Names and faces

Monday, April 28, 2014

The Indian film industry’s top award show sailed into Tampa, Fla., on Saturday with a pirate-themed opening musical number and celebrities such as John Travolta and Kevin Spacey. Before a crowd of about 20,000, the International Indian Film Academy awards started with the entrance of actors aboard a float built like a pirate ship - a nod to Tampa’s love of pirate-themed parties. But it was Travolta who brought the crowd to life. Indian star Priyanka Chopra pulled him onstage, and Travolta did some signature moves from his 1994 blockbuster film Pulp Fiction. Later, actor Hrithik Roshan presented Travolta with an award for Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema, declaring the two-time Golden Globe winner “the coolest of them all.” “I’m honored. I’m humbled,” Travolta said. Spacey also wowed the crowd. After he presented actress Deepika Padukone with the award for Entertainer of the Year, Padukone and cohosts Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar persuaded him to don a Lungi - a sarong - and dance to a popular song called the “Lungi Dance.” Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a f ilm about the life of Indian track and field Olympian Milkha Singh, was the big winner of the night. The movie took home awards for best story, best director and best picture. The show informally known as the “Bollywood Oscars” was held in the U.S. for the first time. The show was recorded and will be broadcast in June.

For Keira Knightley and Adam Levine, their movie Begin Again was full of unfamiliar experiences. Knightley, an accomplished actress, sings in the movie, whereas Levine, frontman of the band Maroon 5, acts. The two admitted that leaving their comfort zones made them uneasy but that they related to each other’s nerves. “I kept telling her she was great and she wouldn’t believe me, and she told me that I wasn’t bad at acting, either, but I didn’t believe her, so it was perfect,” Levine said Saturday as the film closed the Tribeca Film Festival. “I didn’t anticipate being as frightened as I was,” Knightley, 29, said of singing. “I said yes to doing it and I was, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be fine, it’s gonna be fine,’ and then suddenly I found myself in a studio with real people who did it for a living and I was like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m pretending.’” Walkinga red carpet for his first movie role, Levine, 35, said he was “blown away.” Begin Again is directed by John Carney, who also was behind the musical drama Once. The movie opens in the U.S. in July.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 04/28/2014