Sunday 23 May 2010

18th May 2010: Attending the London Première of "Kites", in Leicester Square




















On Sunday 16th May, myself and several members of my family entered an extremely easy competition on a certain Asian TV network's website..and on Monday, we received confirmation via email that we had won! The prize was two tickets to attend the première of the "Bollywood" film Kites the following night. Now, gaining tickets to any sort of film première is kind of a big deal, but when you take into account that the main actor of the film, Hrithik Roshan, has been somewhat of an idol of mine for the past ten years, then this was indeed a VERY big deal!




After spending my morning frantically trying to finish off some work for uni, we arrived in Leicester Square around 4pm, eager to collect our tickets from the competition organisers. As we approached the cinema, we realised that the red carpet was being laid, and copious people had gathered to wait behind the long line of assembled barrages. We stood not far from the media, where a certain "he's-alot-smaller-in-real-life" journalist was filming a promo on the glorified material, several times over as he was being distracted by the crowd's chanting. Other TV and radio journalists prowled the excitable audience, finding people who were willing to talk about the film, as well as sing/sell their souls/have 5 minutes of ludicrous fame, which would probably haunt them in the very near future, in front of the cameras. I was also approached to do so, but politely declined, as I prefer to live life in the background, rather than be brought to the attention of others. I guess that's a reason why I admire actors and others performers.


Slowly, but surely, flags with the title of the film, were draped decoratively along the red carpet, much to the dismay of some (including myself), as this meant that they got in the way of filming and/or taking photos. Needless to say, this was not my only worry. We were surrounded by men who were constantly swaying and pushing, trying to edge themselves forwards to obtain a nearer position, and view of the goings-on. During the few hours that we spent standing outside the cinema, we were crushed into a cramp corner. Passers-by and people sitting in restaurants were baffled, and often enquired as to why there were so many Asians and media present in the Square, but they were in for a show, as we all were.


The music started, and a group of street dancers paraded the red carpet. The media lapped this up with much interest, as we all did - they oozed energy, and were effortlessly cool. This went on for a little while, before the presence of the security force suddenly increased threefold, and the cheers started; we all knew what time it was - it was time for the stars to make their way down. I'll be honest, I can't quite remember the exact order in which they all came down, as there was an air of frenzy. They included the main actress Barbara Mori, Rakesh Roshan (the film's producer and writer, and Hrithik's dad), the director Anurag Basu, the co-producer Sunaina Roshan (ie. Hrithik's older sister), Brett Ratner (editor of the "remixed" English version of the film), Suzanne Roshan (Hrithik's wife), the composer Rajesh Roshan (Hrithik's uncle, and Rakesh's brother), Pinky Roshan (Hrithik's mum) and Sanjay Khan (Suzanne's dad), as well as Gurinder Chadha, Vanessa Feltz and Kulvinder Ghir. I also noticed a certain figure surreptitiously slink down the pathway - it was Hrithik's cousin Eshaan. Not many people recognised him, as he isn't an active member of the Indian film industry, but as I caught a glimpse of him, my mind began having Lost-esque flashbacks of televised award functions, where Hrithik would win numerous awards, with his family proudly sitting with and supporting him, including his cousin. If I'm not mistaken, he used to have braces, but I digress..


As these figures proceeded, it was at this stage that the screaming started. Without even turning around, I knew that Hrithik was on his way. Even though I have had the delight of seeing him a few times before (but sadly never met), I swear that he gets better looking as time progresses. I was expecting the girls to be screaming, but it seemed that the men in the crowd were even more excited than the women - within the next few minutes, there was a lot of jostling as anyone and everyone tried to take his photo, film him and/or get his autograph. Even though I had brought two  drawings which I had done, with me to be signed, and was clutching a camcorder, sadly I didn't mange any of these due to the commotion of my fellow fans :(


Since we had tickets, we slowly crept away from the crowd to make our way to the cinema, and to our surprise, it seemed that all première attendees were to walk the red carpet too! It was somewhat surreal, but I quickly rushed through, whilst staring longingly at the masses of bodyguards who were enveloping the stars and ushering us away, as they spoke with the media. As we were seated in the rather large screen, surrounded by popcorn and bottles of water, passing glasses of champagne for the A-List, I noticed a microphone in front of the screen. An hour went by, and I didn't think we'd see any of the crew involved with the film in the flesh again, but they eventually came to the screen. The reason they had taken so long was the fact that none of them had ever had a première in London before, hence the delay - they were appreciating the whole experience, just the same as those who had the tickets to the screening.


As they came in, I quickly scrambled for my camcorder, and began filming. The ensemble proceeded to give a few introductory speeches, before the film was to start. The following video is the edited version of what I filmed inside the cinema - please bear in mind that I am a somewhat novice when it comes to filming and editing.




After their brief words, they slinked away, leaving the entire roomful of people starstruck and giddy. The film then began.. I won't post any spoilers about the film but I will say this - it's very beautifully done, stunningly shot with even more stunning performances from the entire cast. Furthermore, it has a bit of everything - romance, action, comedy... It can easily please all cinema-goers. Hopefully, I'll be seeing it again next week :)

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