Kiss of a life time !

Hey guys ! 

I am back and with the video of SRK giving me a peck on my cheek *drool* I just can't get over it. 

So my friend called me last night informing me that she saw SRK giving me a little kiss on TV. I was so happy and thanked her a million times for watching the show last night. For if it hadn't been for her, I would have never got the video. :) Thanks M !

I recorded the video from my laptop and here it is

 

You can also view it at this link : http://www.omnitv.ca/ontario/tv/bollywoodblvd/ 

Watch the Bollywood Boulevard for june 26th and after 12 24 minutes. 

That's it ! My life is complete. 

My star moment !

The IIFA craze was at it's peak after all the star gazing for the past two days and finally, it was 24th June- the day of IIFA rocks- The Fashion Show.  We had the passes for the green carpet event and wanted to reach Ricoh Coliseum as early as possible in order to get the best spot to see Shahrukh Khan as he had finally arrived. My morning started around 8 am and I was just getting ready as I had a hair cut appointment at 11 30 pm. I got a call from a guy at 9 30 am and that call changed my entire day.This is how -->
The guy was from Sahara one and Filmy channel and he had interviewed me a year back for one of my dance performances for a local community group. He asked me if I was interested in going to the IIFA awards show.In a very confused tone I told him how I already had a ticket and will be going to the show. He then asked me how I would feel meeting the stars and talking to them and without even thinking I said, ' I would LOVE that " and then he told me how he wants me to send my picture to this lady and he will have my media pass ready.

I could not believe it. I mean I was going to interview the stars ! I can't even say it's a dream come true because I never even thought about this. Jumping up and down I announced it to my family, ofcourse they were happy for me and I just got ready ASAP and went for my hair appointment and left to meet the guy. We had decided to meet at 5 pm at the green carpet venue and he finally arrived at 6 pm. Thankfully, nothing had happened till then.

I wore a grey formal dress with a pearl with beads necklace and small pearl earrings. I had got my bangs the same day cut, so my hair was set. We headed towards the media section and my cameraman (the guy who called me) somehow push me in the front right next to the City TV news on my right and Anokhi TV on my left. A little nervous now, stars had started arriving. RDB was amongst the first ones to come. I didn't ask them anything as I had butterflies in my tummy. I have no prior experience and it was my first time. So I decided to watch the anchors around me. I felt like a little child in between the two professionals beside me. They had their hair, make up and everything done so professionally and here I was on my first day as an anchor at the green carpet where I will be asking the biggest bollywood stars questions.

After watching the people around me, I decided to just go for it and I did. I was not nervous any more and I had started my evening as an anchor. I decided to ask every one these questions;
1) What do you have to say about having IIFA in North America and that too in Toronto for the first time?
2) How do you feel being in Toronto this evening ?
3) IS there something you want to tell all your fans out here ?

Basically, I kept it easy and simple for myself.

I don't remember who arrived first and whom I interviewed first. And I do not have any pictures or videos of this, so I am just going to share the moments that will stay with me forever. I am posting the pictures that I found on the official website and these are infact the dresses these stars were wearing that evening :)

I interviewed Dia Mirza. From my previous blog, you must have learned that I love her. She looked gorgeous in her nice long gown. I asked her my questions and she was in no rush. She replied to each one of them and I told her that she is gorgeous. She smiled and I was happy. I spent 2-3 minutes talking to her and that footage will be played on TV.

I spoke to Arshad Warsi. He walked in simple but yet looked so good. He is such a comedian in real life. I asked him the same questions and he answered them so perfectly. The anchor from anokhi asked him what he was wearing tonight. HE replied, "do you think this is a designer outfit ? " He is a funny man. He was enjoying the evening and he came back again to the media side and I decided to stop him not for an interview but to remind him about our lunch. I know he would not remember but I didnt care. I told him I owe him a lunch and he looked confused and asked me what I meant. And I reminded him of the Fairmont scene and he laughed his guts out. I felt so good. I actually shared a moment with Arshad Warsi.

