TINA DEPKO Lively conversation about the continued success of the Bollywood flick Guru filled the air at a Brampton media screening Wednesday night.
Although it has been nearly two weeks since thousands of fans flooded the streets around Toronto's Elgin Theatre for the film's world premiere, Guru continues to bring in big box office dollars. Guru is attracting major attention as the first Indian film to mark its world-premiere in a Canadian city. It is also monumental for the Bollywood biz as this is the first Indian movie to be picked up by a major Canadian distributor. Roger Nair, one of the people responsible for making this all happen, was all smiles at the Brampton screening. "It is overwhelming and it is beautiful," laughed the Mississauga-based film distributor in an interview with The Brampton Guardian. "I believe Canada is ready for this type of film. Canada is actually very receptive to any good film." Nair screens more than 800 Bollywood films each year. Guru came highly recommended, predominantly because it is by renowned director Mani Ratnam (Bombay, A Peck on the Cheek). Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, two of India's hottest actors, give it star power, while reputable composer A. R. Rahman (The Lord of the Rings musical) provides the soundtrack. However, it is really the storyline that convinced Nair to take the risk. The Hindi-language movie traces the rise of a poor village boy to the head of the most successful business in India. Add several song and dance numbers and you have a powerful Bollywood film. "It is a success story," Nair said. "Every time there is a rags-to-riches story, you feel good and you can relate to that person somehow or you want to be them." Guru is currently running in 16 theatres across Canada. It is slated to open in four more theatres in the coming weeks, including Halifax, which is a major breakthrough, according to Nair. "We're going to be opening this film in a locale where no Indian film has ever opened," Nair exclaimed. "The East Coast is very white, but I think it is going to make it there. It is very encouraging to see a response like that." Guru is among the highest grossing films in the world at the moment, winning over fans from many different cultures. Mayor Susan Fennell added herself to the growing fan club Wednesday night after what was her first Bollywood experience. "I have been around people involved in the Bollywood productions, but this is the first time I've seen an entire movie," she told The Guardian after the screening. "It was one of the best movies I've seen in years. There was fun, laughing and dancing, and then there were parts that were sad and moving. It was extraordinary and really fabulous." Nair said Guru is a film that brings Canadians together. "I was at a theatre in downtown Toronto the other day watching it, and there were all age groups and it was beautiful," he recalled. "It is just like when I go and watch good Hollywood films and see everybody there-- you'll see Indian people, Chinese people, white people-- you see everybody." The Canadian distributor is currently in negotiations to bring as many as five more Bollywood films to Canadian theatres in the near future, possibly as early as April. He thinks Guru has opened the door for Bollywood in this country. "I foresee Canada becoming the next U.K.," he predicted. "In the U.K., our films usually hit the top five. I'm talking when you compare it with Hollywood. In Germany, the Bollywood films are much bigger than Hollywood films. I think Canada, on a whole, is a truly multicultural society. We really appreciate anything that comes out of anywhere. We are truly a global village." http://www.northpeel.com/br/entertainment/story/3856647p-4462212c.html
