Indian film awards arrive in Tampa, but why? B12 Wednesday, April 23, 2014
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The socalled Bollywood Oscars have been held in Macau, Singapore, London — and now, Tampa? Starting today, hundreds of Indian film stars and thousands of Bollywood fans are expected to flood this city for the International Indian Film Academy’s awards extravaganza, four days of song-anddance performances and movie screenings. The event caps off with the awards ceremony Saturday. Even though Tampa has hosted four Super Bowls and the 2012 Republican National Convention, its small Indian population makes it an unusual choice for the awards. The event has been held in big cities across the globe as the success of Bollywood has grown, but it’s the first time in its 15-year history that the group has gathered in the United States. About 800 million people will watch the ceremony on television or the Internet, according to organ-
ENTERTAINMENT
izers. Shades of Bollywood are everywhere in the area. The top floor of the Tampa International Airport parking garage was transformed into a reception area for Bollywood bigwigs and autograph-seeking fans. Shahid Kapoor, an actor with 4 million followers on Twitter, arrived to a small crowd at the VIP area Monday. He is scheduled to co-host the awards ceremony. Elsewhere, security was trained on how best to handle enthusiastic fans and service workers were taught how to accommodate Indian visitors (tip: “just because you don’t recognize them, doesn’t mean they aren’t famous”). Tampa was chosen because city and tourism leaders were aggressive. Sabbas Joseph, the director of the academy and entertainment company Wizcraft International, said Tampa officials even took a few jabs at the competition, telling him: “Orlando mice, Miami Vice
and Tampa nice.” Tourism leaders are thrilled and hope to draw more wealthy Indian tourists to the area. Some 30,000 people are expected. Hollywood superstar Kevin Spacey will teach a master acting class and John Travolta will be honored at the awards show as the “Most Popular All Time International Star In India.” Santiago Corrada, the president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay, the area’s tourism arm, said a private donor gave about $9 million to help bring the awards to the area. The county and state provided about $1.1 million to promote the event and market Florida. The city has shown there’s an appetite for Indian glitter and glam, despite having a small IndianAmerican population. Cheap seats at Raymond James Stadium, usually where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team plays, start at $93. Pricier options run all the way up to $3,295. Nearly all of 25,000
Bon Jovi helps open low-income housing PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jon Bon Jovi’s hit tune “Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” took on new meaning Tuesday as the rock star cut the ribbon on a namesake housing development for low-income residents and the formerly homeless in Philadelphia. The 55-unit JBJ Soul Homes opened in the Francisville neighborhood after about 18 months of construction. Bon Jovi’s Soul Foundation provided the lead gift for the $16.6 million complex, which he hopes will offer tenants the support they need to get back on their feet. “This is not a handout, it’s just a hand up,” Bon Jovi said in an interview before the official ceremony. “This opportunity for them is special and it’s not easy to come by.” The four -story building, which was financed by public and private funds, also includes retail and office space. Residents will receive social services from Project HOME, a nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness in Philadelphia. HOME stands for Housing, Opportunities, Medical and Education. JBJ Soul Homes is “taking our work to a whole new level,” said Project HOME co-founder Sister Mary Scullion. The grand opening of the facility, which
coincides with the agency’s 25th anniversary, is part of an initiative to build 500 such units across the city, Scullion said. Two developments totaling nearly 200 units are scheduled for groundbreaking over the coming year, she said. Residents of JBJ Soul Homes will have access to basic medical care, employment training and educational classes; they are required to contribute part of their income toward rent. Several units have been set aside for young adults to help them transition out of programs for homeless teens. One new resident, 53-year-old Anthony Gulley, said he had been sleeping in a local park when outreach workers from Project HOME began talking to him. Although resistant at first, Gulley said he eventually agreed to come in from the cold. He stayed at a couple of shelters and attended regular counseling sessions before qualifying for JBJ Soul Homes. He now hopes to get a barber’s license. “I’m getting myself back together, and this is a big, big step,” Gulley said. “When they give you the help, you have to be willing to do what they ask you to do. It’s beautiful.”