I kept hearing people screaming Neha and I kept turning towards them confused thinking my friends were calling me from the crowd. Later did I realize that it was Neha Dhupia who had arrived and wa son the green carpet. She too was patient and gave me her time and answered my questions. She looked pretty too.

I had a good long conversation with Gulshan Grover, Javed Jaffrey, Sonu Nigam, Suresh Oberoi, and Bret Lee. They are such wonderful people. I felt really good being there. I mean if I was in the fan section, I would have just got an autograph or maybe a handshake. But here I got to talk to them, ask them whatever I wanted to ask (as the cameraman gave me no script) and be myself. (though I tried to be as professional as I could and I think I did a pretty well job )

I saw Bipasha Basu coming and she walked past me and I really wanted to talk to her, so I requested her to come and she did. How sweet ! And I interviewed her. Though, I asked her how she found Toronto since she had been here for more than week. And also, I questioned her about her favorite place and she said she loves Yorkville. She was charming.

I spoke to Sonakshi Sinha, Genelia D'Souza, Lisa Ray, Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Boman Irani. I also spoke to Sonu Sood and my friends love him so I asked him to wave to his fans and he did :)

And there were many more whom I saw and wanted to talk to but I missed my chance. This made my day but you know what made it best ?

The crowds were roaring and that meant only one thing- The king khan had arrived. I got a glance of him and did not care about any thing. I had butterflies in my stomach again and my brain was working too fast figuring out what to ask him. I wanted to ask him some thing smart. I knew he was returning to IIFA after almost 7 years, he was returning to Toronto after a very long time too (he had done his show -temptations here), I knew he had a leg injury and yet was going to perform tomorrow, I was going to be attending the party he was going to make an appearance at that very same evening...too many thoughts ! And I saw him come so close and finally, he was answering the questions of the anchor next to me and I have no idea what she asked. I was REALLY nervous. I had been waiting all week to just get a glance of him and here I was with an opportunity to talk to him. I was turning a little red now. He then gave that anchor a little peck on her forhead and you can not imagine what I did. Any guess ?

I did not care about the interview and the fan in me was out. I asked him if I could get that too. I was scared now realizing I have to ask him questions as a reporter and not for a kiss. BUT SRK said, "yes, Darling" and gave me a kiss on my left cheek. I was RED, blank, and to recover from what I had done, I tried asking him a question but by then he was talking to the anchor of anokhi.

HE GAVE ME A KISS. SHAHRUKH KHAN GAVE ME A KISS. The guys around me (the cameramen from other channels started joking saying don't wash your face)



The anokhi girl asked questions and I put my mike with the Sahara one logo too towards SRK and I was a part of that interview. She asked him if his wife had picked up his suit for the evening and he said something...I dont remember. I was in my own world feeling so happy and trying to get my senses back.

This is what made my day the best. I can never forget this. I am trying to get the video as all the videos go to the head office and from there they release it on TV. I know they will not release that, but I hope they do. But I don't care. I had my moment with SHAHRUKH KHAN. He defined Raj for us and he is an idol. He is so charming in real life.

I met him later at sheraton but they had barriers there and I had made my way through the VIP section and he did come towards his fans. I got a good video shot of him. Me and my friend thought that he will just come and go at the party at Sheraton but he came and stayed for 1 30 hours and made a conversation. He gave the mike to the audience (in the VIP section) and they could ask questions. I so badly wanted to talk to him but didnt get the mike. A girl told me how her mom did see SRK kiss a girl on TV during the green carpet evening (I am really hoping it's me in the as I badly want the video)

What a wonderful weekend. I am going to post the videos in my next post. :)

Bollywood Invasion at the Fairmont Royal York

I am back with lots of photos and videos of the entire IIFA weekend at Toronto ! It all started when me and my friends met at 10 30 am at Fairmont Royal York hotel, the official hotel for the IIFA 2011. We decided to just enter the hotel and walk around the lobby hoping to find any star possible. We weren't sure if we were allowed to be there but we took our chances and after a few minutes of looking around, when Miss. Pooja approached us and asked us if we were there star-gazing. Reluctantly, we answered "yes" and guess what ? She was the host of a news channel CP 24 and wanted to talk to us for her show. That got us really excited and in no time we were in front of the camera talking about our favorite star, the expectations, how we managed to get the tickets and many more. We were really happy and felt like stars ourselves !

