Anil Ambani Declares: “We Are Serious Players”

Anil Ambani could teach our film people a lesson or two in playing host. For almost three hours on 28th February when he and wife Tina hosted a party “to celebrate cinema” at a suburban hotel in Bombay, the business magnate stood at the entrance, welcoming each guest personally. It may have been because it was the first time Ambani was hosting a film party, having hitherto remained away from even functions and events hosted by his own company, Big Entertainment. But whatever the reason, he played a wonderful host.

He made a fairly lengthy speech laced with humour and dotted with names of the films produced/distributed by his company. But amidst the fun and puns, Ambani made it clear that he was in the entertainment industry to stay and his company meant business. Although Anil’s words were more than enough, there were pre-shot messages from Hollywood aces like Steven Spielberg, Stacy Snider, Nicolas Cage, Ron Howard and Brett Ratner, all of whom are in some way or the other connected with films being made by Big Entertainment.

The star turnout may not have been huge but three of the biggest stars – Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan – made the evening look glamorous as ever. Amitabh and Shah Rukh embraced each other and were seen engaged in a fairly long conversation. Amitabh was accompanied by son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Aishwarya and Amar Singh. Despite the dress code being ‘smart casuals’, the senior Bachchan came in ethnic wear – kurta pyjama. Minutes before Amitabh entered the hall, Rekha came with her secretary. The diva looked gorgeous as ever in a black saree. Shah Rukh posed for pictures with Anil Ambani and his mother, Kokilaben.

Rakesh Roshan, Jeetendra, Sreedevi, Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut and Sunil Shetty were among the other stars who garced the occasion. Following Anil Ambani’s address, a rather long audio-visual was played for the invitees. The function was compered by Boman Irani in his inimitable style. Omi Vaidya read out a poem in Hindi, much to the amusement of the guests.