After the recent aggression shown by India towards Pakistan! I urge everyone in the US, UK and Canada not to go to the shows! I am the biggest bollywood fan out there. I have back stage passes to meet the artists. Lekin I simply not going to go.
Show that we are Pakistanis and not hypocrites!
I think there are enough Indian (Guppies or no Guppies)in US, UK, Canada to make those shows sucessful.
AK
Ali if you don't want to be a hypocrite and not support the Indian army's actions in J&K then stop watching Indian movies period, stop buying or renting their movies and cancel your subscription to their channels and then you will not be a hypocrite.
Not going to some pathetic concert won't stop the whole thing, if you are really serious then go all the way.
Only 2 person supporting It.What happened to you pakis…Comeon guys !!!
I know those who wants to go will go..But atleast give these guys MORAL SUPPORT.
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/wink.gif
Unka Jo Kaam hai Ahl-e-Siyasat Jaane,
Apna paigam muhabbat hai ,jahan tak pahuche
[This message has been edited by andha_qanoon (edited May 19, 2002).]
I agree with Umair, Ali.
He made a very good point..
I leave politics out of entertainment and sports. But if Hrithik Roshan had a problem with me personally, in being Pakistani, then I wouldn't go to see him.
ISLAMABAD: Twelve Pakistani villagers were killed while 50 injured as Indian army continued unprovoked shelling of civilian population along the Sialkot Working Boundary and the Line of Control. Three Indian troops were also killed in retaliation by Pakistani soldiers.
As a result of fresh unprovoked artillery assault by the Indian army on late Sunday night on Samani Bazar in Bhimbher district of Azad Kashmir, three civilians were martyred and eight others were grievously injured, official sources said.
Junoon Rulz....
[quote]
Originally posted by UMAIR316:
**Ali if you don't want to be a hypocrite and not support the Indian army's actions in J&K then stop watching Indian movies period, stop buying or renting their movies and cancel your subscription to their channels and then you will not be a hypocrite.
Not going to some pathetic concert won't stop the whole thing, if you are really serious then go all the way.
**
[/quote]
yaar whats the point of the name calling atleast give him the credit for not going to the concert..infact most of the ppl watch indian movies and at the same time dislike the indian government so it doesnt really mean all of them are hypocrite..
Let us aside all our differences, we should just unite, stand by each other and thwart any agressions by the enemy..
Pakistanis will never let go of there love for Indian entertainemnt, something which I wil never understand becuase I hate Indian entertianment. Even if these two countries were to nuke each other, they will still watch their movies.
I blame the nude women they are exposing. And the language factor.........and the fact that paki movies arent anything to cheer about......
I agree. These are chances to get our peoples together, not further apart.
After all, its not like Advani will be the star performer!!
Exactly, Came back from the MCI Center today, There were more Pakis than Indians. And most of the girls were willing to give up their life to kiss that Idiot Arjun Rampal.
AK
Boycott everything that is Indian... I (along with some friends) have been urging ppl to do so in Pakistan, and we have been doing rather good, and thanks to the Pakistani Government banning all the Indian channels here... We also report any cable operators illegally showing indian stuff to the PTA...
Inshallah, we will get rid of Indian movies in Pakistan for good, good riddance to bad trash...
chalo yaar mere motivate karne se 8 log to aaye…
but then pak.org must be having 100s of guppies…Comeon guppies this is the time to save pakistan from filthy indian movies and songs…
http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/wink.gif
Unka Jo Kaam hai Ahl-e-Siyasat Jaane,
Apna paigam muhabbat hai ,jahan tak pahuche
[This message has been edited by andha_qanoon (edited May 20, 2002).]
Washington Post
http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=201854
Hooray for Bollywood
‘Heartthrobs’ Puts Bombay on the Map Inside the Beltway
Five of Indian cinema’s brightest stars–including Hrithik Roshan, surrounded by “Heartthrobs” cast dancers–performed at MCI Center. (Lois Raimondo - The Washington Post)
By Alona Wartofsky
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, May 20, 2002; Page C01
Aconstellation of faraway stars appeared for a rare close-up view here Saturday night when the “Heartthrobs” tour alighted at MCI Center.