 After our little star moment, we decided to go to the area where the stars arrived. We took our spots right in front and decided not to move from there until we met someone. And finally, after a few minutes, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar arrived. We welcomed them to Toronto with warm wishes and they patiently made small talk with us and gave us their autographs. The media took over them after that. There was BBC news, Omni television and a few more. We were very civilised and did not make any noise as we were warned that if we went crazy, we will be asked to leave. Now who would want to risk that right ?

After a few minutes, Kabir Bedi appeared in the lobby and let me tell you this, he is so DASHING ! Like REALLY. He was so sweet and my friend had a good conversation with him and he gave us all his autographs too.

We were excited and the television anchors saw that and wanted to talk to us- the fans !! Now there were more people and since we were in the first row, we all got questioned. Guess what ? My comment came on T.V too ! I am just going to let you guys watch it for yourself :)

Click on the link and watch the Show for June 22 and I will be on Screen at around 14 20. I am the one with the red scarf !


http://ontario.omninews.ca/index.php?language=1&bclid=424690586001

We felt like stars surrounded by media and getting all the attention, being questioned about how we feel and what we thought . We were waiting for more stars to walk in from the front door when we saw Arhsad Warsi enter from the elevator and that's it, there were screams and hello's and come here from the crowd. He is so ADORABLE ! I took a video and this guy from behind screamed, "how about we go out for lunch" and Arshad replied, "I dont date men " (My video starts from here) So to know what happened next, watch the video. (Do check it out and the girl voice that goes " we will take you for lunch" is me)

After Arshad left, the BBC anchor asked us to scream the one star we want to see the most and we all screamed SHAHRUKH KHAN and within a few minutes, the security people asked us to leave. They asked us to stand behind the barriers outside the hotel, away from the main entrance. That was it for us, we were disheartened thinking that now no star would make the effort to come all the way to us specially after their long 17-24 hour flights. But then we decided that whenever some one came, we would scream their name and ask them to come. And it worked !

After a little while we saw an IIFA car leave with Bobby Deol. We screamed asking him to stop and he DID ! Though he did not get out of the car, I was able to get a great video clip and he looks really cute.

Then Zayed Khan was looking hot in his suit and he was all dressed up to leave for his conference for Love Breakup Zindagi and we screamed and he came to us for a few minutes. He signed a few autographs too.

One of my favorite actresses after this weekend is Dia Mirza. She is GORGEOUS (and I let her know that) and such a sweetheart. She was leaving for the press conference too and was in her car. She stopped and this random girl screamed "Oh that's Dia mirza" and watch the video for the rest...

We were getting excited whenever we saw an IIFA labelled car as that were the cars with the stars. So now Madhavan had arrived and as soon as he kept his foot down we screamed like CRAZY ! There were 10-15 people and we had formed a group and it was great. Madhavan came to us and he spoke to us as if we knew each other. He chatted with many of us for good 15 minutes. We fell in LOVE with him instantaneously.

There were many great moments including waving at Ronit Roy, singing a song with Mr. Sajid, getting a picture clicked with Suchitra Pillai etc. After 6-7 hours of standing and waiting, we decided to retire for the day and come back the next day.

THE NEXT DAY !
After being kicked out of the Royal Yok again, we decided to walk in the streets of bloor street and Yorkville as many stars love to shop there. I decided to tweet about how I had bought a ticket for the party in the evening at Sheraton where SRK will be making an appearance and trended IIFA. And as a result, a Toronto Star Reported replied asking me if I could meet up with her and give her an interview as she was doing a write up for the IIFA weekend. I said YES and we arranged to meet at the Royal York around the afternoon. And guess what, it was published on her blog at the following link (and I do sound like a stalker but it was all worth it)
http://thestar.blogs.com/bollywood/2011/06/tip-for-meeting-the-iifa-stars-look-like-you-dont-care.html

With the reporter from Toronto Star- Gloria !

