Slice of my Life

Those were the best days of my life

2007-05-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

Debatably one of the most successful playback singers of our times, Shantanu Mukherjee or Shaan has some wonderful memories of his childhood. While he was neither a prankster nor a bully, Shaan loves to reflect on his simple upbringing and the timeless moments spent on the staircase on his first floor residence, listening to his dad’s music sessions and talking to sister Sagarika, to maker him smile on rainy days.
“I had a very protective childhood. I lived in Bandra as a kid and I still live in the same area. Unlike many others I know, I did not travel around too much,” he recalls.
As a youngster, Shaan was an avid sports-lover. “I played cricket and football initially. My friends and I even formed a basketball team in our final year at school but due to some issues we could not participate in the tournament. When I was not playing cricket, football or basketball, I spent my time on the field. I was pretty good at the 800 metres run among others,” he says.
“Being in a catholic school, most of the songs I learnt were in English. The first hindi song I actually learnt was Hume Tumse Pyaar Kitna. I performed the song at a school function and bagged a second prize,” he laughs. “I could have been first, but the instrumental was at a very high note and I could not take that pitch.”
Ask him what he would be if not a singer, he says, “A teacher. As a kid, I always thought that I could come up with some great techniques to teach students. I would probably be sitting somewhere creating new ways of imparting education.”
Shaan’s parents were very supportive of him as well. “I used to walk around wearing a crossa and think of myself as a catholic, but my parent’s never endorsed their religious views on me. They were cool with everything I did.”
But sister Sagaraika definitely was the bundle of joy. “She was a complete tomboy and was the confidante of all my friends. We called her Didi and she had the last say in our disputes. Suddenly, when she turned sixteen, she decided that she had become a woman and abandoned all of us,” he jokes.
“I really love to think about the days when Didi and I sat on the steps of our first floor residence, listening to dad’s music sessions and talking about…life, in general. Those really were the best days of my life.”

‘I have always been stylish’

2007-05-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

From what he is told he was – a brat, to becoming India’s most celebrated fashion designer for men, Arjun Khanna has delightful memories of his childhood.
Born in Nainital, Khanna spent some years in Delhi before his family moved to Mumbai. “I am told that I was a brat,” he says with a laugh. “But I really think I was a good boy.” All set to rock the capital with his collection designed for Smirnoff Black on Thursday evening, Khanna keeps his trademark boyish charm alive in his smile and his clothes.
“I always loved clothes. Even while at school, there had to be something different. Either I would roll up my sleeves in some style or roll up my trouser as far as I was allowed,” he recalls. He admits that academics were not his calling. “I was meant to be packed off to some boarding school,” he jokes. “I was constantly up to something mischievous or the other. I just could not handle my studies.”
“I was more a sports lover. Badminton was the big thing at the time but I was into athletics, shot put, long jump and everything else on the field. I was so involved in sports that I failed in my class VI and changed my school about six to seven times.”
Instead of being hurt by the frequent change, Khanna says it helped him make so many more friends. “I was particularly close to this friend of mine, who is now my brother-in-law, and we would bunk lass in such a smart way that no one would find out,” he says.
However, he does not believe in doing out the same advice to youngsters today. “The world is so much more competitive today. I am a firm believer of do what you do well. If you want to be an architect or a doctor, which requires years of studies then go ahead for it but if your interest is in an arts line, you must excel in it.”

I am the big bully

2007-05-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

In a time when other star-children are making the most of their famous surnames, here is one star child who really is making his own mark. Tusshar Kapoor, son of yesteryear’s actor Jitender, is happy with what life has to offer him.
“I knew that I was the son of a famous actor but neither me nor Ekta were ever brought up looking down on people or making use of our father’s name,” says Tusshar at the promotion of his latest film, Kya Love Story Hai!!
“In fact, I had a very normal Mumbaiya childhood that included playing cricket with the building friends. I was a very disciplined boy and was only allowed to play for a certain number of hours in a day, in all we had a very normal life,” he adds.
Being the elder brother, Tusshar admits being a big bully. “We used to have real fights, in cars or at home, whenever we had a chance.” And they were nasty fights,” We used to kick and hit each other until my mother or an elder intervened and tore us apart,” he laughs. “I am still the big bully though we don’t hit each other, I love to get into arguments with her.”
“When I was in school, Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan were schoolmates. Since their parents were also in Bollywood, we struck a good rapport,” he recalls. “It was mainly because of my mother, who was very fair to everyone we met, that we never felt the limelight on us.”
While Kapoor continued his disciplined ways all through school, moving to college changed a lot of things. “I was never into studied for too long. In fact, in college, I would spend my time outside class, in discos and socials,” he gushes.
While Kya Love Story Hai has failed to shine at the BO, we hope Kapoor’s upcoming films like Dhol and Agar will bring him success.

