hyphenated twentysomething

Picture: Courtesy of indianidol.sifymax.com

I have a confession to make. I admit it. I actually like Will Smith. Yes, you've read correctly. Big Willie, Mr. Party Starter, whatever you want to call him. Mr. Jada Smith is rather appealing. While I think at times he talks a little too much about his marriage and his music is not always exactly my cup of mocha, his personality makes up for all of that. I mean, seriously, everytime I see him on tv, he is smiling and seems extremely happy for just existing. And he really does seem to brighten up my idy bidy tv screen by acting all goofy and making it seem like everything is just fine and dandy. He seemed just as comfortable in front of an Indian audience on a rather interesting Indian tv show as he is on say Oprah.
Forget the bird flu, Bush's visit to India, and the Aids epidemic. If Big Willie is in town, just get jiggy with it. So what brings out this sudden burst of admiration. Well, as I continue to find new ways to become bored, I started to watch the ridiculousness that is Sony Enterntainment Asia. And, sure enough, on tonight's Indian Idol, the Prince of Bel-Air decided to visit the studios. And of course, the public went crazy and gaga over him. And, for some reason, I got caught up in it. What is Big Will doing in India? Because, that was my first question. Well, Will Smith was in India to promote a new English language movie channel. But, seeing that he's such a big music star, he some how made his way on to the Indian Idol stage and into my tv screen.
He was only on the show for about 5 minutes, in which he encouraged singers to sing confidently and really connect with the public. Fine. That's all good. But the thing that actually made me stop and stare (and made me smile) was when a contestant asked him to sing a few lines from a Bollywood song. He sang a few lines from "Aati kya Khandala". And, quite frankly, he pronounced the words pretty well. I was quite impressed. However, Sony ended up dubbing over his actual dialogue with Hindi which frustrated me. I understand they wanted those who may not know the English language to be able to understand what he said, but it seemed to defeat the entire purpose of having him chat with the host. And to top it off, the contestants decided to make him their hero/maharaja and crowned him with a pagh, which he of course proudly wore. Overall, it was very entertaining and made me wish he was on the show a little longer. But then, just as I had scrounged up a little respect for the show, the Koffee man himself showed up as the guest judge. Yes, yes, it is our favorite cheesy and annoying host, Mr. Karan Johar. ick. Enough said.
But what I really wonder is what motivated Will Smith to show up on Indian Idol aside from just publicity, maybe some money, and well a good time with eager fans. Of course, not that that is not reason enough. But I just really found it interesting that he suddenly showed up on the show where I don't think any other American celebrities have shown up. Well, if nothing else, at least he's musically admired somewhere:)

P.S. Oh and by the way, Will, I forgive you for Wild Wild West. It's okay. But Hitch....