By Kevin Rego
Bollywood Glitz
Spring 2011
AND THE AWARD GOES TO…. WHO CARES!
Will Bollywood ever grow out of the phony award functions?
At the Oscars last month, seated on the first row with a tuxedo and looking dapper than ever, was Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio. There he was amongst Hollywood’s glitterati silently confident that this time the Oscar would be his for a powerful performance in The Wolf of Wall Street – an outrageously entertaining film directed by Martin Scorsese.
Leonardo DiCaprio has never won an Oscar before but had diligently showed up every year he has been nominated. As it so happened, he was overlooked once again by the Academy for the honour of Best Actor. He smiled, hugged the winner Mathew McConaughey and was remarkably sangfroid.
It would be foolhardy then to imagine that something similar could happen in Bollywood. “What no award for me? Phir toh mein award function mein nahin aayega” is the normal cry. And that in itself will tell you about the value of some of the awards in our industry. It’s a sham. And nobody bats an eyelid. It’s the amusement at these ceremonies that matters.
Award ceremonies take place at the beginning of every year to ‘honour’ the stars. Each of them packed with the same type of entertainment trying to outdo the other. Preparations for the same start as early as June. Scriptwriters and creative heads work with the same passion as a film for these awards. Negotiations with stars to perform, host, attend sometimes takes months. There’s lots of moolah to be earned. Television channels with viewers around the globe also step in with their inputs.
‘Nobody knows if any of the awards are given on merit or sheer star power.’
But in all this the real issue takes a back seat. Did someone say award? That is transient. Nobody knows if any of the awards are given on merit or sheer star power. Frankly nobody cares anymore as long as the awards ceremony has laughter, dialogues, dance and razzmatazz. Bollywood awards ceremonies have long since been reflecting its surreal movies.
There are jury’s of course. Oh yes, every award ceremony has a list of them. Some of them are eminent members of the industry who probably do the job given to them. Well, not all of them. A friend who is a well known media personality in Mumbai once narrated a story about a well-known film awards ceremony that had nominated some leading stars of the industry for judging the awards. On the last day of submission, he got a call from one of them saying that they were too busy and if he can please choose the names on behalf of them and send it. He did.
Unlike the Academy awards where there is heavy lobbying for months prior to the ceremony, Bollywood awards generally work on making everyone happy. Everyone who attends that is. “Sorry, yaar, we can’t give you the best actor award. But don’t worry. Critics award toh definitely mil jayega. But you just make sure you attend.” Kaboom!
But if you are an A lister even that won’t work. So this year there was no Shahrukh Khan to be seen at a popular award ceremony which he has hosted for the past few years. The promoters had opted for Ranbir to be the host this time.
Sometimes it’s not even the star that must get an award to show up. But his other half also matters. An A list star who got married recently, did not turn up for an award ceremony despite being told he is winning one because his wife (who was his girlfriend then) had not been nominated in a particular category!
Some stars have just given up. Aamir Khan never attends any of the awards ceremonies making it known to all what he thinks of them. They in turn have simply stopped nominating him. Why nominate a star when you know he is not going to be there? So what if he is one of India’s finest actors with stellar performances in every movie? We might as well nominate stars that will attend and add to the glamour on the night. On his part, Aamir Khan goes to the extent of even refusing to allow clips of films produced by him to be played at any of the awards. Such is his aversion.
That Bollywood cannot come up with one award ceremony that reflects the true picture at the movies is a disgrace. Moreso at a time when new age directors are making films that are thought provoking and poignant to say the least and even extracting some superlative performances from the new crop of actors. Surely the industry with all its money muscle can forego the trappings of star power, sponsors and television dictates and introduce an award ceremony based on sheer merit. It’s the least a 100-year industry with a global following can come up with.
But that is for the future. Right now it’s the entertainment quotient that matters. How many stars can an award function pull in that counts. And of course the sponsors and television ratings, which is what the fuss is all about. So, let’s sit back. Enjoy the show. Just don’t ask who has won what and which category. Chances are even the organizers may not know that!
