B2 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2013|| E-TODAY | THEPROVINCE.COM

OK, full disclosure: I am a bit of a greaseball.

I love AC/DC; the smell of a mixed gas makes me think of both boats and snowmobiles; I know what “lock in the hubs” means; I own four jean jackets and I have actually watched two full episodes of the new cracker reality show Buckwild. BTW, did you know you can make a swimming pool in an afternoon? It’s true, appar-ently in West Virginia all you need is a dump truck, a roll of plastic and a hose. Good times.

But to be honest, I don’t think I will be putting Buckwild in my PVR as I am afraid that the 20-somethings in this program make the gang from Jersey Shore look like cast members for an Aaron Sorkin show.

So, as I was saying, I am a bit of a greaseball and I am here to admit it in the most public of fashions by rec-ommending that you head over to B.C. Place Stadium on Jan. 26 for The Maple Leaf Monster Jam Tour.

For the record, a monster jam means big trucks with tires taller than Tom Cruise and engines that roar as loud as a jet airplane.

Now, to be clear, you don’t have to be a greaseball to like monster trucks (plenty of families fill the stands) but, if you are one, this is exhaust-scent-ed heaven.

Included in the show is North-ern Nightmare, the home-country favourite driven by Kelowna boy Cam McQueen. McQueen is currently the Monster Jam World Finals champi-on. Also on the bill is a long-standing crowd favourite, the Grave Digger.

The actual event begins at 7 p.m., but you can get up close and person-al during a pre-show pit party. You can get autographs and literally look under (well, actually up) the hoods.

R ead more of my posts at blogs.theprovince.com.

Monster trucks my cup of tea

Dana Gee

.com

withLARISSA CAHUTE

VANCOUVER DESI

Some of India’s A-listers see Van-couver as the next home for their Bollywood sets.

“Shooting in British Columbia, in Vancouver, is very high up on our priorities,” Indian film direc-tor Karan Johar said at an extrav-agant news conference inside the Vancouver Convention Centre to announce the Times of India Film Awards debut in Vancouver.

The inaugural edition of TOIFA will kick off April 3 with musical performances at the Pacific Coli-seum, followed by film screenings across Vancouver.

The grand event will close April 6 with a red carpet and awards cer-emony at B.C. Place. Bollywood stars such as Chitrangada Singh, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chop-ra, Abhishek Bachchan and many more are expected to attend.

Already impressed by his first visit to Vancouver, Johar plans to “scout around” for film locations when he returns in April.

While he admits it’s “definitely not feasible or cheap,” to mount a pro-duction in Vancouver, he believes Bollywood has the star power and budget to film in the city.

“The beauty of it really makes up for it,” he said.

“And April might inspire the entire film fraternity to shoot in the region. ... Many, many mov-ie actors, many movie producers, directors will come and be great-ly inspired by the visuals they will wake up to.”

World-renowned choreogra-pher Shiamak Davar helped push the event to Vancouver — a place he’s called his second home for 10 years now.

“I jumped and said, ‘Yes, I love Vancouver,’ ” he told the crowd. “Being here is like being home.

“This is the place to go,” he said to his colleagues Johar — whom he referred to as “the Steven Spielberg of India” — and Bollywood starlet Singh.

Tuesday marked Singh’s first time on Canadian soil.

“It is just spectacular — even with the fog,” she said of Vancou-ver’s murky weather. “I take a lot of pride in standing here today rep-resenting one of the fastest grow-

ing film industries in the world.“Our films have really helped

us cross borders wherever we’ve gone,” she said, adding the industry just reached the 100-year mark.

According to Johar, India’s film industry has done so well in Cana-da because of the audience.

“The diaspora audience or NRIs — I always say they’re much more Indian at heart than any of us are. They feel so much more attached to their roots, they express their love much more than we do for our own country,” he said. “The diaspora love has made Indian cinema even more impactful.”

Tuesday morning’s announce-ment offered a peek at the vibrant industry. Three elaborate dance

performances, by men and wom-en clad in colourful Indian dress, created a bright Bollywood scene inside the once dark Convention Centre.

Premier Christy Clark announced the province will provide $11 mil-lion in funding for the event. But she sees it as more than a film awards ceremony and as an investment in trade and tourism through work-ing with TOIFA creators and pre-senters, the Times of India Group, which is the largest media con-glomerate in India.

“This event is just part of what’s

going to inject millions into our economy as a result of our rela-tionship with the Times of India Group,” she said.

“(They) will be an important cat-alyst for building further aware-ness of our province among Indi-an business leaders and consum-ers.

“That kind of exposure can garner tremendous opportunities for peo-ple in our province.”

According to Clark, since her November 2011 visit to India, B.C.’s trade presence has doubled and tourism has increased 11 per cent.

“When Premier Clark says there is an increase in tourism by 11 per cent,” responded Johar.

“I like to tell her, just with the India impact and the Bollywood impact — that will grow nearly tri-ple, if just because of the Indians and the love the Indians have.”

lcahute@theprovince.comtwitter.com/larissacahute

Bollywood film industry brings India to Vancouver

See video of the TOIFA announcement at theprovince.com

video

Indian actress Chitrangada Singh was in Vancouver during an announcement for The Times of India Film Awards debut in Vancouver, including film screenings across the city. NICK PROCAYLO/PNG