I don’t want to be a ‘chai’ boy

2007-05-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

With the credit of many firsts to his name, it is not that difficult to place Luke Kenny. The first male VJ on Channel V to the first director to shoot an entire film in an elevator, Luke is now on his way to make a mark on his first ‘talent hunt’.
“Money is the crucial factor in film-making,” says the current programming head at Channel V. “It’s a business and one has to prove their commercial viability to keep a stand in the industry. I made my first film on a digital camera to save money. I could have taken up the job of an assistant to a famous director or producer. But, I did not want to be a chai boy.”
Instead, Luke continued his struggle to realise his dreams at his own terms. “I don’t call it a struggle. I feel it is more of a journey. Like any other, this journey also led me to many exciting stops and many interesting people.”
With reality television shows being the order of the day in Indian entertainment, Luke is making his foray into a television show, Channel V Launchpad. “The programme tries to provide an international recognition to the Indian underground rock music. We have finalised 16 bands from across the country and the winner will be going to New York for a live performance,” says Luke.
Reliving his school days, Luke recalls, “When I was part of a band in school, my bandmates and I decided only to perform original compositions but we got booed off the stage by our schoolmates. At that time, cover versions of Floyd and Mettalica were the norm. 15 years down the line, a lot has changed. Now, young people want to listen to original compositions. Infact, cover versions are not as well received as original compositions.”
While being excited about the changes happening in the Indian rock circuit, Luke says that Indianisation does hamper the spirit of rock music. “The global language for rock continues to be English. When you sing in Hindi before an international audience, it gets Indianised and the rock element goes out of it.”
So, the Hindi and Bengali rockers among others will have to wait for some more time for global acceptance. With time, we’re sure there will be global platform for music without linguistic barriers.

Comedy king of Bollywood

2007-03-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

If there is anything, comedy king of Bollywood Satish Kaushik regrets not having done, it is that he failed to pursue his dream of opening his retail stores at petrol pumps as he had once thought. “I had thought having shops named Kaushik’s at the petrol pumps long back but I never gave it any serious afterthought and I think that is where I lost it,” he says.
On a high with his recently opened food joint in the capital, Khana Unlimited, he is looking to achieve great success in the food line. “Indians, including me are not used to having just one thing on the platter. There has to be a liitle bit of sabji and dal and also achar, so even I love dabbling into various things.” Food for thought, that.
He has as high hopes from Khana Unlimited as with Milenge Milenge his next directorial venture starring Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur, one that he promises will be a dreamy romantic story.
“I am a very spontaneous person,” says Kaushik, “I have named most of my films while discussing the story informally with my friends and colleagues.” Khana Unlimited is one such name that has proved to be a hit. “I have known Manoj (Manoj Mittal, his partner in the restaurant) from the time he invited to perform in Kirori Mal College with Amitabh Bachchan. Of all the people I have met, I related to him very well. And right now, I am at an age when I am leaving youth far behind so here was a young, talented man whom I could relate with. The partnership was instant.”
Kaushik has come a long way from being a the local guy from Karol Bagh who loved to hang around expensive food joints, but the city still holds a special place in his life. “I have thought of branching out Khana Unlimited to other parts of the country but it was obvious for me that I would inaugurate it here,” he says. “I have spent some the best days of my life here, doing theatre at the NSD.
The loss of veteran actor Amrish Puri is more a personal loss for him. “He used to pat me a lot,” he says. “I had run into financial trouble during the filming of Badhai Ho Badhai of which he was a part, when I told him of my disposition he immediately agreed to a discounted payment for the film, that was far too generous of him,” he recalls.
Coming up next from his side are the films Bewafa and Milenge Milenge. Ask him about the hottest couple in Bollywood, “Shahid and Kareena, who else?”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on February 8, 2005

