Report on Gifa Premiere in Dubai

Vintage Bollywood potboiler curtains up Gifa in Dubai
Truth be told: The preview of the Hindi film that curtained up the first Global Indian Film Awards (Gifa) in Dubai was anything but ‘rocking.’
If blatant absurdity is the image of Bollywood, the Indian Hindi film industry, that Gifa wanted to promote, the Tuesday evening premiere at the Grand Cineplex of the film, Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav, served its purpose. It also benchmarked the much anticipated event as one set to cater to the lowest common denominator of film appreciation.
But if sheer star power, the glitter, the glamour and some refreshing cinema that provokes the uninitiated to sit up and take serious notice of Indian cinema figured anywhere in the event’s objectives – and it obviously doesn’t – that has taken a serious beating.
The evening started off with the mandatory waiting Bollywood events force upon Dubai audiences. A red carpet that rolled down the aisles of Grand Cineplex was quickly rolled back as news spread that the stars who were to attend the premiere will only make a late appearance.
The crowd however did not budge; most of them being the media, many flying down (or having been flown in) from India. Microphones thrust out for quick quotes, the television gaggle too sat back as the organisers started the premiere, one hour late, to pacify the impatient crowd.
Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav, directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and starring Sunil Shetty, Gulshan Grover, Johnny Lever, Sarath Saxena, and relative new-comer Masumeh Makhija on the female lead, proved a weak choice for a Bollywood premiere for the simple reason that it is sleaze-happy Hollywood plagiarism. Worse, it also borrows heavily from a semi-hit-Malayalam film, Kakkakuyil, which owes its genesis in part to the 1988-Jamie Lee Curtis film, A Fish Called Wanda.
Even if you set aside common sense for the sake of the Hindi film’s entertainment value, the double entendre, vulgar body language – perpetuated with flourish by the film’s director also acting in the title role as Prasad – and the overall absurdity of the plot were dampeners.
As the film progressed, the stars started arriving and it was nothing more than a trickle – often, of non-celebrities. But the ever-so-hospitable Dubai crowd was only eager to play up the visitors’ egos, crowding around for autographs, quick words of pleasantries and photo-sessions galore. Not all were obliging.
Salman Khan trooped in like a whirlwind and he was gone. Gulshan Grover stayed put for interviews; so did Masumeh Makhija. Sunil Shetty made an even late appearance. And when it was intermission time, they walked into the movie halls for exchanging a quick word with the audience. The reaction they elicited was mixed.
At the first cinema, Gulshan Grover’s query on the film fetched the response, “Rocking,” in obvious reference to the actor’s own retort all through the film. And as if sensing something amiss in the relative silence of the rest of the audience, the actor added: “If anyone isn’t enjoying, ask them to come and meet me outside.” That statement, in jest, of course, did sound vintage Bollywood.
Gulshan Grover and Masumeh Makhija had sat down to watch the film with the audience, when Sunil Shetty joined in and all three proceeded to the next cinema. Here, the moviegoers seemed more direct. “Are you enjoying the film,” Grover asked. And a female voice shouted: “No…”
The stars mouthed the platitudes, thanked the Dubai audiences profusely, further marketed the award ceremony on Thursday, and asserted that events like Gifa aim to bring Indian films closer to the people of the UAE.
With Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav, that is, at best, wishful thinking.