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By Judi Silva ©2005 Bollyvista.com |
Meeting American singer-songwriter-guitarist Don Hammontree at the Café Arpeggio in Fall River, Massachusetts, USA was an interesting experience indeed. Mr. Hammontree has recently re-entered the news after six years, when the song he wrote, in tribute to Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla hit the airwaves. It appeared on his CD 'This' and is appropriately called, 'Juhi Chawla'. He was inspired to compose the song after seeing a striking poster of Juhi on a store window in the Devon Street section of Chicago and henceforth watched several of her films, like 'Yes Boss' and 'Ishq'. The song even mentions Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan in the lyrics.
At the time he was working as a copy editor for the India Tribune, so he had the opportunity to immerse himself into the Bollywood scene. This, coupled with a trip to England, introduced him to, as he says, 'the hottest Bollywood star there is; Karisma Kapoor.' Karisma, ironically, reminds him of a brunette version of an old girlfriend, who wasn't Indian at all. He immediately became smitten with the actress and her work. A subsequent trip to Massachusetts afforded him the opportunity to see Karisma, and his wife to see her favorite Bollywood actor, Aamir Khan in concert, with seats second row from the stage. His hopes of interviewing Mr. Khan about his 'cross-over' film 'Earth-1947' unfortunately didn't pan out, but the concert itself made a lasting impression nonetheless. |
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