Filhaal premieres to whoops and tears

Subhash K Jha

Tears and chuckles flowed freely at the premiere of Meghna Gulzar's Filhaal at the newly opened Globus cinema theatre in the suburbs of Mumbai.

"I can't believe it," Sushmita Sen sobbed repeatedly. Her performance as exuberant Sia brought the house down.

Sushmita's costar, Euphoria lead singer Palash Sen, whooped loudly each time one of the actors came on screen. When he appeared on screen Palash whooped loudest.

Meghna's husband Govind, who confesses he is not much of a movie buff, was at the premiere. Even his mother flew in specially from Delhi to be part of her daughter-in-law's moment of triumph.

Gulzar, present with two of his closest friends, sat quietly, with glistening eyes. Meghna's mother Raakhee was more vocal. "I can't believe Bosky has come this far. It seems just yesterday when she took her first step as a child, held my hand, went to school, got married... And now this!"

Thursday, January 31st night marked two beginnings: The theatre Globus opened with the film of a brand new director. The theatre was filled with a polarised audience. At one end, there were the guests of the theatres' builders, the Rahejas. At the other were the cast and crew of Filhaal.

At the moment, the response seems tremendous. Says Raakhee, "I noticed a very strange thing at the premiere. Women in the audience weren't looking at Filhaal as a film about surrogate motherhood. They saw it as a film about two female friends and the sacrifices that one friend makes for the other."

On Thursday night, there was hardly a dry eye among the women in the audience. The last time audiences reacted so strongly to a film about feminine friendship it was Deepa Mehta's controversial Fire, which coincidentally, was distributed and exhibited in India by Jhamu Sugandh, producer of Filhaal.

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