Oprah Winfrey Charms Bollywood, Salman Khan couldn't care less
Thursday, 19 January 2012
In a flaming-orange saree Oprah made quite an impression on Bollywood’s biggies all of whom-- Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan & Zoya Akhtar, Anil & Tina Ambani, Kanga Ranaut, Preity Zinta, Anil Kapoor, Ashutosh Gowariker, Arjun Rampal-- gathered at Parmeshwar Godrej’s home for a dinner on Monday night.
Oprah in full bloom, earlier visited the Bachchans’ household, specially to meet the oldest and youngest members of the family.
As she had already met –and interviewed—Abhishek and Aishwarya Oprah apparently expressed a keen interest to meet and the Big B and the junior-most B.
After a brief visit to Jalsa Oprah drove down to the Godrej residence with the Bachchans including Aishwarya on her first social outing since the baby. Jaya was conspicuous by her absence.
Curiously Oprah was escorted into the dinner venue by her Indian host Deepak Chopra.
Some of the more distinguished guests, like A R Rahman, Anil Kapoor and Shabana Azmi… Oprah was already familiar with, thanks to their global entertainment connections. But Oprah dazzled both those whom knew and those whom she didn’t know from Adam or Eve.
Shabana was introduced to Oprah by Deepak Chopra. The alert chat-show queen quickly turned around and said, “Of course, you are the Meryl Streep of India!”.
And Oprah hugged Shabana. The two ladies were seen chatting for quite a while. A curious eavesdropper overheard Oprah asking Shabana to be on her new chat-show.
Shabana isn’t the only one. Oprah apparently wants the Big B on her show too.
Javed Akhtar who had joined Anil naturally had far more to say. Oprah was seen listening to Javed very closely.
Says a guest, “Oprah wanted an overview of Bollywood. Javed Saab provided it, with additional inputs by Anil Kapoor who was surprisingly very subdued. ”
After-effects of the Mission Impossible 4 experience, perhaps.
Says a guest, “Oprah was attentive and personable to everyone. She didn’t know who Kangna Ranaut, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, Neha Dhupia, Sameera Reddy were. But she made sure she spent a bit of time with everyone. ”
A R Rahman seemed to be in an uncharacteristically effusive mood. He was witty, talkative and even flirtatious.
Says an invitee, “We heard a familiar voice telling Oprah loudly that he admires three women greatly.
Oprah, Michelle Obama and Shabana Azmi. When we turned around we were surprised to see it was Rahman charming Oprah with his compliments.
He even got two pupils from his music academy to sing two songs for Oprah. She insisted on being photographed with them. ”
Says the guest, “Oprah seemed very curious to know as much as she could about the Hindi film industry. She mingled with the entire film fraternity that was present. And by the way, she carried the saree with great grace. ”
Apparently Aishwarya helped Oprah tie up the saree at the Bachchan residence before they proceeded for the Godrej dinner.
Interestingly, though it was meant to be a dinner party Oprah wasn’t seen digging into any of the culinary delights on the table. Avoiding a Delhi Belly, perhaps.
Says a guest, “Sameera, a huge fan of Oprah, stood in a corner unsure of how to approach the Big Lady. Incredibly enough Oprah saw Sameera, came up to her and said, ‘Love the colour of your saree. I wish I was wearing it. ’
Sameera immediately became a bigger fan of Oprah. She had in fact postponed her holiday to Singapore for the dinner with Oprah. ”
Apparently Oprah had a conversation with every single guest at the party, regardless of whether she was introduced to him or her.
Missing from the Oprah dinner: Katrina Kaif who’s shooting an ad in far-off Orcha, Salman Khan who couldn’t care less. Aamir Khan was the other conspicuous absentee.
