Saturday, September 10, 2005
Air kisses at INOX
It's all about being prop-ah.
My first brush with a celebrity was ages ago, when I was down here in Bombay for a visit from Calcutta, and we were at the Goregaon Film City. the guide was talking about this and that cliff some whiney heroine screamed from, in some whiney movie, etc etc, when we walk onto a TV set, and there stands Tom Alter. Hehehehe... old man and all that, I know, but still....! And then, as we ambled out, we nearly bumped into Salil Ankola, the cricketer chap who turned into a TV actor. I have absolutely no idea what the man's upto these days, nor do I particularly care, and yet at that time, it was actually quite a thrill.
Cut to last week, at the INOX theatre in Nariman Point. Standing in line at the snacks counter for a popcorn and coke combo, I see ad guru (they always use this phrase for the man!) Alyque Padamsee sitting at a couch with theatre diva Dolly Thakore by his side. I scooted back to my brother with the snacks and we both peered over to where the pair were sitting. My brother's flatmate of course, was quite flummoxed as to what the big deal was, and asked around quite loudly, "Who? Where? Pad-what-see?"
Then there was the episode at Legacy of China, a quaint little restaurant in Seven Bungalows, Andheri, some months back, when we see Shabana Azmi and family sitting at a table a short distance away. My mum was visiting, and she reportedly also spied a couple of TV stars from her favourite Star Plus soaps at the restaurant, and dessert was quite a thrilling affair!
But the clincher was last night at INOX again. I'm taking my job as a busines correspondent far too seriously, I think, for when I spy Rakesh Jhunjhunwalla, investor extraordinaire, I can't help but walk upto him and introduce myself, saying I would get in touch with him later this week. No soone had I said my 'bbye's to him, than I see another market biggie, Jamshed Desai from IL&FS Investsmart, sitting on a couch with his wife. "Jamshed! How are you?!" I smiled broadly, and the nervous man got up to shake his hand. I have no idea whether he recognised me or not from the time I met him earlier, but he certainly never gave the game away. Both Rakesh and Jamshed, poor fellas, were soon beseiged by rich and amateur South Bombay investors, looking for stock tips to play on Monday! Too many people see CNBC these days.
There was also Ashish Chowdhary, the on again-off again film-cum-TV star from Let's Enjoy, who supposedly stays in Delhi, but is consistently seen at INOX according to sources. Wearing a red cap, and not as tall as I thought I'd be. I think he missed the fans, though.
And yes, the movie was also very good. Cinderella Man, starring Russel Crowe and Renee. Jamshed was in the same hall with me. ;-)
6 Comments:
my brush with celebrity involved bumpin into johnny lever in my bldg.
p.s - does it even count as brush with celebrity?????
hey tom alter, he was the first celeb i saw too, he was crossing the road near my college. He smiled at me.
i dont think he remembers though..i do.
I remember seeing Jackie Shroff at the Goa airport... ages ago.
Recent celebrity sightings involve Ranvir Shorey (but that doesn't count), Tabu at Mocha (you'd have seen her too, had you come with us), Bips and John at Prithvi.
A not so long ago one is complete claim to fame though. Olive. Here there be Lara, Kelly, Ajay, Zayed, Vivek, Esha (who was later puking guts out in loo), Kajol, Hritik (eeeewwww), John and the wonderous, beauteous, absolutely stunningly gorgeous Abhishek. I walkd into him. *sated smile*
(oh, and I just met Tom at a poetry reading that he did for an art show opening)
aps - johnny lever? nice. in my bro's earlier flat at lokhandwalla, both priyanka chopra and akshay kunar used to live - separately of course.. i think. hehehe.. AK had a sexy pajero in the garage!
scribblebabe - hmmm... tom, tom, tom, TOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!! come back, na. *grin*
phal - hello, cat's pyjamas! hehehehe.. is there anyone else that u forgot to mention there, miss meaow? (ok, yes, de pun was horrible!)
jfyi, jamshed used to be a biz journalist a decade back :-)
Well, its even more rfun when you interview these chaps. But would you count Bollywood stars as celebs, other than Amitabh Bachchan that is?
My first real brush with celebs was with the 1987 Indian World Cup team. Bishen Singh Bedi used to stay down the lane and he was having a party (and my how has Angad changed) before the tourney for the team. Saw Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, got their autographs also. Wonder where I kept that diary.
One fine art of being a journo is not to treat anyone as a celeb - know how to massage egos but don't adore them. What movie was Mr 25000 watching?
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