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Oscar Musings

J M Shenoy

Shakira Caine, who has been married to Oscar-winner Michael Caine (Best Supporting Actor, The Cider House Rules), 67, for over 25 years, was one of the big attractions at the Oscar awards on Sunday. There are many people who refuse to believe she is 53. Many people in Hollywood know her from her jewelry shop days in Hollywood in the 1980s.

A former beauty queen in her native Guyana, Shakira Baksh, as she was known till her marriage to Caine, starred with him in The Man Who Would be King. The movie, which also starred Sean Connery, had a wonderful, comic performance by Saeed Jaffrey.

The film, based on a work by Rudyard Kipling and directed by John Huston, was an acclaimed hit. But, while most of its performances won raves, Shakira Caine came in for many rotten reviews. She decided to give up the movies.

But as a home-maker she could win an Oscar for every year of her marriage. Many believe the Caine marriage is one of the most successful marriages in show business.

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You thought Hollywood would have trouble with Manoj Night Shyamalan's name? You bet you were right.

If you watched the graphics for his best original script nomination, you would have noticed that his middle name was written as Knight. But that snafu was straightened out when his nomination for direction went up.

"They got the most difficult part of his name right but screwed up the middle name," quipped a Hollywood agent.

Shyamalan did not take an Oscar home but his movie became the 10th highest grossing film in North America, having reached $ 290 million last week, and knocked off The Empire Strikes Back from that position.

The lead is held by Titanic which grossed about $ 625 million in America and Canada.

Though The Sixth Sense is available on video and cable channel this week, it is expected to be shown in second-run theatres (which charge $ 2 to $ 3) for several weeks and could reach the $ 300 million bench mark.

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Oscar nominations do not always boost a movie's box-office prospects. Nearly two months after its nomination, the Nepalese entry Caravan does not have a distributor in North America. It was shown in New York and Los Angeles for a week by its director so that it could qualify for an Oscar nomination.

On the other hand, The Cup, the Bhutanese entry that lost the nomination race, has made about $ 910,000 in a handful of movie houses in North America. Some distributors say that the film, directed by Fine Line (a division of Warner), has the potential for $ 2 million. Outside America, in a very limited release, it has grossed about $ 1.5 million.

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