The film has a passionate thread of truth with facts borne out by history, yet the accolades credited to the film must accrue to Kapur and his fine team of actors. He has gleaned the finest talent and honed it to perfection in each of the characters. To Cate Blanchett must go the highest praise, as her portrayal of Elizabeth is the very heartbeat of this epic.

Shekhar expressed this debt of gratitude to Cate at the party to celebrate the release of Elizabeth. He praised her talent, thanked her for putting him firmly on the world map and conceded that he was now her responsibility. No light compliment that, rather a firm commitment to try and endeavourto reach higher.

Charming! Coming back to the film, I went to see it courtesy Shekhar at the preview theatre at Famous Studios the afternoon of the release party. Anita Pratap, bureau chief CNN was a houseguest, so she and Krish, my older son, accompanied me. We were rooted to our seats and rivetted to the screen from the word Go! The only distraction we were prepared to concede was that we would make the each other aware of the scenes the censor's wanted to snip, in case any of us missed it.

The first cut was for the word quinny the word actually comes up on screen as a translation sub-title. So no tricks here. The point of the matter in this instance, which no one seems to have picked up, is that no such word exists in the English language, no dictionary has any reference to the word. So, suggestive as it may seem, it is just a bit of poetic license resorted to by the director to convey the patronising ways of the French aristocracy to the British Queen.

Now, on the other hand, Ms. Parekh and hermerry band of censors do need their heads chopped off and impaled for not doing their homework on the word `quinny'. If it doesn't exist as a word, how can it give offense, except in the over imaginative mind of a frustrated actor? The word in the dictionary that comes even close to quinny -- in that it is slang for a part of the female anatomy is the word `quim', but the word used in Elizabeth was `quinny' and it was not the way you heard it, but read it, that amply proved its innocence. No cuts please! The impaled heads of the nobles who betrayed the Queen, and a short love scene enacted caused no offense except perhaps to the puritanical.

But without these scenes, the thread of truth gets rudely decimated. Totally unacceptable, truly unfair. I hope our culture-vulture brigade pay heed and pass this film sans cuts else it would do a terrible disservice to the precision of this directorial masterpiece. The success of Kapur's Elizabeth lies in the sensitivity and passion that flows through the historicalnarrative. Only a director of greater acclaim can deem to tamper with this work.

As none exists and the work is perfect, let us put petty cuts aside and revel in his success. We are indeed lucky to be able to claim a director of such enormous talent and vision amongst us, let us be proud that a native son of the soil has the directorial midas touch. Dear God we need it! The party at the Crystal Room, Taj, was well in sway when I got there just past nine. A lovely model from Delhi was modelling Elizabeth's renunciation dress, which bordered on a wedding dress. Exquisite! The mother and daughter team from Bangalore who were the wardrobe directors did a magnificent job.

The beauteous Cate, Shekhar, Suchitra his glamourous wife, and the suave Joseph Fiennes were at hand to greet us as we entered. The rooms were packed to capacity. Lilette and Ravi Dubey who co-hosted the party were in fine fettle, warm and hospitable. Neerja Shah looked `tres chic' in a black-and-white Lssey Miyake. Way to go girl! SoniaGarware and Shefali Khanna, both in black salwar kameez outfits, looked like pretty, petite girls in black who needed rescuing.

The film world was well-represented David Dhavan, Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover, Aamir Khan, Dev Anand and a host of others. Farzana and Behram Contractor were holding court in a corner. Farzana was ever so excited that she was off to Kargil the next morning on a charity mission. Touching.

Shobha De looked regal in black and gold standing with the stunning mother-daughter duo Sunita and Paki Saxena. Wow! To a stranger, the average or mean age of this trio could have been their late-twenties not a day more.

They looked `fit for life' and then some. Keep it up ladies! We are proud of you. After a lovely dinner at the Sea Lounge we meandered home. My mind kept homing back to scenes from the film. Shekhar Kapur, I salute you. As I step forth to take responsibility in a new area of challenge, your film will undoubtedly inspire and encourage me to higher endeavour. We await yournext venture Mandela with bated breath.