The event featured five superstars of India’s Hindi musical cinema, the escapist and over-the-top film genre known as Bollywood. Many Americans might be unfamiliar with these musicals, but that’s only because we are self-absorbed. Bollywood, which is centered in Bombay, is the biggest movie industry in the world, its annual output of films nearly double that of Hollywood.
“Heartthrobs” was not, strictly speaking, a concert: Lip-syncing is a long-standing Bollywood convention. The musical numbers are recorded by invisible “playback” singers, and the performers on-screen lip-sync and dance to the music.
What’s important in Bollywood is how the film stars present the songs – the grace and energy of their dancing, their synchronization, their facial expressions and their sartorial splendor. All of which contribute to their star wattage, which in the case of the five “Heartthrobs” – Hrithik Roshan, Aftab Shivdasani, Arjun Rampal and sisters Kareena and Karisma Kapoor – is considerable.
When 28-year-old Hrithik appeared onstage, flames erupted on either side of him and the audience shrieked with abandon. He wore a black sparkly ensemble decorated all over with his trademark fringes. He tilted his head to one side and everybody screamed. He tilted his head to the other side and everybody screamed. He pointed a finger at a nosebleed section and everybody there screamed. He jerked his shoulders around. He swiveled his hips, dropped for some virtual breakdancing, got up and did a sort of martial arts kick.
Then Hrithik, who resembles a cross between Elvis Presley and Dudley Do-Right, made love to the audience. In between the tenderest of air kisses, he said, “I’ve been waiting and wanting . . . and finally I have my chance to say thank you for your love and support.”
He waited for the shrieking to subside, then offered: “I have loved, cherished and enjoyed every moment of this beautiful relationship. Each and every one of you out there is important to my being.”
And then, when the fans were finally quiet again, he had a confession to make: “The only reason I feel like a heartthrob right now is because my heart is throbbing for you!”
Much has been made this spring of a new “Bollywood chic.” In other words, the West is finally getting around to acknowledging the Hindi film industry’s prodigious charms. The musical “Lagaan” became the first Bollywood film to be nominated for an Academy Award (previous Indian nominees were art house pictures). Andrew Lloyd Webber is premiering a Bollywood-inspired musical, “Bombay Dreams,” in London next month. A regular “Bollywood Disco” party starts later this month at a Manhattan nightclub, and Bollywood touches are showing up in Western movies (“Moulin Rouge,” for one). Magazines and newspapers across the United States have run stories predicting this to be the summer of Bollywood. Leading the pack was GQ, which ran a splashy eight-page spread on Hrithik, whom the magazine described as “the most famous person you have never heard of, one of the biggest movie stars in the world.”
For just about everyone at MCI Center, Bollywood has been It all along. Rakesh Roshan, the actor-turned-producer who also happens to be Hrithik’s father, expects Bollywood to invade the West in much the same way that Hong Kong cinema has. “I’m 100 percent sure those days are not far now,” he said. “Bollywood movies have a lot of emotion. Emotions always work, even in Hollywood film. If you see ‘Titanic,’ that’s emotion. If you see ‘Beautiful Mind,’ that’s emotion. Any film based with emotions will do well, and Indian films have a lot of emotion.”
In the meantime, he said, Bollywood audiences are growing. “Two or three years ago, I used to work with 40 prints. Now a film will be released with 300 prints, and some of these movies are going into mainstream cinemas outside India.”
Family dynasties reign in Bollywood, where stars bequeath their exalted celebrity to their children. The elder Roshan, whose green eyes are even more mesmerizing than his son’s, gave Hrithik his break two years ago in “Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (Say That You’re in Love).” Hrithik, who now has at least a dozen films to his name, will have to work hard to match his father’s accomplishments. Roshan has produced 12 films and acted in more than 150. He also survived an assassination attempt by a would-be rival producer who had been infuriated by Hrithik’s refusal to act in a movie. (It’s been reported that Bollywood was built on money from organized crime; there’s certainly plenty of drama both on and off the screen.)