Later during the evening when the starts were leaving for the Premiere of the movie Double Dhamaal. The fans outside were CRAZY ! There must be around 100 of people waiting to just get a glance of the stars.
Boman Irani is another one of my favorites. He went to all the fans and said hello to them. We saw him up close.  So did Javed Jaffrey, Gulshan Grover and Mallika Sherawat met their fans. I think Mallika is one of the most beautiful women in Bollywood. Camera does not do justice to her. She looks stunning and then when she sat in the car..me and my friend gave her a flying kiss and she gave us one back.  I think she is just amazing.

After getting a glimpse of many more stars I decided to go home as I was tired of walking the entire day.

This is how it all began !

In January, a friend on Facebook mentioned something about the International Indian Film Academy Awards or rather the brown oscars happening in Toronto on 25th June this summer. That moment itself I knew that I had to go for this event considering I am a bollywood fan and when else can you get such an opportunity. Without any delay, I knew the one person I could call and plan this whole thing out. And so I did. And the next day I had managed to get 3 tickets for me and my friends and 6 tickets for my family. Oh yes, right now those tickets are worth a fortune ! And my friend came up with the brilliant idea of booking a hotel room for that night so that we could be ready for star hunting the next day. I knew my summer was going to be E.P.I.C (there is a huge chance of me using this word a lot, don't think I don't know any more words, it just that this word describes it all)

IIFA in Toronto is a huge thing for Canada and also for the stars as this is happening for the first time in North America (who would have thought). So to celebrate this, the city has made this one weekend show into a celebration for a month (how cool, right ? )  And there was Bipasha Basu coming for some of these events and also, there was a free concert by RDB, Culture Shock (a well know North American group) and Parichay.

So me and my friend(who is an even bigger bollywood fan) planned out our pre-IIFA weekend out !

On 18th June, a Saturday, we (me, my friends, my cousins--we love Bollywood) decided to meet up at 10 am for a 2 pm parade. My morning begun at 7 30am with my alarm screaming "Neha, wake up wake up......." (yes, my best friend set my alarm in her voice- an "awww" moment) and I woke up went through my routine without freaking out because I knew exactly what to wear (I am sure you don't believe that, but I went through the deciding what to wear phase the night before-couldn't risk being late). So I pulled up my jeans and wore this new  white summery shirt (it was going to be 26*C - that is HOT after more than 6 months of a negative temperature) . Did my nails, my hair and put on some make up (come on- I was seeing Bipasha Basu and there were chances of us being on TV as the crazy fans- I HAD to dress up and moreover, I LOVE dressing up) and as soon as I finished wearing my pink lipstick, I was ready to leave. Hung my sling, grabbed my camera, a water bottle and put on my comfortable sketcher shoes and I was out the door in the car. It was 9 30 and we got a ride till Scarborough Town Center from where we took our first subway train. Finally, after an hour or so we reached Union (we havent reached our destination yet) The celebrations were in Brampton (a city which is also known as mini Punjab) and is really far from where I live. So we took the GO bus from Union after grabbing breakfast and we were in Brampton by 12 30 pm. I had the map on my phone and we had to walk for a few minutes to reach Main street.

