LEGEND OF BHAGAT SINGH - UK PREMIERE
Ajay Devgan Is In Town

Everyone knows that Bollywood has gone Bhagat Singh crazy, with two different movies on the historical figure releasing on the same weekend. As well as the release dates clashing, both epics also held their UK premieres in London on the very same night.

Sunny and Bobby Deol flew into the UK for their premiere of 23rd March 1931 - Shaheed, which was held at the Warner Village Cinema in Leicester Square, central London. Other guests at the event included Amrita Singh, Saif Ali Khan and Taz from music group Stereo Nation.

On the other side of town was the glitzy premiere of The Legend of Bhagat Singh, held at the Cineworld Cinema in Feltham. The event also attracted some of the big names attached to the movie, which was obviously a treat for the VIP audience.

The premiere started with traditional Punjabi dhol players, which was extremely impressive and got the crowds into the spirit. The first guest to arrive was actor Saeed Jaffrey, who was swiftly followed by the LBS Crew, starting with director Raj Kumar Santoshi and Music Director, A R Rahman. There were plenty of rumours that Ajay Devgan's wife, Kajol, was also supposed to attend but she didn't show up, which was apparently because of her pregnancy. However the audience didn't seem to mind at all. In fact they would have probably been more pleased to have more of the actors who actually featured in the film instead.

The most impressive part of the show was definitely the efficient timing. It had been announced that the Crew would arrive at the cinema at 8 o'clock. At when the clock struck 8, Ajay Devgan arrived. The crowed erupted when "Bhagat Singh" arrived. Photos, cameras, autographs. The crowd were evidently pleased but wanted more. Guests were asked to take their seats for an 8:15 start, but the audience wanted to meet and greet the Crew.

Guests were surprised to see that they had been allocated drinks and popcorn, courtesy of Cineworld Cinemas - a gesture welcomed by all. Guest speaker, Ravi Sharma from Sunrise Radio, managed to pacify the crowd with a promise that Ajay, Raj and A R Rahman would remain in the cinema throughout the film and would also be able to answer any questions.

The film started and during the whole film, the audience remained seated and silent, enthralled by what was taking place on the screen. Bhagat Singh had definitely come alive again for those three hours. The credits rolled and the audience erupted, the film was definitely a hit with this audience. The last projection on the screen was a question, "Have we wasted their sacrifice?" Due to time constraints the audience did not get a chance to ask questions, but applauded when each representative from the crew was presented with a bouquet of flowers.

Raj Kumar Santoshi spoke about the research they had carried and thanked Kartar Singh, Bhagat Singh's younger brother for all the background information gained from him. Ajay Devgan was pleased to carry off such a role, and left it to the audience to decide if he had done a good enough job. Again the audience applauded.

Overall the evening was definitely enjoyable, but due to the slightly late start, there was no interval break which is a must for such a good film. You don't want to miss anything. Well done to organisers.

 

WRITTEN BY AMARPREET CHANA