"I don't suffer fools gladly"

2007-02-23T09:53:00.001-08:00

“I don’t suffer fools gladly,” remarks Nagesh Kukunoor at the promotion of his film, Dor in Delhi on Wednesday. “When I work on the sets, I expect every single person to come prepared to the day otherwise I get irritated.” This very meticulous attitude for details has given the director years of success in the industry. “Film acting is not about giving one perfect shot and going home, it is about making each shot a perfect shot all the time.”
“I was just another normal kid in Hyderabad,” he says of his childhood days. “I went to school with the kids of the neighbourhood for sometime before my parents decided to send me to boarding school. So, I went on to Montfort School in Yercaud, that’s where I have based my film Rockford on.”
On completion of school, Kukunoor moved when to study engineering at the Georgia Tech University in the United States after winning a full scholarship to fund his education. “I used to write quite a lot even as a kid. My mom shows me all the stories that she had saved and I have a good laugh reading them,” he says. Ask him what they were about and he laughs, “Oh! It’s a whole lot of sci-fi and monster stories”.
Dor is one of his own stories and besides that he says he has eight other finished scripts. “Two of the lot are action stories,” says the lover of Jurrasic Park and Star Wars. “I grew up watching Bollywood movies and I was always keen on seeing the director’s perspective, even as a child.”
The director also lives his dream of being an actor through his cinema. In fact, Iqbal is the only film by Kukunoor in which he does not play a cameo role. “Yes, I have a role in Dor as well, but I would rather have people go to the theatre and see me than talk about it here.”
Ask him for advice for aspiring directors and he is quick to retort, “I don’t do that stuff. It’s like telling someone you don’t know this and since I know, do it the way I tell you.”
“As it is, today’s Indian filmmakers don’t stop talking when they are given a chance,” he says after a pause. “The basic quality you need to be a good director is having an original mind for great ideas,” he says signing off.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on September 21, 2006

Rewriting history

2007-02-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

Unlike most other protégés of Ram Gopal Varma, Mohit Ahlawat hates being called the ‘blue-eyed boy’. “I am not dependant on him, though I do look up to him as my mentor. I have a couple of films lined up that will be out of the Factory’s production,” he states.
As of now, he is glad to be part of a Ram Gopal Varma’s Shiva and Sholay. “In James, there wasn’t much scope for emtions and there was no real motive for the guy to fight back, but in Shiva, my character is more streamlined for action.”
“I worked for three years on James, it was like a workshop and I learnt a lot from it,” he said. As far as it failure at the box-office goes, Ahlwawat says he doesn’t look into the past.
One of the most striking features in him is his great body. “I am glad it is noticed. I have worked very hard on it. Before I joined the industry my weight was around 125 kilogrammes. When I realised that I wantd to be a hero, I started crash-dieting and in some months I lost almost all my weight.”
Instead of being happy, Ahlawat says it was more painful than anything else. “I took very ill. I was dizzy all the time and had severe blackouts for the next six months. I finally headed abroad for a proper training in fitness, that’s how I got into my current shape.”
More than Shiva, Ahlawat is more exited about being a part of the remake of Sholay. “It is like a dream project. It is like trying to rewrite history,” he says. Going by the hype, his performance in the film might just catapult him to his superstar status.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on September 16, 2006

