Delhi premiere of Iqbal 
By Joginder Tuteja, August 26, 2005 - 06:29 IST
Premiers are in vogue. Till about a few months back, movies arrived silently with not many media gatherings. But things have changed over a course of last few months. Whether it’s a biggie like 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising' or a small, yet powerful movie like 'Iqbal', the makers of each of these movies have held their premiers/exclusive screenings. Another important trend seen is that the premiers are held not just in the heartland of the film world [read Mumbai] but number of other cosmopolitan cities, including New Delhi.
This writer was one of those handpicked media friends and guests who were invited for a special screening of the movie 'Iqbal' at PVR Plaza, New Delhi. A truly memorable experience, read on to know more about the on-screen and behind-the-screen happenings of this first ever mass oriented, commercially promising movie by director Nagesh Kukunoor.
In this well organized event, showman Subhash Ghai and Nagesh Kukunoor played a perfect host to all the invitees. The first thing that caught one's attention was the punctuality with which both the filmmakers arrived. Also, the event was kept simple with not any hoopla or element of artificialness. Dressed in black, they made a gracious entry and made everyone comfortable with their near-casual attire and attitude.
Another prominent guest of the evening was Kapil Dev who arrived 5 mins after Ghai and Kukunoor and was given a warm welcome by Ghai. As all the three sat together for a brief photo session, Ghai requested everyone to first watch the movie [that was due to begin any time] and then get back for a tête-à-tête. Reason? He didn't want to give his views about the movie before the screening. Instead he wanted Nagesh's work to speak for itself and then answer any queries that comes his way, after the media had watched the movie.
During the movie's intermission, they interacted with the media and guests again in the lobby. Once the movie ended with a thunderous applause they finally settled down for a much awaited Q&A session. The movie had done its trick and struck a chord with everyone present in the auditorium. Two words which were uttered by each of the guests - 'Brilliant' and 'Inspiring'. A film about an 18 year old deaf and mute villager from interiors of India, whose purpose in life is to wear a national cap one day for the Indian cricket team, 'Iqbal' keeps you thoroughly engaged while taking you through an emotional journey from bowling alone on village fields to an international stadium.
Addressing the media, Subhash Ghai said, "Iqbal is about every struggler, in any field who is underdog who doesn't have anything at all - support of family, support of destiny or support of GOD. But how he rises in international arena due to support of his sister and coach [played by Naseeruddin Shah] is what makes 'Iqbal' interesting". For Nagesh Kukunoor, it was an emotional moment on stage. He said, "It is a little overwhelming. I expect the movie reaches out to be as wide an audience as possible."
An emotionally charged Kapil Dev was in his elements when he mentioned - "This is an AWARD WINNING movie. Every kid in India dreams of being a cricketer one fine day. We all have problems in life because society is based on education and every parent wants their children to study and make some money, because sports do not have much money involved. Some people do have misconceptions that cricket has money. That's true but just for 5-6 players and not for thousands and lakhs of children who are struggling in every nook and corner of the country. But after watching Iqbal, maybe parents may start thinking that if it is the dream of a child, lets try to fulfill it".
He also complimented the producer/director duo by mentioning that "there couldn’t have been better film for cricket than Iqbal. This is a tribute to cricket and we owe you a cricketer. Whenever there is a mention of cricket, you filmmakers would always be remembered for promoting the game."
In a lighter vein, he exclaimed, "If this role [of a selector in the movie] would have come 5 years back, he would have said NO. But now if they make a movie like this and take someone else, 'main inka gala daba doonga' [I would catch them by throat]."
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