and Amsui in Assam.
The grapevine has it that Raveena has yet another role in the offing that borders on sexual violence — the upcoming Aks, we’re told has her in a stripping scene. Women activists are reportedly calling for a boycott of the film, even before they’ve confirmed whether the offending scene is indeed a part of it. Activism, don’t forget, doesn’t need valid reasons. Not in India, at any rate.   

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LOOK WHO’S
CRYING WOLF
HAT’S come of PARVEEN BABI? Well, she’s lodged a complaint with Court No 29, Dadar Bhoiwada, Mumbai, against the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Benjamin Netanyahu, and our very own Amitabh Bachchan for “conspiring to murder” her. The court has accepted her complaint and will decide on September 6 whether the case is to be entertained.
Babi says she has “a 190-page irrefutably proven complaint ready.” Also among those she’s made accusations against are, hold your horses, Warren Beatty, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen, Michael Caine and Sean Connery. “Are you taking down the names?,” she asks us, as we talk on the phone, and makes us recite the names again for her, to make sure. “Put down Mel Gibson, too,” she adds. We do. Babi refuses to divulge how she managed to unearth the proof or specify the celebrities’ motive in attempting to murder her. “Why don’t you drop by one day, and I can furnish the proof,” she asks.

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A KHANNA IGNORED?
TALKING of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rahta Hai, we confess we didn’t know RINKE KHANNA (yes, Dimple Kapadia’s blue-eyed daughter, and star of the box-office dud Pyar Mein Kabhie Kabhie) is in the film’s cast. Not our fault, we promise you. She hasn’t been featured in the film’s promos, and neither do her snaps adorn the film’s posters that currently dot the Mumbai cityscape. Sonali Bendre hogs all the footage and limelight in them, for sure.
In fact, most guests are taken by surprise when her name is mentioned at the film’s Mumbai bash as part of the lead cast. What’s a girl like Rinke doing in the film, then, we wonder. A fellow journo quips, “Dimple’s a close pal of Jackie’s. The Shroffs have obviously given her a raw deal.” Well, raw deal, or no, we’ll soon know, for the movie’s poised for an early release. And Rinke in any case, isn’t letting on that she’s been ignored in the promos. More on that soon.    

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A COUP ON DEBUT
THAT he’s a gifted and intelligent actor, a thinking person’s delight, is without question. He’s given us power-packed performances on the stage in the AIDS-related drama, Are There Tigers In The Congo and as Mark, the debunker of pseudo-culture in the incisive comedy, Art, besides directing and acting in Seascape With Sharks and Dancer.
Committed to meaningful, thought-provoking cinema, he became Amartya Sen in Dev Benegal’s English, August and is gathering richly-deserved plaudits for his turn as KP in Split Wide Open.
Now, RAHUL BOSE reveals yet another facet of his persona as he readies to direct stage artistes Rehaan Engineer and Anahita Uberoi in an English film he has himself scripted, with Zakir Hussain set to compose the score. With international giants, Fox Movies evincing interest in the project, and talent agency William Morris in talks with him about representing him and his film abroad, Bose has pulled off two major coups with his directorial debut.
So go for it, Rahul. You’ve got nothing to lose and the world to gain..

Shaju George Alex
With inputs from Subhash K Jha and Shoma Chatterjee

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