I remember when I worked at a repertory cinema in Montreal back in the day, my job was doorman, ticket taker, popcorn seller, bathroom cleaner, film hauler and basically the all-round handy-man at the old Rialto Theatre in Montreal.
We used to have Tamil Movies every month or so when the Tamil community would rent the theatre and bring in these awesome song/dance/musical/action love story movies…stuff that even the film noir or latest film festival releases were no match for.
We had Bollywood movies too! I used to love working the door for those movies…the local cultural community came out to see the newest film straight out of Jaipur! The lineups were filled with long flowing colored veils and dresses and it was really a family event!
So when I read about kava being possible featured in a new Bollywood movie being filmed in Fiji I was excited to learn more and if possible I’d love to see that scene where they sat around the kava bowl and drank the kava grog and then started dancing to the music flowing from the palm trees of Fiji!
“We’re going to amalgamate both the countries, both the cultures, together in the film,” Bombay Muumbaai director Prem Raj said.
Mr Raj, who is in the country with Aiysha and executive director Mohammed Jamal, said the idea was to promote Fiji to India and the world.
“We definitely want to talk about the Fijians, talk about the culture in the movie and promote them too because I feel that this country is as good as my country,” said Mr Raj, who directed Mein Aurr Mrs Khanna starring Salman and Kareena Kapoor last year.
I’m not really knowledgeable on the latest Indian films but according to the Fiji Times a Fiji-born popular singer named Aiysha will sing and dance with Indian Superstar Salman Khan in a movie called Bombay Muumbai. Part of the reason for the film, besides rockin’ the Bollywood experience, is to promote Fiji culture and Indian culture and the film, which will be filmed in March 2010, and it will have a kava ritual scene!
It would be great to see a kava ritual in a big time movie! I wonder if they will break out into song and dance after they have a few shells or will they kick back and just watch the fireflies circle in the dark perfumed night of a Fijian beach?
If I was a big time movie director I’d love to see Jack Black slurping a shell of kava in a movie…or better yet…Jack and André Sauvé sitting with us watching this Fiji movie on DVD in our family room beside the fire having some kava!
Bula LOL!