Milind makes way for magic

2007-02-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

Born to a typical middle class Maharashtrian family, Milind Soman had surprised his parents by his decision to be a model, but this decision turned out to be one of the best of his life.
Hailed as the icon for male models in the entire Indian sub-continent, Soman says his childhood was hardly anything adventurous. It is only with time that he dishes out little treasured nuggets from memory lane for HT Next.
“I did everything that a kid does normally,” he starts. “I was very good in studies and also took part actively in extra-curricular activities which made me the teacher’s favourite,” says the ex-student of St Antonio D'Silva Boys High School, Dadar.
Ask him about his naughty side as a kid and he says, “I remember cheating while in school.” “Sometime in examinations and sometimes in class, but then I don’t remember any student from school who did not cheat.”
Most of his time was also taken up by swimming. “I took to competitive swimming while at school and that demanded a lot of my time, so I ended up with pretty less time for pranks,” he says. “ In fact, I gave up competitive swimming because I got tired of competing with myself after setting the national records in swimming from 1984 to 1988.”
He was never a naughty child at home either, “I had a lot of pets at home. From cats and dogs to lizards, they were my playmates at home and ensured that I stayed out of trouble.”
Having been to an all-boys school, one could expect him to be looking forward to finding more female friends in college. “There was just one girl in college and she came from a conservative Muslim family. She preferred to stick to her books than with the guys in college. In fact, she was very pretty and I also remember her name, Ruhee,” he adds with a laugh.
His latest television venture, Ghost Bana Dost, is set to air on Star One soon. “I have always been a big fan of fantasy and magic,” he says. “I have loved the Harry Potter films.” And we do see a little of that in Daboo, the protagonist of the serial Ghost Bana Dost. We hope the magic comes through as well with this venture.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on December 7, 2006

Manish's signature to sensuality

2007-02-23T09:45:00.000-08:00

There’s no room for complacency in any field today and Manish Malhotra’s latest move added up just to that effect.
The famed ‘make-over man’ who breathed new life into the careers of Karishma Kapoor, Kajol and numerous other filmstars just by changing their looks, has made a move from being a part of the Lakme Fashion Week to giving the headlining act for their rival, Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW). And he doesn’t camouflage his vested interest in doing so. “I already have a dedicated base in Mumbai and I wish to expand my label in Delhi, so this is a great platform for me.”
“I am not at all unhappy with my performance at the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai. I got selected for the South African Fashion Week and now this offer has come to me. I feel very fulfilled.”
Despite being in the industry for ages, he admits that he still feels pangs of anxiety. “I am stressed out before any show,” he said at the press conference to announce his tie-up with the Wills Lifestyle for the grand finale. “I have an upset stomach right now,” he laughs.
Talking about his collection, Manish says, “It is a diffusion line called sensuality. It’s about the amalgamation of all the senses. You will see a lot of colours like cherry red and oranges blended with dull gold.”
Though he was not a part of the previous WIFW, he made his presence felt at the event by his day-to-day commentary on a national news channel. This time around he hopes to make the news than break it. “I have been approached by a number of channels but I have not decided anything yet.”
Ask him which celebrity he would love to design for and he says, “Sridevi in India and internationally, Madonna.”

Published in hindustan Times Next on August 10, 2006

Make way for some meetha

2007-02-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

Old habits die hard. Ask Mahima Chaudhary. No matter how many times the industry shuns her, she darts right back to take the centre stage with yet another ‘different’ film. She is doing it again with film journalist-turned-director Samar Khan’s debut Kuch Meetha Ho Jae that releases nationwide on April 15.
“Samar and I have been old friends and it was great that he approached me with the role. I was very happy when I heard the script because I have been dying to do a film that will have the audience in splits, but when we started working I found that Arshad had all the funny lines. I approached Samar about this and he said, ‘You have funny face, make do with it’,” she laughs and so do I.
“I play a muslim girl, Gulab, who enters the airport wearing a burqha escorted by her in-laws. Gulab is a very sad because all her expectations to live a happily married life are lost to an insensitive husband who keeps comparing her to a tootache that he has to live with.” (I laugh again). “As the flight is delayed, her in-laws have to leave and she is alone in the airport, then off goes the burqha to reveal that she is wearing a skimpy skirt and a short top under the burqha that makes heads turn towards her.”
Though she has quite a long list of films in which she will be seen this year, she is most excited about Hope And A Little Sugar by Tanuja Chandra based on the 9/11 tragedies. As for now, Mahima has hopes for a meetha start for the year.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on April 12, 2005

"I resent the word, illegitimate"

