Scratch the surface and your inner Bollywood film fan is not too far away. At least that's what happened at the press conference for the Indian Film Festival 2010: Bollywood and Beyond.
Festival organisers have scored a coup this year, by securing Rajkumar Hirani, director of the 2009 mega-hit 3 Idiots, writer/director Imtiaz Ali and director Anurag Singhall as festival guests. All three were in melbourne this week to open the festival, which travels nationally. But the greatest excitement at the press conference was reserved for the 'Queen of Bollywood' herself, Ms Rani Mukherjee.
It's impossible not to get excited. Ms Mukherjee is a major player in the industry. She first gained attention in the supporting role of Tina Malhotra in the SKR/Kajol vehicle Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) directed by Karan Johar. In that film, she acted alongside her cousin, Kajol, and won her first Filmfare Award. Mukherjee has not stopped since, appearing in almost 40 features. This includes the two films for which she won numerous critical and popular Best Actress gongs back-to-back. These were Kunal Kohli's Hum Tum (2004) — widely discussed as being 'inspired' by the 1989 Nora Ephron penned, Rob Reiner-directed romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally — and Sanjay Lella Bhansali's Black (2005, pictured).
In Black, Mukherjee plays the central role of Michelle McNally who is deaf, mute and blind. While Mukherjee states emphatically that for her “acting comes naturally” for the role of McNally, she “took seven to eight months to learn sign language” in an effort to portray the character, authentically spending this time at the Helen Keller Institute in Mumbai. The film is programmed as part of a Mukherjee retrospective in IFF together with lighter fare such as Dil Bole Hadippa! (2009) under the direction of Singh, and the effervescent classic Saathiya (translated as 'The Soul Mate') directed by Shaad Ali with lyrics by the poet, Gulzar.
While Mukerjee's presence dominated proceedings, questions were also directed towards Rajkumar Hirani, who is firmly sitting at the top of the Bollywood hill with 3 Idiots. Hirani answered graciously, rejecting long held rumours — apparently it's a myth that 'Indian Standard Time' applies to Bollywood film sets. "Everyone is on time," he insisted.
He also praised his 3 Idiots star, the ubiquitous Aamir Khan (right, centre). He said, “when Aamir was cast in the film I heard horror stories” but the director now says that far from “interfering” and getting in his way, the actor “spoilt me".
"Aamir is the most supportive actor. He was available to me 24/7. I'd wake him up at 3am and he'd play a game of badminton just to make himself look fresh. It was a happy journey.”
Indian Film Festival 2010 dates:
Melbourne Cinema Nova 10-17 March 2010
Sydney Cinema Paris 12-18 March 2010
Perth Luna Palace Cinema 25 March to 7 April 2010
Auckland Rialto Cinema 14-21 April 2010
Full details and ticketing information: http://iff2010.com/
