Shilpa Shetty was in London this week to promote her latest Bollywood release Life in a Metro which opens globally on Friday. She told me that she had no current plans to buy a Primrose Hill property even though London “feels like my second home”. Shetty confirmed that she had refused parts in the popular BBC soap EastEnders and in the West End musical Chicago. “Oh my God, they have stolen all the royalties I deserve!” she exclaimed when I told her of the recent publication of her unofficial biography, and of the release of her greatest hits CD in the UK. Shilpa was amused to know that there is another Shilpa: a drag queen. Shilpa (real name Mustafa) is a belly dancer and was the star attraction at the popular Bombay Funkadelic club night last week. “That’s the funniest thing I ever heard!” Shilpa chuckled.

Southall United FC

Current hunk John Abraham attended the Metro premiere as he has just completed shooting his soccer film Goal in London. “I am playing an aspiring British Asian footballer called Sunny who is from Southall,” John told me when I visited the sets. Although he can play the beautiful game, John confessed that he realised he was not very good when he had to shoot scenes with former Arsenal, West Ham and Liverpool players, who act in the film. John refused to remove his cap as he did not want pictures of his new haircut to be taken. He did recommend his ‘Come Cruising with Me’ brand of shampoo as being ideal for “hair which has dandruff and damaged hair” for bad hair days.

Bachchans descends on Cannes

In addition to the aforementioned Goal, Aishwarya Bachchan’s nee Rai latest historical romance Jodha Akbar will also be introduced at next week’s Cannes film festival. Her father-in-law’s new film Cheeni Kum will have its premiere on May 21 there and the entire Bachchan clan is expected to attend. Amitabh Bachchan’s latest is the second Lolita-type inspired Bollywood film in recent months and both have starred the Big B. “It is misleading to refer to Cheeni Kum as another version of the controversial Nabokov novel as the film is about a 64 yearr old man who falls for a 34 year old woman,” a spokesperson from the film's distributor corrected me. A West End London premiere follows on May 22.

Here comes Kollywood!

In addition to Bollywood or films made in the Hindi language, other regional Indian cinema is also making inroads in the UK market. The Tamil film industry based in Kodambakkan (‘Kollywood’), Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, produces the second largest number of films after Bollywood. Male superstar Rajnikant is the Tamil equivalent of Amitabh Bachchan whilst current leading man Vijay enjoys Shah Rukh Khan’s regal status. “We have been showing Tamil films ever since 2002 and these screenings are very well attended not only in London but at other sites in Glasgow, Sheffield and Milton Keynes,” Al Alvarez, Vice President of Operations of the popular Cineworld multiplex chain in the UK, told me. There is now at least one Tamil release per month and recent hits include the Memento inspired Ghajini and Vijay’s racy musical Pokkiri. Rajnikant’s latest Sivaji is the next biggie scheduled for release on Friday.

Germany salutes Bollywood

Bollywood’s global presence continues to spread with many countries hosting film festivals showcasing Indian films. After Los Angeles recently hosted the 5th Annual Indian Film Festival, Stuttgart in Germany will be the location for the forthcoming 4th Bollywood and Beyond Film Festival. Taking place from July 11-15, this event screens not only classic and recent blockbusters like Shah Rukh Khan’s Veer Zaara but it also promotes the work of first time directors. Highly recommended is Nitin Shingal’s debut short Kindle about the joys of parenthood, which has been selected for this year’s festival.

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