2007-02-23T09:41:00.000-08:00

“I have a strong resentment to the word ‘illegitimate’,” said Mahesh Bhatt at the press conference announcing the launch of his yet another nephew, Mohit Suri’s, debut directorial venture, Zeher.
“My mother was a shia muslim woman and my father a Brahmin. My mother brought me up singly. She was a woman who dared to defy the conventional rules. She is definitely a strong influence on my life,” said Bhatt.
“I have always been very attracted to women ho dare to defy the rules of the man’s world. I potrayed her in Arth, in Tamanna, in Murder and you will see her again in Zeher.”
Of late most of his films are seen to have more of sexually explicit components in them. “No matter what I do this question always hounds me. I have always been asked why I do things I do?”
“In the 80’s I made films for the intellectuals. Films like Arth and Saraansh that might not always have done well at the box office but got critical acclaims. In the 90’s, the emphasis moved to the youngsters and I made the likes of Ashiqui, Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke and Sir. But, I also made Zakhm, it got a national award but sank at the box office. Then with the introduction of MTV and Channel V, the means of entertainment changed. If I was to get the people out of their houses, I had to give something exceptional.”
So why sell sex? “Because sex sells,” he shouts back. “I have survived the industry these three decades only because I have reinvented myself over time. And I will have to do the same if I want to survive for the years to come.”
When pointed out to his steamy scenes in all the films he has done so far, nephew Emraan Hashmi emphasizes, “I do not want the respect of the industry. I do not mind doing porn or semi-porn films as long as it gets me what I have come out to achieve.”
Says Bhatt, “ I am constantly accused of making ‘sleaze’ films which does not keep in mind the middle-class mentalities. But when these films are released, it is these very middle-class people who throng the halls to watch the films.”
And for those who thought he was happy launching two of his nephews into the industry here’s more. Yet another nephew, Kunal, will be launched this year in Bhatt’s own The Blue Film. Besides that, he is also looking forward to the release of his Showbusiness that he summarises as “a film that says that everything comes with a price tag.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on March 21, 2005

A proud daddy

2007-02-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

Ramji Londonwaley hits theatres nationwide this weekend and R Madhavan is keen to ensure his film makes the most at the box office. “This is a time when I cannot talk about anything else at all,” he says. Except for one thing, we guess.
Madhavan and his wife, Supriya are now the proud parents of their first child, a baby boy. “We have not decided on a name for him and I cannot wait to go back to my family now,” he says.
Coming back Londonwaley, where Madhavan plays a Bihari in London, he says, “The entire film was a great experience because the character potrayed a wide gamut of emotions on the screen.”
Many have raised a finger on his potrayal of a Bihari in the film but the actor makes it clear, “I was born in Jamshedpur, Bihar and spent a reasonable amount of time of my growing years there. I picked up my Bihari accent during those years so degrading Biharis would be the last thin on my mind. In fact, I believe that Biharis are one of the most forward thinking communities of the country. I am proud to be a Bihari.”
Ask him about his future projects and he shrugs it off, “I work on only one film at a time. You can call it a good policy or a bad one, but I believe in giving my best to the character I am potraying at the moment.” Now, that explains the huge timelines between his consecutive projects.
Shooting for Ramji Londonwaley was fun. “Since I was working with a newer face (Sambita Bhandari) I was eager to prove my acting skills as a senior,” he laughs. “It was as important a film to her and she did complete justice to her role.”
“During a break in the shooting for Ramji, we had visited a restaurant in London where the waiters had performed a song from Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein for us, it was really a great moment for me.”
With the release of Londonwaley, Madhavan will retreat to his family who are eagerly waiting to see the baby and the parents. Things are really good for this ‘proud Bihari’.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on September 1, 2005

"I want to be of service"

