Monday, March 3, 2008

Funnily Deep or Deeply Funny

That’s what last night’s (53rd) Filmfare awards telecast on Sony was. It was also of course glamorous, sexy and entertaining. But that’s the least you expect. What you don’t expect is for humour to be delivered with so much élan that it permeates everybody, putting them in touch with their liberal, tolerant selves.


Between Saif Ali Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, the hosts for the evening and two of the most sophisticated stars in the film industry, nothing remained sacred.
So there was a blue ballad to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya;
Saif Ali Khan was ribbed about his tattoo screaming his new love for Kareena;
Karan Johar acknowledged that women were safe from him;
Akshay Kumar was challenged to live up to his new hit machine status in real life;
And some provocative Hinglish that left no one in any doubt of how film critics are viewed, was spouted.

With this as the backdrop it was hardly surprising that a female star took openness to a new level, and with love and pride, acknowledged both her ex and current boyfriends. The film industry’s biggest star thanked Allah, God and his director and writer, for letting him prove he could act. And an actor who boycotts awards and didn’t allow his film clips to be used, won for best director.

The evening drove home a point - if mainstream cinema’s main job is to entertain, last night entertainers showed that their job is to keep pushing the envelope. To stretch the boundaries of what’s acceptable, of what can be said. And done.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said..

I was wondering why Amir was not a part of the show and not even TZP clips available... any news ?

andy said...

I saw only a portion of the show and found it entertaining for a change. The ability to laugh at themselves and their own industry was refreshing.

Again, why no blogs for such a long intervel?

Anuradha SenGupta said...

hi andy,
busy + lazy = no blogs!
must admit i saw a film awards show after a long time and was pleasantly surprized both at the sense of humour and by extension the sense of liberalism.
thanks for reading. anuradha

Blogeswari said...

Hi Anuradha

Love watching Storyboard.. very informative.

And yes, do write often, please!

andy said...

Could you once again do a progamme comparing the advertisements of 60's & 70s (radio and print) with today's for same or similar range of products and comment on how and whether today's ads are better , equally good or worse. Vicco still repeats their old ads. I find some of the TV ads difficult to understand as the images shown initially do not really connect to the product finally shown as an after thought. My son (in mid 20s) watches new ads avidly to all our irritation and seems to understand it better.

On a lighter vein, could CNBC do a program on the comparitive success of the three or four business channels including the UTV one where your old colleague is the lead anchor.

With best regards and a gentle reminder that many of us await your blogs.

Anonymous said...

have u stopped tamil movies?..or writing absurd reviews about them?

Bhanu Prakash said...

Your show 'Being Someone' is nice, you are logically fit to the program of that type. You seem more serene than passionate, this is a nice sign. And i feel that way you are trying to identify yourself. But this ascribed quality is not sufficient in bringing down the details of your guest but every time the show itself is becoming 'Being Anuradha SenGupta'. It is not that you are done as you are thoughtful to yourself but you have to try to do some justification to the title.
Your recent show 'Being B K S Iyengar' is a token of that kind. Atleast at sometimes, when you say ample hmm's and lean foreword and maintain a keen sight on your guest; are a nice gesture saying that 'you are keenly interested in his answers,' but your immediate next question reveals that you only stick to your pre-preparation. this may be logically justified for a journalist as 'Being Stubborn' but will not justify your viewer who thinks on getting a view on the personality of your guest; as your show promises it or at least your title says. A show of your kind not only needs a journalist but an added attribute that which can get honest replies from your guest.
...
but i should say that your body language and mind language already near to an ideal host of your kind of program.
...
this is the matter of your previous blog on suggesting Nehru 'BEING Jester,' i do not like to support your blog viewers who adds political sense to it. But this is a matter in question of Man and Woman.
When a woman could only get impressed to a jester, then what option is left to a man than to accept that 'unbefitting job of jester'
Criticism is easy but 'Being Critical' is needed.

i also posted this at IBN site, lets see to how much it will be edited to pass its screening tests

andy said...

Read your interview of SP Balasubramainam. You have focussed only on the limited period he sang Hindi songs. You could have asked about his singing in other languages. There is a rich background about how he started singing, the way MGR encouraged him etc.

A gentle reminder that your blog is languishing.

Regards

Akshay said...

I thought the awards show was cheap and vulgar and bollywood award ceremony's hit a new low.

Akshay said...

I think Anuradha Sengupta is the the most arrogant Tv show host around. All your interviews seem like, you want to project yourself as the bigger personality than the one you are interviewing. I think the way you conduct interviews is pathetic. Please improve.

Akshay said...

Gosh, what have you got against aamir khan. You dont seem to spare any opportunity to criticize him. Happened to see, the storyboard show and you are passing opinions on TV commercials, like you have directed a few hundred commercials of your own. You criticized a good clean, funny tata sky ad, saying aamir plays a woman again .. blah blah. You even went to the head of Tata sky saying the ad is not doing well. Are you nuts ??????? The ad is simply wonderful, a super performance by aamir and everyone i've spoken to loves the ad and it's doing really well. And here's Ms sengupta on National Tv, saying "wat were the ad guys thinking". Maam, please re-group your senses.

Anonymous said...

your an idiot! you must hate Aamir so much.