CNN.com – Monday 20th June, 2005

If your business is looking to network, strike deals, as well as wine and dine potential clients, you may want to consider the game of polo.

It has been called the sport of kings, but its appeal extends far beyond watching royalty ride out on to the field or raising money for charity.

In between sips of champagne, mingling with socialites, as well as occasional shouts of bravo, there are some serious business deals being done.

“It has been my focus that it should not just be a charity event,” says Saroj Chakravarty, who is founder of the Chakravarty cup.

“It should also help business people come together, meet each other and develop a network and do business. As a businessman I know how important that network is.”

Once cherished and relished by royals, polo is now increasingly surviving on glamour-fed corporate sponsorship.

At the Chakravarty cup, Prince Charles, Prince William and the best polo players in the world – including Adolfo Cambiaso – battle it out on the field while Thai millionaires and other business people meet, greet and network.

The assembled corporate sponsors are an ideal fund-raising audience, one table at the event costs $20,000. “They can raise a £250,000 in an afternoon, which you could not on the streets in the same way,” says actor Richard E. Grant.

Over nine years, Chakravarty says his cup has raised over $1 million for charity, yet the value of those deals struck up while watching polo is immeasurable. Chakravarty also says more businesses are lining up to sponsor the event.

Last year the Chakravarty Cup polo match, was used to help develop links between business people from Britain’s West Country and the oil-rich emirate of Dubai.

Elsewhere polo is being used to publicize business events. Earlier this year, the Miami Beach Polo Cup in the U.S. helped promote the opening of Casa Casuarina, an upscale hotel.

CNN’s Paula Hancocks contributed to this report.

Linda B has emailed to say that “The Story Of An African Farm” has just been released in the U.S. this weekend, but under the name of “Bustin’ Bonaparte”. U.S. REG fans might want to check your local listings to see if it’s being shown near you, as there is a good chance that the film may only be released in limited cinemas.

I’ve also posted up some images of the work I was doing earlier this year on the new look REG Temple, but you’ll have to go to my blog to see them. If you can’t find them when you get there then click on The REG Temple category and they’ll be there somewhere.

According to Sue W (via Entertainment Weekly on Sunday May 29th) Richard has cameo appearance in a new TV show starring Jerry Hall. A “review” of the show is below:

9-10PM
SERIES PREMIERE: KEPT (VH1, TV-14)

The folks at VH1 give us yet another reason to beg for the apocalypse, thanks to this matchmaking reality series in which 12 “unrefined” American men (mostly bartenders, models and one Starbucks barista who lives with his parents because he’s still “growing as a person”) fly to London and compete to become the “boy toy” of Mick Jagger ex Jerry Hall.

A near drowning in the Thames is fun, Richard E. Grant shows up for no reason, and the opening credits show a giant Jerry actually eating the suitor she chooses.

I’m too tired to fight anymore. Let’s just give this an A and get it over with.

— Whitney Pastorek

So get those VCR’s primed!

WOW! It’s been a long time since I’ve updated the news here but there’s been quite a lot of drama happening behind the scenes – drama with me I should add, not Richard. I apologise to all of the REGiment for not keeping you up to date on what REG has been doing lately, but things should start to get back into rhythm from now on.

On the REG front – Wah-Wah is still in the finishing stages as far as I know? I’ve emailed Richard to get the latest on that score so I should have some news shortly.

I’ve got a stack of pictures from Sue W which I’ll start adding to the site. I also have some REG news from her as well as stuff from Denise, Joan, Rosemary, Stargazer, Emma, Carole and some of the other guys that help me out here. Stay tuned for those.

In the meantime for those of you in Canada and the US (and anyone else who can play Region 1 DVDs) Pat informs me that Amazon now has “Bright Young Things” available on DVD. REG’s role isn’t large and most of the reviews are not too favorable but it is new REG. He isn’t on the front cover but he is listed there in the credits.

The Richmond & Twickenham Times – Thursday 12th May, 2005

By James Adlam

Hollywood star and Richmond resident Richard E Grant enthralled an audience of fledgling actors on Saturday by handing out valuable advice along with autographs.

He was a welcome visitor to Stagecoach Richmond, the children’s theatre arts group which meets at The Vineyard School in Friars Stile Road, and spent more than an hour answering questions from about 30 youngsters, aged six to 14.

The star of films such as cult classic Withnail and I and Jack and Sarah talked about discovering his passion for acting in a school play at the age of 11 and recalled how as a young boy he would make pretend theatres out of shoe boxes.

He warned the children that it could be a tough life, with 95 per cent of actors, dancers and singers facing unemployment and constantly having to cope with personal remarks from directors and casting agents.

He said: “I wish I had had the opportunity to go to Stagecoach every Saturday when I was growing up.”

He admitted he always felt nervous in front of a stage audience and preferred films, although his most embarrassing career moment had been in a film where he had to sit naked playing the flute in front of 90 crew members in anoraks.

For the past five years the actor has been working on Wah-Wah, a film he wrote and directed himself about his upbringing in Swaziland, which comes out in the autumn. He revealed the lucrative Argos ads had funded his dream to make the film.

He urged the children to believe in themselves, particularly when starting out, and that would lead others to believe in them also.

Richmond Stagecoach is run by Jo van der Westhuysen, who trained at the Northern Ballet School and appeared in theatre and cruise ship shows before entering choreography and teaching.