With Boman Irani, Farah Khan and Deepika Padukone in tears and Shah Rukh Khan declaring Dubai to be his real home, the press event preceding the much-anticipated premiere of Happy New Year in Dubai on Wednesday was nothing if not emotional.
“Is Boman Irani crying?” asked a fellow journalist.
Despite the distance between the stage and the seats, it was apparent — the veteran actor was indeed crying. His eyes were red, his lower lip quivering and, as he raised his hand to wipe his eyes with a tissue, they were shaking. Irani leaned in towards Farah Khan sitting next to him, and pretty soon, she was dabbing at her eyes as well. A little while later, the mantle was passed on to leading lady Deepika Padukone. Three sobbing stars on one stage.
As it turned out, it was not some personal tragedy that made the Bollywood bunch teary-eyed. It was the realisation that their journey was about to come to an end: this day - and the lavish red carpet outside Atlantis, The Palm in the evening - signalled not only the culmination of months of hard work, but the end of the tight-knit cast’s time together.
Directed by Farah Khan and produced by Gauri Khan and Red Chillies Entertainment, the musical heist stars Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah.
It fast became clear that Happy New Year is not only close to the director's heart but everyone in the cast as well.
“We became like a family while shooting the film,” said Farah. “We spent so much time together, that when we weren’t spending time together, it felt strange. There were times when Shah Rukh would come on set even though he had no scenes to shoot. I would ask him why and he would say he was there to give me moral support.”
“If we became like family, then Dubai became like our second home!” added Shah Rukh. “In fact, for me, it’s more than a second home. It’s probably home itself. I even have a house here.”
Large portions of the film were shot at Atlantis, The Palm last year, meaning the cast and crew spent several weeks in Dubai.
Khan plays a con artist in the film, while Deepika Padukone plays a Maharashtrian dance-bar girl.
“Deepika is such a dignified, classy woman,” says Farah. “It’s amazing how comfortably she slipped into the role of a crass, brash dance bar girl. She played the role to perfection, right down to the accent. Despite being form the South, she put on a really good Marathi accent.”
Meanwhile, later in the day and in typical Bollywood fashion, SRK was two hours late to walk the red carpet. Among the first to arrive were Manish Malhotra, the film’s costume designer, and Vishal Dadlani, one of the music directors. While VIP expatriates and contest winners trickled inside, fans kept themselves busy snapping pictures with cardboard cutouts of the film’s stars.
One fan who had an all-access pass to the event was Shabana Asif, who runs the restaurant Sanjeev Kapoor’s Khazana in Oud Metha, had already made up her mind about the film before seeing it, proclaiming: “This is the best movie of the year.”
Inside, the hotel’s conference hall had been converted into a plush 600-seat movie theatre. The cast assembled on stage before the film started, with the loudest hoots reserved for SRK, Boman Irani and Jackie Shroff. The male cast members wore matching black velvet dinner vests, while Padukone was clad in a dark blue gown with a mesh back.
Afterwards, while walking out of the theatre, the actress Simi Garewal was overheard praising the film. “Every frame was such handwork.”
Happy New Year is in cinemas now.