The sun was bright and I was feeling stupid to be wearing jeans when I could have been in my shorts. But that didn't drop any level of our excitement and we decided to check out the street. So after we took a walk through the gage park and freshened up a little at the city hall in the air conditioners, we left for the main stage at Queen St. and Main St. and decided to be there so that we could get the best view possible of the concert. But there was a parade that was going to pass by at 2 pm and all - Bipasha and the singers would be in the Flower City parade. I have never seen a live parade my entire life and I was so excited( I even bought a little hat with ribbons in the back flowing away for a dollar). Once the parade started, I went and watched it without any worry as my friend was saving a spot for us right in the front for the concert. I saw the clowns juggling, the clown car was too good it reminded me of a maruti 800 in india except for this one was jumpy (if that's even a word-i will post the video of the jumpy car), saw the Miss Brampton, and in the end saw two shimmering hot pink trucks coming and the banner saying IIFA. The crowd was screaming on top of their voices, I knew this is it. Its the float with the stars !!! And with my camera ready, as soon as the first truck passed and the drummers with their drums beating the Punjabi way. Finally, we saw the back of Bipasha Basu in this hot white saree ( white was indeed the color of the day). Oh bummer ! she kept looking at the other side as people were making more noise there and I was surrounded with aunties and their little kids who didn't care at all and me screaming alone wasnt too helpful, but hey I was glad I saw her at all ! And as soon as they passed, I knew what I had to do. I ran towards the main stage and just got in time (had to push a couple of people) to get my spot right in the front to watch Bipasha again and the concert.

Bipasha winning the hearts of thousands with her Beedi jalaile moves.

The sky was clear, the sun couldn't hide behind anything and we had to bear the heat. From where we were standing, we could see the Vanity van of the stars. So our eyes didn't care about the performances by the local artists on stage, we wanted to know when the actual program would begin. Finally, at 3 30 pm they announced Bipasha on stage and the song beedi jalaile was bursting through the speakers. And then, the gorgeous actress walked on stage in her beautiful saree looking as elegant as possible and did a few moves on her item song. And had won the hearts of many right there. She is really pretty and as my friend put it- not at all caky (rather than a blog, I should start making a dictionary) ! So she was up there talking about how great the audience is and how she loved our energy and then she said a few regular words that all stars say when on stage. And THEN she was about to leave as the MC was thanking her, me and my friend, made some noise and waved at her and she WAVED BACK ! That was when we felt that all the effort we took since morning was worth it. And after that, I had a new kind of energy in me. I just wanted to scream and the excitement reached new heights. She is one of my favorite actresses now ;)

So once she left we knew the concert is going to begin. And so it did. The first singer was Parichay (the guy who was involved in the making of Jat yamla pagla deewana- the one with the Deols). He sang all Bollywood songs and that was awesome as we could sing along. And he was so sweet, he came to all his fans and gave us all hi5's. He gave a star performance.












After him it was the culture shock. for those who have never heard about them, it is basically Baba Khan, Sunny Brown and Lomattic. They have some really good songs too-have done some remixes of songs by Britney Spears(BS), Lady Gaga(LG) and have been acknowledged by BS and LG - That's BIG ! Their performance was full of their own songs and was great too.

And finally, it was RDB's turn. They started their performance with Singh is King ofcourse, and came to the audience first and sang with us. Now that was truly a superstar thing to do ! And me and my friends instantly developed a huge crush on Manj (who is unfortunately married- though his wife is hot too). And with the Singh is king dance step (the one where you beat your heart twice and put it in the air, repeat it for 3 times and finally, act like you are steering a driving wheel in the air ) and the entire audience was doing it with them. It was BRILLIANT. We went crazy. Their performance was THE BEST. their body guard then picked 4 people (2 boys and 2 girls) from the audience who were called on stage and danced against each other and the one with best bhangra moves on stage would win a blackberry. I tried my best to get there on stage. And as soon as RDB left, so did we.

The crazy fans including me and my friends right in the front !

We all got burnt because of the sun ,couldn't feel our legs as we stood there from 1 30pm to 6 45pm, and had our throats hurting but none of us complained, because we had an amazing day filled with Bollywood fun. And this week, there is so much more to do and I can't wait. Just imagine if IIFA buzz event in Brampton was so good and got us crazy, what will happen on 25th June ?

This is all of them on Friday, we saw them on Saturday though

PS: Shrikala, I am glad you made me write this down. this is something I want to remember :) Thank you and *hugs*