OLD PRIDE: Kilt skirts and bagpipes give a traditional look to Edinburgh's festivals

As the crowds thin and the street acrobats cease to soar, the capital of Scotland is forced to finally acknowledge that the Edinburgh International Festivals have come to an end. But there's time to neither sigh nor take a well-deserved rest from the frenzied injection of global culture. On August 31 and September 1 the Edinburgh Mela will infuse the city with a cornucopia of subcontinental music, dance, cuisine and fashion to ensure that few people sleep early.

Of course, nothing can beat the frenzy when actor Shah Rukh Khan was mobbed by dozens of teenaged girls during a 90-minute discussion at the George Square Theatre, that culminated with the screening of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (see box). His retrospective-including Asoka, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Devdas-at the 56th Edinburgh International Film Festival was the first ever accorded to any actor at the festival, indicating just how high Bollywood's star is on the ascendant in the West. "Khan is a neat answer to those critics who say we never get big enough stars at Edinburgh," said festival Director Shane Danielsen. "Here's someone who's a hero to about half-a-billion people all around the planet." Khan's work was screened at three prominent city theatres, including the edgy Filmhouse and at George Square.

TALENT SPIRES: Visitors watch street performers on The Royal Mile

Khan's appearance in Edinburgh was the acme of India abroad at this year's festivals, but the small people had their say, and some acclaim as well. The brain behind Khan's Edinburgh tryst, Teamwork's Sanjoy Roy, for example, was in the city with 16 productions, Sohaila Kapur's Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan, and the bands Mrigya and Indian Ocean included. Kapoor's kitschy, predictable spoof on the Indian film industry garnered neither the reviews of the Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins-stunner The Guys nor the packed house of the American take on a Shakespeare classic, A Bomb-itty of Errors, but it did prompt The Scotsman to describe it as "a show well worth seeing" despite the actors' "strictly limited stage experience". Roy, who returns home with a Spirit of the Fringe award, recognises the gaps: "Most critics hated it, justifiably. I didn't much care for it myself. We were persuaded to bring it here for the world premiere. I thought, well, Bollywood is the flavour of the season." The Spirit award, presented for a production that overcomes adversity to triumph at the festival-the play's cast lost their sets on their way to Scotland and hastily improvised to continue the Bollywood frenzy in the city-did sweeten the experience though.

SIGHTED NORTH

STAR ON THE ASCENT Thank god for work! So said Shah Rukh Khan, the "badshah" of the Hindi screen, at the George Square Theatre in Edinburgh as he sparred documentary film maker Nasreen Munni Kabir's questions on stage. Relaxed, witty and magnetic, the charismatic Khan who had fans swooning around him, agreed that he was a workaholic given to long hours on the job. "But life is meaningless without work," he quipped. After acting and producing, would he get into direction, asked Kabir. "Maybe after six years. At the moment I want to spend time with my family and relish the fact that today, I can forget the film once the last scene has been shot." Three actresses influenced the Khan: "Madhuri helps me a lot with dance steps and Juhi and I sync well in comedy while with Kajol I have a very warm relationship." Devdas was the film that remained top of the mind. So how did he interpret the protagonist's character, Kabir asked. The answer: "I think most men love two women. And Devdas found it difficult to choose between Paro and Chandramukhi." Khan is happy in Mumbai and wants to continue to do films that appeal to Indians. "If the international audience likes it as well, then it's all the better," he adds. -Ishara Bhasi

Far removed from tragedy and tinsel were Mrigya, who performed at the hip-hop hangout The Bongo Club until August 24. The nine-member band's Hindustani classical, qawwali and rock music fusion brought them considerable notice and a Bank of Scotland Herald Angel, along with highly feted New York playwright

C.J. Hopkins' Horse Country, which performed each night to a sell-out crowd, and Monsoon-Au Cul Du Loup, a French dance performance set on an imaginary island swept by a raging monsoon.

Indian Ocean, Mrigya's older, more compact but as voluble fusion precursors, have also built on their reputation at the Fringe. Playing at the Reid Hall was hardly an invitation to late night revellers, but the band continued to get strong support with CDs of their Kandisa and Desert Rain rotating in music systems across the city.

The musicians who garnered the most applause though, were Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Shruti Sadolikar and Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia. They presented a spectacular dusk-to-dawn set that made the distinguished environs of the Usher Hall reverberate with applause from over 900, mostly non-Asian, listeners. The one night-only performance included devotional songs and night ragas never before heard in the city and-proving yet again that an Indian event is just another excuse to consume vast quantities of Indian food-included breaks for samosas and mango lassi.

