Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Toronto trip, day 4

Today's movies included

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We started the day with Babel in Elgin. This was a very high-profile, much talked about movie. Brad Pitt starred in it. There was no sign of him before, during or after the movie :( This was a global, multi-national version of Crash. The scene where the doctor decides to "sew" Brad's wife's wound was very disturbing ...I am sure this movie will get a North American release soon.

Post-lunch, we took the subway to Isabel Bader theater and went and stood in line for The Making of a Bollywood Blockbuster. This was not really a film, but a discussion with panelists from Bollywood including Karan Johar, Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. People started forming a line way before the movie. Ah Bollywood! We couldn't get ourselves to waste a precious ticket on Never Say Goodbye and instead had decided to attend this to represent the film industry we both grew up with :) Hobbes had hoped that this would be an enlightening discussion about the technical aspects of movie-making in B'bay. Alas, that was not what it was. It turned into a star-worshipping event where people clapped at every statement uttered by any of the three celebrities. Most of the time was spent on the participants praising one another - how Amitabh liked Shahrukh's work, how Shahrukh liked Amitabh's work, and how Karan liked both Shahrukh's and Amitabh's work. I came out of that a bit disappointed, and re-thinking my lifelong ideas about Amitabh and Shahrukh. Amitabh smiled maybe once during the entire conversation and it seemed as if someone had forced him to be there ...he came across as grumpy, moody and pompous. Shahrukh, on the other hand, seemed to be basking in the adulation of his admirers. He was very cheerful, and seemed to be enjoying himself during the event.

Some pics from that show.



Our next movie was in the same theater, so we basically came out of the hall, and went straight back into the line for Copying Beethoven. Several people associated with the film, including the lead cast and the director were present for the screening. Amazing performances by the actors! And this was a treat for classical music lovers. No opportunity to showcase Beethoven's works was missed. Here are some pics from that night.

From left to right, Ed Harris (who plays Beethoven), Diane Kruger (lead actress), and Agnieszka Holland (director).

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