Playing Dress-up at Cannes

Another edition of the Cannes Film Festival has ended and the only thing we seem to be talking about are our leading ladies and their fashion sense (or the lack of it) on the famed red carpet. To be fair, all three of our heavyweights— Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Sonam Kapoor—got the thumbs up for most of their glamorous ensembles as L’oreal ambassadors this year. And much newsprint and digital space was committed to photos of them soaking in the sun on the terrace of the Martinez, or simply hanging out with the other spokeswomen of the brand, namely Eva Longoria, Andie McDowell and others.

What nobody seems to be talking about is how carefully coordinated the three actress’ appearances were; so meticulously managed in fact that they completely avoided overlapping their dates and bumping into each other on the Croisette. Nifty, eh? So Deepika Padukone was in and out of Cannes before Aishwarya showed up with her daughter a few days later. And Ash seems to have done the vanishing act before Sonam arrived and made a splash. They’ll happily share the spotlight with other international actresses but good luck getting them to show up at the same event.

A few years ago, I was a firsthand eyewitness when Freida Pinto (another ambassador at the time) and Sonam Kapoor’s schedules accidentally overlapped, and both ladies found themselves on the Martinez rooftop for their respective photo sessions and interactions. The look of anxiety on the faces of their respective manager’s was worth the price of gold. But refreshingly, the actresses themselves were surprisingly friendly and happily took pictures together when I asked.

Wouldn’t it be fun if next year a similar scheduling mix-up lands Deepika and Sonam in the same place? I’d pay to be a fly on the wall on that occasion.

Eye of the Tiger

When it was revealed earlier this week that Tiger Shroff had been tapped to star in a desi remake of Rambo, one of the first reactions came from Sylvester Stallone who took to Instagram to post a picture of himself as the iconic toughie, accompanied by this line: ‘I read recently they are remaking Rambo in India!! Great character.. hope they don’t wreck it.’ [sic]

Expectedly, social media went into a tizzy wondering if in fact Stallone’s consent had not been sought for the remake. Just a day later, however, the American star put out a new post with another picture of himself as Rambo, and wrote: ‘Some people like to read into words and twist them..good luck Tiger, go fight the good fight, keep punching.Oh, for the Record I love it when young artists get an opportunity to go for their dreams!’ [sic]

Then later the same day, he put out a third post, this time a publicity poster of Tiger as Rambo, and formally blessed the project. ‘I actually get excited in my heart whenever young artists get a rare opportunity to reach for the stars. Eye of the Tiger! I am sure you will put all of your heart and soul into it… Never give up young man!’

In response, our Heropanti and Baaghi star commented below Stallone’s post: ‘Because you were there, we sort of exist. We are all just derivatives of you sir! There will always and only be ONE ‘eye of the tiger’. For us cubs you rule the jungle! Thank you so much sir!’

The remake will be directed by Siddharth Anand, who last ripped off the Tom Cruise starrer Knight and Day for his Hrithik Roshan-Katrina Kaif remake Bang Bang!.

Seeing Ahead

A young male star has reportedly been gloating about how his instincts on scripts have proven to be correct repeatedly. It’s happened before and it’s happened again, he says, referring most recently to a new film that’s been savaged by critics. The actor apparently told friends that he stands vindicated for leaving the film, despite having upset the big- shot producer with his last minute exit. The film’s collections have been promising, but insiders say the numbers have been considerably inflated by the makers.

BollywoodcinemaDeepika PadukoneFreida PintoHrithik RoshanKatrina Kaif