LEH, June 28:
Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s 2011 documentary film ‘Bollywood: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told’ had its Indian and Asian premiere at the ongoing Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF).
Produced by Shekhar Kapur and co-directed by Mehra and Jeff Zimbalist, the film was premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2011.
The documentary was screened last evening at the Druk White Lotus School here, popularly called, Rancho’s School.
“We recently completed 100 years of Indian cinema and I was asked to do something to mark the 100th year,” Mehra said, citing the reason for making the 81 minutes long documentary.
The film traverses journey of Indian cinema from the era of post Independence to the modern time, with quotes from actors like Amitabh Bachchan, late Shammi Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, among others, and film writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar and Prasoon Joshi.
The premiere saw the presence of filmmaker Govind Nihalani, head of the jury at LIFF, Deepti Naval, Rajit Kapoor, actress Shilpa Shukla, South Korean dignitaries and spiritual regent Thuksey Nimpoche. The gathering also included tourists, students of the school and their parents.
The premiere was preceded by a cultural programme by students of the school, who enacted a skit on India’s victory against Pakistan in the 1999 Kargil war and also sang and danced to Ladakhi dance.
‘Chak De! India’ star Shilpa Shukla, who is here to attend the Life says she is planning to extend her trip to attend ‘Kalachakra’ ceremony, to be hosted by His Holiness Dalai Lama.
Shukla, who practises Buddhism, was moved by the presence of spiritual guru of the Drukpa lineage, Thuksey Rinpoche at the festival.
“My brother is a Rinpoche too and I am essentially a Buddhist. I will also stay here for ‘Kalachakra’ hosted by his highness Dalai Lama. I am his follower,” she said.
‘Kalachakra’ ceremony is scheduled to begin on July 3 and will go on till July 14.
The 32-year-old actress initially decided to stay for the whole festival but has now cut short her trip.
“My brother told me ‘You are an actress, if you attend the whole Kalachakra, sun rays will harm your skin’, So, now I am contemplating. But I would stay for two-three days,” she said.
The ‘Kalachakra’ ceremony is likely to see the attendance of almost 25,000 Buddhists from across the globe.
Shilpa Shukla, says she was offered Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ but had to decline it as she needed a break.
“I refused the movie because I was tired. I just went to Banaras and stayed there for some time. I took some time off from films and I think I needed that break. I just came back to complete my film ‘Coffin Maker’,” she said.
The 32-year-old actress is looking for a change after starring a slew of serious roles.
“My stereotyped image will be broken by the next two comedies I am doing. One is produced by Prakash Jha and I am all geared up for it,” Shilpa said.
Meanwhile, she is enjoying her stint at the third Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF).
“I have hosted an award show earlier but there it was all rehearsed. Here everything was impromptu so I was nervous as well as happy,” she said, adding that she is looking forward to watch Iranian films to be screened at the three-day festival. (PTI)
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