Bollywood hits Toronto

bollywoodtoronto.jpg The hottest Bollywood movie out of India, Guru, premiered Thursday night in Toronto, Canada. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, the stars of the film, and the new Brad and Angelina of the Indian community.

Arpana Vora declared that the couple were “Absolutely gorgeous. Both of them. Just stunning!”, moments after the darling duo was whisked along the red carpet and into the screening.

Rai, who wore a white sari, and Bachchan, who donned a black suit and headband, were several hours late for the gala because of flight schedules and didn’t stop for questions. The delay built momentum at Toronto’s historic Elgin Theatre where the crowd of approximately 1,200 fans stood screaming on the sidewalk behind barriers for 6 hours. Yet another 1,200 filmgoers were already inside the theater.

The films producers chose Toronto for the premiere after receiving an impressive response for “Never Say Goodbye” which was another Bollywood film. That film had premiered at The Toronto International Film Festival this past September. The Gala crowd out numbered that for Brad Pitts film Babel.

“The South Asian community is very important to our city and so is the film industry. Bollywood brings them together,” said Mayor David Miller as he walked into the screening.

Producer Bobby Bedi (“Bandit Queen,” “Fire”) said at the premiere he chose Toronto for his premiere because it “by far is one most cosmopolitan city in the world.”

“Guru” is loosely based on the life of a young man who rose from poverty in a small Indian village in the 1950s to defy the odds and become a major textile merchant. In the film version, the character of Gurukant Desai (Bachchan) employs unethical methods to achieve his materialistic goals but does what he has to do to crack a market firmly controlled by the rich and privileged.

Rai – who has been described as giving Halle Berry strong competition for the unofficial title of most beautiful woman in the world – plays his wife Sujatha.

“She was stunning. Stunning. Very beautiful,” said Adesh Vora after he caught a glimpse of Rai. Looking at his wife though, he hesitated to concur that Rai is the most beautiful woman on Earth.

“My wife is number one,” he said.





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Jolie calls Madonnas adoption illegal

285_jolie_madonna_010807.jpg It seems that Angelina Jolie has taken a dim view as to how Madonna went about adopting her new son. Jolie has reportedly called Madonnas adoption of the Malawian boy illegal and has said she’d never have adopted a child under the same circumstances.

“Madonna knew the situation in Malawi, where he was born,” Jolie was quoted as telling the Paris-based magazine Gala. “It’s a country where there is no real legal framework for adoption.

“Personally, I prefer to stay on the right side of the law. I would never take a child away from a place where adoption is illegal.”

Yesterday Jolie issues a statement indicating that the magazine had misrepresented some of her statements.

“The article included many falsehoods,” she said . “I said many positive things that were omitted. I feel we must focus on the present and I encourage everyone to be supportive so that every child can adjust nicely to their new home.”

Apparently the Malawian government expressed admiration for how Madonna has gone about this adoption. The terms of the interim custody arrangement requre Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie require them to submit to monitoring by child and welfare officials for 18 months. After that period of time little Davids adoption may be finalized.

“We have been monitoring her,” spokesperson Adrina Mchiela told Reuters on Friday, “and so far we see a loving mother in Madonna, and David is very fine.”

Davids father, Yohane Banda, said last week that he’d like to contact Madonna to find out how his son is but he doesn’t know her number and doesn’t have any other way of getting in touch with her.

The first official court assessment of Madonna’s adoption process is expected in May. In November, a coalition of 67 Malawian human rights groups was granted its request to be a party to the assessment.

In the Gala Magazine interview Jolie alluded to the fact that both she and Pitt are open to having more children. She also gushed about her feelings for Brad, saying “Don’t go repeating it whatever you do, but yes, I love him. I love him a lot,” she told the magazine. “After I met him, my life seemed more harmonious.”

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Madonna not daunted by adoption challenge

Madonna will not be daunted by an imminent challenge to her Malawian adoption of a young boy. She insists that she has “no problem” with the legal action. A judge in the baby David Banda’s homeland ruled that his 18 month interim adoption could be challenged bya coalition of 67 human rights groups.

Members of the human rights coalition claim the Malawian government fast tracked the adoption process for the singer and her husband Guy Ritchie, and state that intra-country adoptions are not allowed in the African nation.

Madonna’s Malawian lawyer Alan Chinula says, “They, Madonna and Ritchie, called me from London and I explained to them the ruling. They have no problem with the ruling and are also willing to sit back and wait.”

He added of the coalition’s suit, “It’s good for the law. Let’s build the law, let the court hear other views. It’s not Madonna using an antiquated law, we followed the law to the letter in the adoption process, but it’s just a bad law.”

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