Clint Eastwood hogs Cape Town limelight

Catching the imagination of the locals are not Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta or Shilpa Shetty. The frenzy here is more about Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Clint Eastwood hogs Cape Town limelight

This place is abuzz with the news of movie stars in the city. But, catching the imagination of the locals are not Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta or Shilpa Shetty. The frenzy here is more about Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Interestingly, the Bollywood and Hollywood personalities are all put up in the same hotel here, the plush One&Only Resort at the Waterfront.

Given the huge interest, all efforts to gain an entry to the shooting of the film meet a dead end.

A request to unit publicist Dezi Rorich is turned down politely. "Mr Eastwood has had a long time policy of working with a closed set meaning no access for anyone who isn't crew. Additionally, Warner Bros Pictures have issued a press embargo until they release the picture," Dezi told MiD DAY.u00a0u00a0

The publicity office provides basic information about the storyline though. Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela in the inspiring true story of how the newly elected South African president joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team Franc Pienaar (played by Damon) to help unite their country. Eastwood is the director.

In the wake of apartheid, President Mandela knew his nation remained racially and economically divided. There was no support for the rugby team, which mainly had white players.

Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallied South Africa's underdog rugby team as they made an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.

The Springboks then defeated the All Blacks 15-12 in the final, which is now remembered as one of the greatest moments in South Africa's sporting history, and a watershed moment in the post-Apartheid nation-building process.

Following Mandela's efforts there was a remarkable surge of support for the Springboks among the white and black communities in the lead-up to the tournament. South Africans got behind the 'one team, one country' slogan.

By the time they hosted the 1995 World Cup, the Springboks were seeded ninth. They defeated Australia, Romania, Canada, Western Samoa and France to play in the final.

Wearing a Springbok shirt, Mandela presented the trophy to captain Pienaar, a white Afrikaner. The gesture was widely seen as a major step towards the reconciliation of white and black South Africans.

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