The annual Cannes mad-ness has begun — not inFrance, or Hollywood

but in Bollywood! There are afew idiotic young actresseswho go on and on about being‘invited’ to Cannes like there’sno greater recognition on ear-th. Perhaps, it is, forthese ladies of zero orlittle accomplishment.

Were someone tooffer them the BharatRatna, even in jest,they’d probably stareblankly at the personand ask, “Bharat wh-at? Bharat who?” Butmention Cannes (mis-pronounced by ourcrew), and see thoseeyes light up, and thebabbling begin. It’s become agame of one upmanship, with asingle question on everybody’smind, “What will you be wear-ing on the red carpet?” Onehears starlets sighing, “Whohas time to watch films atCannes? We go there to party!”

That’s pretty much what ourdesis do. Never mind that withmega international stars aro-und, even our biggest andbrightest are ignored by fansand photographers. The clam-our to be seen at the world’smost glam movie event, has

reached such insaneheights that one hearsof heavy-duty lobby-ing to get on to theCannes gravy train.Given that Bollywoodis a top entertainmentplayer globally, shou-ldn’t we plan, positionand market ourselvesbetter?

All our eyes will beon Aishwarya thisyear. As a brand

ambassador for the hair andmakeup company that is one ofthe top sponsors at Cannes,Ash may be contractually obli-ged to put in an appearance,like the one she did in Dubairecently (for the watch sheendorses). But Cannes contin-

ues to be the biggest photo op inthe world. And Ash has tomake a statement that is bigenough for her admirers to go“Wow!” Cannes is often theacid test for fashionistas andcelebs to grab eyeballs anddelight the paparazzi. One less-than-smashing appearance inan unflattering gown, and crit-ics tear you apart instantly.Ash’s admirers are holdingtheir breaths and praying shegets it right this year, especiallysince she’s not in a hurry toshed those post-baby kilos.Let’s hope her stylists settle fora graceful sari and not one ofthose fitted, slinky peplumgowns that do nothing for ‘themost beautiful woman in theworld’. It will be worth moni-toring what Bipasha Basu str-uts her stuff in on the red car-pet. Heaven help us if she picksanother skimpy teen-outfit thatbarely covers her… ummm…derriere.

(Views expressed by columnists in Bangalore

Times are their own, and not that of the paper.)

WEDNESDAY 18 APRIL 2012 BANGALORE TIMES, THE TIMES OF INDIA

3BANGALORE IS TALKING ABOUT

Shobhaa De

SHOBHAA’S

PEOPLE

Cannes: Who can andWHO CAN’T DO IT…

PARTY ON, PEOPLE! Advithi and Veera; Teja and Seetal; Rohan

The city’s party animalsmade a beeline for thishotspot in the heart of

town to let off some steam. Andthey hit the ground runningwhen they were given somedevilish props as they enteredthe venue. The gals wereall spotted wearing thesummer staples —flowery and strappytops teamed withshorts and itsy bitsyskirts — and rais-ing mercury lev-els while theywere at it. Musicman RohanKapoor spunsome thumpingtracks and madesure that the rev-ellers on the floorwere given a sup-ply of non-stopbeats to grooveto. And, ofcourse, everyoneenjoyed the videosof the tracks beingplayed. BT spottedSandalwood actorRagini Dwivedi mak-ing an appearance in acasual number, andKrithika and Mansiwere seen having agreat time at this do.

Art and the city

Bangaloreans got to see their citybrought to life on the canvasses of sixartists when they headed to this

downtown gallery recently. So as theystrolled around the gallery, glasses in hand,they checked out various interpretations ofthe Garden City, ranging from various icon-ic superheroes like Batman, Superman andIron Man watching over a cityscape, topaintings of farming equipment. BT alsospotted the guests catching up with eachother. We caught a glimpse of Oum Praduttmaking an appearance, as well as SiddharthPujari, who looked dapper in a white jacketthat he teamed up with a pair of denims.

ONE FOR THE CAMERA:Taher and Suhail

WE’LL DRINK TO THAT:Jack and AmyCHEERS! Marylin

WAS THERE TOO: Ravi SUITED: Siddharth

Pics: S Sathish

Pics: S Sathish

BFFS: Moya and Rupi

‘The honesty of our lyrics

WILL NEVER CHANGE’

When the devil played pretty

YOU GO, GALS!Megha and Shristi;(left) Tanya

RAISE YOUR GLASS:George and Vanessa

Anjali Muthanna

It’s been nearly 20 years sinceBrahma first brought their brandof metal to the Indian stage, char-

acterized by their trademark all-blackoutfits, their long sets and hypnoticstage presence. And it’s been aboutthree years since they last performedin Bangalore. BT speaks to DevrajSanyal, the lead vocalist of Brahma,ahead of the band's gig in the city laterthis week, about how their music andthe scene in India has changed overthe years.

How has your sound evolved overthe years, especially since you’venow got a new guitarist in FerzadVariyava?Considering we’ve been around for 20years, we haven’t had too many lineupchanges. We changed our lineup oncein the beginning, when one guitarplayer had to go because he developedan alcohol problem. We added anotherguitar player (Ferzad) only 10 yearslater. We’ve become far more mature.With age, I think melody has come toplay a big part in our music. I’ve beendying to change my music for a longtime, but the band wanted to be a hard

heavy metal band a while longer. Butnow we're halfway through the thirdalbum, and have found that melodyprecedes everything. What hasn’tchanged is that we can still play thoselong sets; we were an all-black band onDay 1 and we’re an all-black band 20years later. And the one thing that willnever change is the honesty of ourlyrics. I write 99% of the lyrics, so Iwrite what I want.

What do you have to say about theincreasing confluence of Indianmusic and rock, specifically inBollywood and vernacular rockbands?This amalgamation started years ago,with bands like Agnee and Parikrama.But Bollywood has become prettymainstream. Composer friends ofmine like Vishal Dadlani and Salim-Sulaiman have added one more genreto music and are helping it grow. Also,there are so many smartphone usersout there and they're listening to every-thing from Bollywood to rock to elec-tronica. Hardcore rockers may notagree with this change, but then alongcomes a Sadda Haq. It doesn't change

perceptions, but it’s the first steptowards changing them.

How bright is the future for inde-pendent artists in India, especiallythose looking to play so-calledniche genres like rock, metal orblues?Very bright. There are music channelswilling to make a video for bands ifthey see the talent in them, and tech-nology and social networking sites aregreat. My word of love to the new gen-eration of musicians out there is tothank your stars that you’ve been bornin the generation you are. We had tokill ourselves to get a deal — twice!

What advice do you have for bandsthat are starting out?If you’re a musician, play your ownmusic. Be proud of what you play, whatyou write — otherwise, you’ll be acover band forever. You don’t alwayshave to sing other people's music; singit for fun once in a while. Be proud ofyour singing ability and your playingability. In a nutshell — don’t bullsh*tyourself, but write honest music; domusic because you can, don’t do it to becool; and be happy you've been born inthis generation of musicians.

... says Devraj Sanyal of the metal band Bramha who will be in the city shortly,about how some things will always remain constant for them

THROUGHPASSING

METAL MANIA:Ferzad Variyava,Vince Thevor,Devraj Sanyal,John Ferns andCyrus Gorimar

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