Put the colours on hold, says Bollywood. Still smarting from the terror attacks in Mumbai, two of the biggest stars — Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan — are skipping any Holi parties.
Bachchan’s party is usually a grand affair, but this year, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya are both likely to remain in Kolkata during Holi, shooting for Mani Ratnam’s Ravana. Big B blogs that in the past couple of years, his parents’ deaths took the colour out of Holi, and this year, “that joyous spirit has been dampened by the atrocities that our city faced on 26/11. In its wake somewhere inside us there is a reluctance to involve ourselves in any kind of exhibition.”
A source close to showman Subhash Ghai tells us, “in the wake of the terror attacks, there is no celebration whatsoever. Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan are also giving Holi celebrations a miss for that reason.”
Going ahead
Some Holi bashes are still on. Of these, the biggest is being organised by Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi. Asked about his take on putting Holi on hold, Akhtar replies, “We all are very sad and angry… but that does not mean we should give terrorists the itinerary to decide events.” Shilpa Shetty, a cricket team owner this year, is hosting a pre-Holi bash for her Rajasthan IPL team in Mumbai.
A friend of Shilpa says that Shane Warne will be the biggest attraction. Other bashes are Mukesh Bhatt’s Holi Ka Jashn with the cast of his upcoming film Jashn and Anurag Kashyap’s party to celebrate his film Gulaal.
