Bollywood lighting up this Diwali 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, November 1, 2005 - 09:30 IST
Homes are decorated, sweets are distributed by everyone and thousands of lamps lit to create a world of fantasy. Every Year on the dark nights the sound of firecrackers announce the celebration of the favourite festival of Indians- Diwali.
Firecrackers are a big hit during this season and ones with Bollywood film stars on the packaging is even a bigger hit. Aishwarya Rai rules the cracker market. People are willing to pay more for crackers with an Aishwarya picture on it than cheaper ones without her. After Aishwarya, the other popular ones are Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan (in his KBC avatar), Amisha Patel and Kareena Kapoor. This year Shakti Kapoor has also made his Diwali cracker debut.
In the 80's, the firecracker packages were dominated by Jumping Jack Jeetendra, Jayaprada and Sridevi. Sridevi was especially on the cover of the Snake firecrackers in her Naagin get-up. The only difference from then and now is that the pictures are digital copies while before they used to be hand painted.
Because of its proximity to Chennai, manufacturers of the south prefer using South Indian heroines like Sridevi, Jaya Prada, Meenakshi Seshadri, Rambha and now Jyothika. Even former Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe and Kate Winslet and cartoon characters like Simba from Lion King, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were a big hit.
So what do the Bollywood stars have to say about bursting crackers?
Tanushree Dutta doesn't like the idea of bursting crackers as it scares her quite a bit. She would prefer spending time with her family and friends. Ditto for Jackie Shroff who warns all of us to keep our windows shut as rockets may just come flying in and can cause injuries. He says that he does not like bursting crackers and there are quite a lot of irresponsible people out there. Tulip Joshi does not prefer crackers as they pollute the environment and make a lot of noise. Shakti Kapoor agrees saying that he would prefer candles over crackers any day.
Amrita Arora begs to differ. “A Diwali without firecrackers is not Diwali.” Says she, who this year is going to burst quite a few of them with her nephew. Isha Shravani too loves crackers and is going to burst quite a few of them this year at her home in Kerala with her parents, members of her dance troupe, 6 dogs and 4 cats. Wonder how her pets respond to them? Madhavan goes the religious way as he will burst a few crackers as it is written in the Shastras.
Off course, there will be celebs who won't be celebrating Diwali this year to the fullest. Amitabh Bachchan who is known for his Diwali bashes is shooting in New York with son Abhisheik for Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Anil Kapoor too will be there to be with his daughter Rhea. Shilpa and Shamita won't be celebrating this year as a close relative passed away. The same for Neha Dhupia who's parents met with an accident recently.
Whatever may be the fables and legends behind the celebrations of Diwali, one thing is for sure, Bollywood can never be too far away.
A parting message from Salman Khan, please be careful of phuljadis as I got my hair burnt once.
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