Roswell Daily Record
available tickets have been sold. The average U.S. moviegoer might not be able to name a Bollywood flick that isn’t called “Slumdog Millionaire,” which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Picture. But that could change, with movies such as “The Lunchbox,” a quiet romance from 2013 set in Mumbai. It won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award at Cannes. “We want to make people aware of Indian cinema,” said Deepika Padukone, an actor who has more than 5 million followers on Twitter and was named the “world’s sexiest Indian” by the Indian edition of FHM magazine. That’s not to say Bollywood is struggling. With a population of 1.2 billion people, Bollywood films can quickly become a box office smash based on sheer volume. Plus, labor and marketing costs are cheap compared to U.S. films. The average U.S. flick costs $47.7 million, while the average film in India
costs about $1.5 million to make, said Uday Singh, the chairman of the Los Angeles India Film Council. “Bollywood” is the term for the film industry based in Mumbai (Bombay). Although it is used mostly to refer to the lengthy songand-dance movies in the Hindi language, it’s become somewhat of a catchall term for Indian films. India is a large country with many different languages, religions and customs, and its films reflect those cultures — not every movie from India is a Hindi musical. The Indian industry makes more than four times as many films as Hollywood, Joseph said, and sells 3.6 billion tickets a year. That’s enough movie tickets to get more than half the world’s population inside a theater, and about a quarter of those were sold in North America.
NYC carriage-horse ban stalled
NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Bill de Blasio is pulling back the reins on his plans to quickly get rid of New York City’s horse-drawn carriage industry, stung by a recent outpouring of support for the colorful coaches that have clip-clopped their way through Central Park for more than 150 years. A campaign pledge to take on the horses during his first week as mayor was eclipsed by other issues. And as he nears his fourth month in office, he has encountered enough resistance from the usually compliant City Council to slow his plans again, now saying an industry he calls cruel and inhumane will be gone by year’s end. What changed? For one, a media blitz led by actor Liam Neeson has portrayed the horse-drawn carriage industry as an iconic, romantic part of New York that provides about 400 jobs, many to Irish immigrants. In a series of
editorials and TV interviews, he has said the operators treat their 200 working horses like their own children. “I can appreciate a happy and well-cared-for horse when I see one,” Neeson wrote in an op-ed piece in The New York Times. “It has been my experience, always, that horses, much like humans, are at their happiest and healthiest when working.” The next blow came when a series of city unions — who usually are de Blasio’s staunchest allies — broke with the mayor, urging him to reconsider his decision in order to save not only the industry’s hundreds of jobs but a profitable source of tourism. A recent poll revealed that nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers were in favor of keeping the horses at least in Central Park and were lukewarm on de Blasio’s plan to put the horse drivers to work instead giving
rides in old-timey electric cars. Last week, the city’s newspapers piled on. A story in the Times on the unveiling of the $150,000 prototype electric car described it as “the industrial spawn of a rickshaw and Thomas the Tank Engine,” while an editorial bluntly urged de Blasio to “let the horses and carriages alone.” New York’s Daily News launched a front-page campaign called “Save our Horses” that filled its pages with pro-carriage stories and an online petition that has recorded more than 11,000 signatures. And The New Yorker devoted its cover this week to a cartoon depicting a carriage driver pulling the horse, giving the local tempest a national stage (but, like so many ambiguous New Yorker cartoons, it wasn’t clear if it was taking sides on the issue).
Present
BOB CROSBY MEMORIAL RANCH RODEO
ALL WOMEN’S RANCH RODEO & OPEN RANCH RODEO
Friday, April 25 6:30pm
Saturday April 26 6:30pm
EVENTS: TEAM BRANDING • TRAILER LOADING • DOCTORING • SORTING • TIE DOWN MUGGING • COW MILKING CALF SCRAMBLING FOR THE KIDS • TEAM PENNING
ENMS FAIRGROUNDS BOB CROSBY ARENA Stock provided by L/S, Rincon, High Lonesome
Adults $10.00 Children 6-12
$5.00
5 & under FREE
Landmark Title
Hagerman NAPA, Hopper Pump & Drilling, RDF Enterprises, Daubert Oil & Gas, Double K Recycling,
500
Bring in this $ coupon for a FREE Child’s admission with the purchase of Adult ticket. Only one coupon per ticket per child, per day. Must bring original newspaper clipping. Good April 25rh & 26th Shows Only
Value