Who, Ash...arya?

IIFA DIARY: DUBAI

Day Two at IIFA was an Ash-struck affair, and much wholesome talk of modern remakes of old classics.

Remakes are the flavour of the IIFA weekend. And so is Aishwarya Rai, back in Dubai after 10 years "" she was last here as Miss World. The Egyptian guard posted outside the Grand Cineplex where Rai's deglam offering Provoked was premiered on Wednesday night had all the signs of being awestruck.

"Who Aish...arya"? he hailed anybody and anyone even vaguely Indian in his opinion, even as the lady herself had to resign herself (well, almost) to the inevitability of being mobbed.

Back to remakes: Rai also stars in J P Dutta's latest rendering of Umrao Jaan. She steps into Rekha's shoes, but not for some philosophical reason into authentic period costume.

"It is not going to be like the Muzaffar Ali version," warns Dutta, "we are not looking at authenticating details of that era."

The visual language, nevertheless, is going to be "stylised" enough and choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant cryptically adds that the costumes will be "very simple" for Ameeran but will grow in opulence as she transforms into the Umrao Jaan persona, the celebrated courtesan.

One thing that's going to be obviously different this time round is the mujra. Merchant, still basking in the glory of Kajrare "" it was she who came up with the idea of casting Rai in that unlikely "item" "" and looking forward to Krrish, Dhoom II, and a host of biggies, says that one Dutta diktat that she followed to the letter was not letting her courtesan dance "sitting down". Too dull for the post-Kajrare screen.

Qurbani was a slick enough film in its time. Now Feroze Khan is set to make it slicker and younger with son Fardeen Khan essaying his original role in the film. After Saif Ali Khan's much publicised pull-out, the hunt is on for the second lead as well as for the actress who will step into Zeenat Aman's bikini?.

"Since there are so many remakes being made, I thought let me make this one soon before anyone else attempts it," he justifies. The new film is Kurbani "" with a K, and Khan says that the "structure" is the same.

Speaking of which, Dubai's easy-to-reach location is the big bait that Dubai Studio City is dangling for Indian film crews to shoot there. Up to scratch on the latest digital whirligigs, this "entertainment hub" is looking out for filmmakers as well as investors.

So, will Indian production companies bite? Manmohan Shetty isn't so sure. "If it is only infrastructure, then they may not," he says, and pointing to the example of the Rs 500-crore Ramoji City in Hyderabad ("no one goes there").

However, if there are incentives thrown in by local governments (the way Singapore's government helped Krrish, for instance), they might just be lured to Dubai, Shetty says.

There's a tax bait, too, Ramesh Sippy adds. In India, production attracts a 40 per cent tax, while Dubai is tax free. "Some companies looking at profits and attempting foreign co-productions" may step in, he says.

"When the Media City was launched in Dubai everyone said, 'who will go?', but now there is no space to buy anything," he adds. Shabana Azmi, on the other hand, is more confident of the idea's success.

"We are very good with human resources," she says, "but still go to Hollywood for special effects, costumes, technology "" if something comes up here...why not?" she reasons.

It is a lot closer. Judge from what the top producers and directors have been doing, off-hours: pouring themselves peg after peg of Blue Label, believe it or not, and that too without as much as bothering to duck down the alleyway or hush us observers up (beyond the odd imagined gesture).

Select media personnel have actually been invited, yours truly included, to swirl around the place, as Dhawan, Sippy, Shetty, Khan and the gang gather for the evening's festivities "" determined, who knows, not to cede too much responsibility upwards...