At MCI, the numbers performed onstage were mostly dramatic courtship fantasies from recent Bollywood hits. Songs were sung mostly in Hindi, with English phrases – “chill out!” was common – peppering the dialogue. The dancers mixed traditional movements with steps borrowed from vintage Michael Jackson and current pop sensations like 'N Sync.
Hrithik and Kareena performed “Jab Dil Miley” from the film “Yaadein (Cherished Memories)” as well as the catchy “Bumbro” from “Mission Kashmir.” For the latter, he wore a blue tie-dyed tunic with silver sparkles and red leather fringe. His pants were red leather, with a shiny black “H” affixed to the right side of his behind.
The Kapoor sisters were appropriately sultry in their respective numbers, and Aftab was a winning performer as well. Cream-puffiest of them all, though, was Arjun, who moonlights as a model and may well be the most attractive man in the universe. Unlike Hrithik, who comes off as a bit full of himself, Arjun seemed to have a healthy sense of humor. He showed up onstage disguised as a potbellied Sikh wearing an ill-fitting suit, turban and rolled beard. That came off to reveal ripped jeans decorated with a sequined American flag, and a snug red tank top edged with sparklies. In an extended and very funny sequence, Arjun tried to fix up two members of the audience, a 16-year-old girl, who uncooperatively kept flipping her hair in his direction, and a hammy young swain whose clumsy imitation of Arjun’s dance moves underscored the fact that being a Bollywood performer requires practice.
The audience consisted predominantly of people who describe themselves as Indian Americans or NRIs (nonresident Indians), but Pakistanis, Afghans and other South Asians also came. There were clusters of teenagers but also entire families – parents and grandparents holding sleepy doe-eyed toddlers, some in tiny jeweled saris.
Community leaders estimate that 100,000 Indians and Indian Americans live in the Washington area, and the population is growing. Bollywood films screen regularly at the Loehmann Twin Cinema in Falls Church, and area Indian specialty shops do a brisk business in video and DVD sales and rentals. When promoter Vijay Taneja first began producing shows with Bollywood stars back in 1993, 1,000 people would constitute a good turnout. Now, he said, big events draw more than 10,000.
“These concerts promote our culture to the generation that’s born here,” said Taneja. “They should know their identity, and Indian cinema is the best way of keeping them aware of it. My daughter told me when she comes to these events she recognizes that she’s from India. It makes me feel I’m keeping India close to the Indians overseas.”
After the grand finale, in which all the stars performed a number from the film “Khabie Khushi Kabhie Gham (Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sorrow),” a shower of multicolor confetti fell from above. The 'throbs threw several dozen heart-shaped pillows into the audience, and then they were gone.
“This was my first show,” said Taz Choudhury, a 19-year-old student from Lorton. “Before I came, I wasn’t sure what to expect. All these actors and actresses don’t sing, so how could it be a performance? What are we going for? It actually turned out to be pretty good.”
Bhanu Dungarani enjoyed all the pageantry, but was nonetheless slightly disappointed. “I flew here all the way from Phoenix, Arizona, but I didn’t get to see what I wanted to see,” she said. Dungarani has read in fan magazines that Hrithik possesses two thumbs on one hand. Her husband, a doctor, is skeptical, and so they made a wager. She waved a $255 ticket in the air. “I spent all this money and I still haven’t found out!”
Her son, Amit, a 22-year-old Fairfax IT consultant, was dissatisfied for different reasons. “They tried too hard to please the Western crowd. Too much in English – all that ‘dude’ and ‘cool’ – they kept saying the same things over and over again. I thought the emcee should have done a better job.”
But there were also reasons to celebrate the event. After Sept. 11, he noted, many events were canceled for fear of attracting the attention of people who might direct hate crimes toward South Asians who wear turbans. He also cited tensions within the South Asian diaspora community. “With all the tension going on between Pakistan and India because of the Kashmir issue, this was a way to bring the communities together,” he said.
“Tonight was great because we all came together as a community in public celebrating a beautiful part of our culture.”
© 2002 The Washington Post Company