FILM PREVIEW

Unholy Communion The Guru may have had its moments, but it is not Bollywood's breakthrough in Hollywood as touted SOCIETY BELLE: Foot-tapping dance sequences break the tedium of The Guru Soon after the introductory credits of The Guru, one begins to fall into a gentle stupor, the only recourse from which is to ponder the existential question: why on earth would anyone want to be part of such retrograde mediocrity? Touted as Bollywood's breakthrough in Hollywood via Heather Graham and Marisa Tomei, and East is East charmer Jimi Mistry as the eponymous Guru, the film has less than 10 minutes of Bollywood pastiche and two legitimate jokes, producing treble the number of reasons to seek enlightenment elsewhere. Ramu (Mistry), a dance teacher, leaves Delhi for New York to find fame and fortune. Once there, the boy with the bad Beatles haircut applies for a film role, later revealed to be a porn, starring Sharonna (Graham). Unable to perform, he gatecrashes a party catered by his former boss to beg for his old job back and finds himself taking over the role of the guru hired for the evening's entertainment. Ramu's moves make him a hit with the wealthy guests, and Lexi (Tomei), a faddish socialite, decides to take him under her wing and into her bed. Before long, Ramu becomes the inner circle's personal Guru of Sex. What could have been an excellent opportunity for the makers of Notting Hill and Bridget Jones' Diary (Working Title Films) to weave a web of wit around a clever concept is thereafter dispensed with and the film degenerates into a string of clichéd scenes, each adding utter tedium to the proceedings. If this film is to be believed, young Indian men in America never make it big in Silicon Valley or penetrate the upper echelons of global corporations but continue to drive taxis for a living and spend their time evading the immigration officials. Graham's acting is disturbingly amateur and Tomei's one-dimensional character gives the Oscar-winner neither the opportunity nor the impetus to feign interest in her work. The film's poster, hanging near the refreshments counter, was more animated. The Guru does have its moments, though. Maybe that explains why it topped the UK and Ireland box office chart with takings of £1,521,984 on 368 screens, displacing Men In Black II after three weeks. Mistry and Graham light up the scene with their foot-tapping Grease-inspired dance sequence, and as the naïve, good-hearted Guru, the former Eastenders' star is utterly believable and wholly likeable. Alas, these reasons are simply too few to spend money on watching the film. -Sonia Faleiro

Other Indian shows this year were Pritham Chakravarthy's Monologue on Eunuchs, which, although nominated for an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award, failed to make an impact on the audience. Faring far better were the performers of the Indian dance week, including Radha and Raja Reddy, Madhavi Mudgal, Guru Singhajit Singh, Charu Mathur and Malavika Sarukkai. The six-day sessions were the first of their kind at the Edinburgh festivals, and the surfeit, though dizzying in quantity and intensity, competed well with other traditional physical theatre performances like New Zealander Mika Haka's Maori dance anthems.

Less conservative but more dynamic was Daksha Sheth's Bhukam (Circus of Earth and Sky) and Sarpagati (Way of the Serpent), which exemplified the convergence of traditional Indian dance with contemporary styles. Another martial arts performance, this time the real McCoy, was Roar of the Drums, a Manipuri dance form where the Thang-ta, Dhol Cholom and Pung Cholom dancers use swords, spears, daggers and shields to demonstrate the heroism the people of their region are renowned for. The troupe also performed at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Although described rather tastelessly as "the best example of Britain abroad" by the official announcer, the Indian men and women were unruffled and delighted the audience with their skill and stamina while executing dizzying leaps and mock sword fights.

As the troupes get ready to pack up, one wonders exactly how much of an impact India made in Edinburgh in 2002. Buoyed considerably by Bollywood fever in London-and make no mistake, Edinburgh does want to be like London-the Indians were primed for a favourable reception. But the Fringe, International, Film and Book festivals staged hundreds of acts each day to over a million locals and tourists. This year the Fringe alone sold 900,000 tickets, making £7 million in three weeks. Collectively, the festivals amassed £140 million, swelling the capital's compact population by 250,000. The Indian presence had, apparently, neither the time, the inclination nor the funds to raise its voice above the throngs which were serenaded by the minute through posters, fliers and all manner of inducements, by acts which would stop at very little to achieve full house success. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, none of the top sellers-The Guys, dance performance Bounce and the comedy show Ross Noble's Sonic Waffle-were from the subcontinent. Nevertheless, India did contribute in many ways to the effervescent spirit of the Edinburgh festivals. And the irresistible combination of talent and goodwill demonstrated by almost all the performers should ensure that each year sees the line outside their venues snaking even around the block.