We were flooded... in a sea of cameras and blinding flashlights. But then, we were not really surprised. After all, when a legend called Kamal Haasan launches the music of his much-awaited film, Hey! Ram, the whole world turns up to witness it. Sifting through the crowd, we spotted Rani Mukherjee on a sofa. Dolled up in a black velvet churidar-kurta, she was the only star who had shown up on time. Rani was being interviewed by a television channel and, by the looks of it, she was enjoying all the attention. "It’s really a dream come true," we heard her saying, when asked to comment on the film. It was 9 pm, but we knew it would be some time before the function officially began. Drinks and starters were doing the rounds in the ballroom of the Taj Mahal hotel in Bombay, as were murmurs about whether Shah Rukh Khan would make it in time for the bash or not. "I hear he's on a flight from Bangalore. I don’t think he will come," said one person. "No, I am sure he’ll make it. But not before 12 midnight," quipped another. Suddenly, there was a hush. All eyes -- and cameras -- shifted to the man dressed in black. Kamal Haasan -- accompanied by wife Sarika (also dressed in black) and their two daughters -- made an entry. He greeted each and every person he encountered on the way and answered all the questions posed to him with admirable patience. "Arre baba, yeh kab shuru hoga (when is it going to start)?" Rani was heard complaining. Of course, she had reason to: it was 10 pm by then. Finally, Kamal Haasan was called on the stage. "We’ll now watch the promo of the film," he said. "You’ll probably get an idea of what the film will be like after you see this." And then, the first clippings from the controversial film were screened. The stark, gripping scenes made everybody sit up. The jarring note, however, came from the song, Chahe pandit ho chahe kazi ho -- it didn't really fit in with this period drama, we thought. The tune wasn’t catchy enough, even though the satirical lyrics were not too bad. The song features Shah Rukh Khan, Kamal Haasan and Saurabh Shukla. Another song, Janmon ki jwala thi tan mein, by A Hariharan and Asha Bhosle, was also aired. After the promos, Kamal Haasan introduced all those who were associated with the film, including those who were not present. Though Ilayaraja, the legendary music director who composed Hey! Ram's tunes was not physically present, his message was beamed on a screen: "I am not creating anything. Whatever comes to my mind, I just put it. Music is my life, not my job." The cinematography of Hey! Ram is by Tirru, editing by Renu Saluja, art direction by Sabu Cyril, costumes by Sarika Haasan and dialogues by Manohar Shyam Joshi. Then it was the turn of the cast -- who ranged from current Bollywood favourites like Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee to veterans like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Hema Malini and Girish Karnad to theatre personalities like Iravati Harshe and Atul Kulkarni -- to be introduced. A couple of new faces are also being introduced in the film, namely Vasundhara and Gautam Kanthadai, the latter being Kamal's Haasan's nephew. The late Amjad Khan's son, Nasser, plays an inspector in Hey! Ram. "Every time he (Nasser) smiles, I choke," said Kamal. "He knows why the character played by Shah Rukh Khan is called Amjad. I shared a very special relationship with Amjad and respected him very much. Nasser was too young to understand it then, but he knows it now." Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Tushar Gandhi, also makes an appearance in the film. He plays himself. He remarked in a lighter vein, "Abhi neta nahi ban sake to kya hua, abhineta to ban gaye (so what if I couldn't be a leader, at least I'm an actor now)." Just when everybody thought the cast had been introduced, Sarika ran up to the stage with a piece of paper in her hand. Kamal had apparently forgotten to call out some names, a fact that his efficient wife had promptly attempted to rectify! When it was Sarika's turn to speak, she said, "I have been in front of the camera and now I am behind it. But there’s one thing I can say -- actors cannot enjoy what we do." Singers Hariharan and Preeti Uttam were invited on stage as well. Incidentally, Kamal Haasan’s elder daughter, Shruti, has also lent her voice to the title track. Asked what profession she would like to pursue for a career, Shruti -- who is now 13 -- told rediff.com that she wants to be an actress. To everybody’s disappointment Shah Rukh Khan did not turn up till 11 pm. But we were assured that he would come -- and he did. He did reach the venue after midnight and apologised profusely for the delay. While Hema Malini couldn’t make it because she was unwell. As the evening drew to a close, we remembered something that Kamal Haasan had said earlier -- "Hey! Ram does not attempt to fix responsibilities for the blunders committed, but is a stark reminder that these blunders might happen again." A sobering thought, that! Kanchana Suggu hopes Hey! Ram will live up to its excellent promo.
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