India Masala
Bollywood and culture in an emerging India
Just let the Bollywood stars be — some IIFA memories
Gauri Khan looks askance at me. She is dressed in white and clutches a shopping bag in either hand. As I move towards her on a street in Amsterdam, she takes a step back and frowns. I don’t take the hint. As I start to mumble something, the wife of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan hurries past me and disappears into an alley.
No, I wasn’t trying to assault her.
The 2005 International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards were being held in Amsterdam and I was a cub reporter let loose in the city of canals .
Celebrities from the Indian film industry had been spotted in the Netherlands and I had been pacing the sunny sidewalks hoping to catch a glimpse.
I have better luck a few minutes later. Chunky Pandey is rummaging through a stack of colourful T-shirts at a shop around the corner. We exchange pleasantries but I don’t harass him further, sensing he wants to be left alone.
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The Wall
