Gore-gaon in Toronto

In this strange pocket of the western world, Cuba’s a junior star, very few recognised him. Chunkey’s huge; they were all looking at him instead.

You know the world’s turned upside down, when Cuba Gooding Jr, immortal star of Jerry Maguire (1996) and As Good As It Gets (1997), inimitable global Afro icon, walks a packed red carpet (or well, green carpet) at a Bollywood show. And the crowd yells out aloud together: Chunkey. Chunkey. Chunkey Pandey, mama mia!

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In this strange pocket of the western world, Cuba’s a junior star, very few recognised him. Chunkey’s huge; they were all looking at him instead. Was it not for Anil Kapoor walking by Hillary Swank’s side, nobody would’ve figured that the Million Dollar Baby was a celebrity either. Or so it seemed at the green carpet for the IIFA awards. And then there were some, pacing up and down the entrance, hoping to be interviewed by practically every television and radio journo behind the barricades. We have a feeling, Gulshan Grover never really entered the stadium, he just kept walking the green carpet, and back again.

Overwhelmed, over-the-top
“My friend, the superstar of superstars, my friend, superstar...” Who could Anil Kapoor be introducing on stage? Given the circular, non-stop superlatives, you’d imagine Rajinikanth. He was referring to Dalton McGuinty, premier of the Canadian state of Ontario. Really? To be fair, McGuinty could do with some buttering up. The state had apparently doled out about $12 million for the IIFA weekend. But superstar of superstars etc? That’s roughly how it goes with our he-man of hyperbole, the ‘slumdog millioonnnaaaire’ Anil. Nothing could beat Dharmendra’s excitement either, where after dancing with his sons Sunny and Bobby, he kept the audience suitable glued to his life’s stories after receiving an honorary award. How about singer Mamata Sharma who went up on stage and started with, “Toronto, I love you so much, I louve you, I louuvee you soo muuuch....” Okay. We get the point.