BY K.B.NAIR

MALIBU, CA - The scene of the curtain raiser for the 2009 season of the annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) was the sylvan surroundings of the Malibu Family Vineyard at Saddlerock Ranch located at the crest of the picturesque Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu. The event for raising funds for the Festival saw many of the big names in the film industry and members of the business community gathering to lend support to a celebration of Indian film through IFFLA.

On March 15, over 200 guests and invitees enjoyed the party hosted by the dual team of IFFLA and Wells Fargo, where attendees experienced reserve varieties of Malibu Family Wines, tour areas which are routinely off limits to the public and got to mingle with Bollywood sensation Mallika Sherawat, Rupak Ginn of “Cheetah Girls” fame one of America’s favorite nerds in “Big Bang Theory” Kunal Nayyar and movie maker Ashok Amritraj who is in the process of completing a 100 movies in his film making career this year.

Addressing the audience, Festival Director Christina Marouda opened by thanking Ravi and Chris Achar, Ron Semler and everyone at Malibu Family Vineyard for hosting the event and  IFFLA’s exclusive caterer of Chakra Cuisine as well as Dr Reddy for their continued support.

Marouda announced many of the special features of the festival which commences with a red carpet opening on April 21 at the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood and runs through April 26 featuring several screenings and special events. Vice president and regional Manager Shaffi Poswal of Wells Fargo commented there had not been a greater time to be in Hindi films than now and referred to the success of Slumdog Millionaire (shouts of Jai Ho reverberating from the audience) thanks to the investment larger studios like Warner Bros and Fox are making nowadays in Bollywood. He said Wells Fargo was returning with renewed vigor as a sponsor of IFFLA as it provided the opportunity of so many brilliant Indian film makers and actors to showcase their talent. He pointed out India’s film industry is evolving dramatically in the global scene and he was glad Wells Fargo is a part of it.

Looking ravishing in a deep cut gold and brown outfit Mallika Sherawat charmed the gathering with her totally effusive and friendly personality. Thanking IFFLA for inviting her to be part of the fundraiser and giving her the opportunity to meet the great NRI community and to discover its culture which she is so curious about, she said it was wonderful to be in L.A. Having a dig at her rather daring body clutching apparel  for a cold morning she captivatingly  quipped in typical Sherawat style “I am feeling a little cold right now, but I thought dancing in a chiffon sari and in stilettos in Alaska was what all Bollywood heroines are used to doing” which drew an amused, admiring response from the audience.

Named one of L.A.’s top four auctioneers, Tere Morris had some unusual merchandize to dispose off to raise funds for IFFLA. In several fun filled spirited rounds of bidding, dinner for 12 with Ashok Amritraj sold for $5000, a photo shoot with Mallika Sherawat for $ 1400, a dinner date with Rupak Ginn and a live taping of Big Bang Theory with Kunal Nayyar for $700 apiece and an exclusive box for 4 at the Hollywood Bowl for a special Indian evening “India Calling” for $1700. Several donors also contributed at levels of $5000, 2500, 1000 and 100 in exchange for tickets and publicity at the Festival.

The evening rounded off with a sizzling Bollywood medley by NDM dancers.

Mallika Sherawat said apart from being in the city for shooting for Jennifer Lynch’s film “Hisss” another important and strong reason was, for participating at the fundraiser. The impact of the success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ she remarked was immediate as she found that even at meetings on this trip she and her Indian colleagues were being taken far more seriously than they had been previously.

First time participant Rupak Ginn who moved to the city just a couple of years ago said he was present to support IFFLA and added that many more such venues are needed for the huge bank of talent in India to expose their craft and talent. Kunal Nayyar, aired similar sentiments that such festivals provided a “voice” and platform to the immensely talented film makers, technicians and artists to show off their capabilities to the world. He had attended the 2008 Festival more out of curiosity than anything else but it dawned on him how big it had become as soon as he arrived.