www.expressindia.com - Weather | Horoscope | Stocks | RSS
expressindia web city
HomeBlogsCricketAstrologyShopping TendersClassifieds Opinions Hotels
Sign In / Register | Archive
Expressindia » Story

Bollywood bids Bush goodbye with a parting shot

Font Size

Reuters

Posted: Jan 07, 2009 at 1343 hrs IST
Geroge Bush

New Delhi Barely two weeks before George W. Bush leaves the White House, Bollywood is ready with a farewell present -- a film that takes pot shots at the outgoing U.S. president.

‘The President is Coming,’ set in Mumbai during Bush's trip to India in 2006, tells the fictional tale of six Indians vying for a chance to shake hands with the visiting head of state.

Bush is a running theme in the film and so are 'Bushisms' -- verbal slip-ups in his speeches -- that have gained notoriety during his eight-year presidency.

"Bush is more of a sort of metaphor for the things that America represents -- good or bad -- but he's also used as a bit of a punching bag because he's an easy target," said Kunaal Roy Kapur, the film's 29-year-old director.

Shot in a mock documentary style, the English-language film depicts a series of farcical tests conducted in a room at the U.S. consulate to single out a young Indian worthy enough to meet Bush.

‘The President is Coming’, adapted from a play of the same name, opens in Indian cinemas on Friday, just days before Barack Obama takes office on Jan. 20 as the first black U.S. president.

"It's definitely a nice little goodbye present for Bush," said Kapur.

WHO PLAYS BUSH?

There is no word yet on whether an actor plays the president's role in the film, although the director has said he used different ways to deal with the problem, including using video footage of Bush.

Television promos for ‘The President is Coming’ showed a person wearing a rubber Bush mask and a business suit walking past various Mumbai landmarks.

Kapur said the film, made at a cost of about 30 million rupees (approximately $618,000), would have lost much of its charm if Bush had not been the incumbent U.S. president.

"The premise wouldn't have been as much fun if any of the other presidents had been around," the first-time director said.

"The whole fun of it is that it's President Bush."

Discuss this story on expressindia forums
Post Comments
Name* Email ID*
Subject* Country*
Message*
Characters remaining
 
TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).
I agree to the terms of use.

Latest News

Business

Showbiz

Sports

Trinamool wins 8 of 10 seats as Left draws blank

Cong retains all three assembly seats in Kerala bypolls

Out on parole, Manu Sharma returns to Tihar 'voluntarily'

Raj-Azmi rivalry goes a long way

Two Patil heads rolled after 26/11, one defends the other

Hawala dealer from Indonesia and Koda’s CA key to probe

Arjun Munda ready to help in Koda investigation

More
Featured Services
© 2009 The Indian Express Limited. All rights reserved
The Indian Express Group | Advertise With Us | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Work With Us | Site Map