2007-02-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

His career in music may not be hitting the high note nor are his acting skills’ ringing in moolah at the box office, but Lucky Ali seems content with whatever life has to offer. Ask him what he is planning next, he says, “I just want to be of service in anyway,” he says. “Right now, I am working with Oxfam, an organisation that is working for the betterment of the environment,” he says.
“We hardly know that half of what we eat is loaded with pesticides that the farmers spray in their fields,” says Lucky. “Nobody seems to be aware of the threat environment faces today.” Lucky is a lover of farming as much as flying. “I have completed 45 hours of flying as a hobby pilot.”
His latest Bollywood offering, Kasak, hits theatres nationwide today. He will be seen sharing screen space with Pakistani heroine Meera. “Before you even ask, my relation with Meera was purely professional,” he says with a grin. “She is a very talented actor and will definitely go places,” he adds on a serious note.
For music fans waiting to hear his unconventional voice again, he says, “I don’t think I will be going through the whole process of auditioning for a new cassette. I love being criticised as long as it makes sense,” he emphasizes. “I have come across very few critics who actually say what they are saying. Others only keep talking. One of the critics said that in my last album, my voice sounded very tired and it was true. I appreciate that.”
He is in no hurry to launch his new songs. “I don’t know when to expect the next album myself. I just have to sit down an analyse the strange feeling that is passing through my mind or my heart.”
“I am full of tracks and songs, they just have to find a way of coming out.”
But this time, Lucky will ensure they are brought out in the unconventional style. “I have heard about itunes and other unconventional ways of bringing out my music. I will probably resorting to them but there is definitely no more running to producers,” he signs off.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 1, 2005

Finding place in the limelight

2007-02-23T09:36:00.000-08:00

Katrina Kaif’s poise is sure to take a total stranger (like me) off guard. The newest face on the silver screen, sizzled on stage for the first time at a function in the Capital over the weekend. “Dancing to bollywood numbers was fun,” says the actor. “I really like Indian music and I also love dancing.” Ask her to name a favourite dancer in Bollywood, “Madhuri Dixit,” she chirps and her favourite song, “Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mein, the song with Rekha.”
After the forgettable role in Boom, Katrina will be seen next in Bollywood opposite real-life love interest Salman Khan and his brother Sohail Khan in David Dhawan’s comedy, Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya that releases nationwide in June.
“The first experience was with David Dhawan and it was so much fun,” says the model-turned-actor. She maybe just one film old in the industry but rumours about her relationship with Salman do not ruffle her calm. “When you are working in the same film, there are always speculations. I never take them seriously,” she says.
Coming to Mother’s Day celebration, what plans does she have for her mother? “Thanks for reminding me,” she says. “Like almost all others I take my mother for granted and I am already into trouble for forgetting her birthday which was a few days back. I think I will call up my sister in the US and ask her to get something nice for mother.”
Returning to bollywood, she emphasises that she has absolutely no plans for being an item girl. “No way, I am actor not an item number.”
Modelling too is now a thing of the past. “I want to focus completely on my films and get the best out of myself in them.” Films in the pipeline are, “First is Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya with Salman, then I am in Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar starring Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan and later in the year I will be seen opposite Akshay Kumar in a film where I play a very traditional role.”
With the big names under her belt, she is looking forward to better work in Bollywood. “I would love to do a film under the Yash Chopra banner.”
As a model-turned-actor, health definitely takes a front seat. “My daily routine during summers includes drinking at least 16 glasses of water alone, besides taking other fluids,” she says. “I avoid make-up and do not use anything on my hair unless I am shooting.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on May 9, 2005

Spelling style

2007-02-23T09:34:00.000-08:00

Kareena Kapoor doing anything is news. Because everything she does, spells style. So when she visited the Capital to launch the Motorola’s latest handset, the cool Motopebl, all the eyes rested on the young actor.
Kareena maintained her infamous arrogance when she gave away her discomfort at being at the venue. She made the most of the limelight looking for an escape. When we finally did catch up with her here’s what she had to say.
“While endorsing a product I make sure it goes with my personality. It has to be young, stylish and has to have an attitude,” she said. But for those looking forward to seeing her at the products television’s commercials, here’s disappointment. “I am not the brand ambassador for the phone. I am just launching it here.”While she rushed off immediately after the programme, we wondered where she went.
It was only until much later that we learnt that boyfriend, Shahid Kapur, is also in town. So no prizes for guessing why or where she rushed off so soon.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on April 13, 2006

"Conventional is boring"

2007-02-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

When doing things the unconventional way gets you all the acclaim why even bother about being conventional. “Conventional was always boring to me,” said Kalpana Lajmi on her recent visit to the capital to promote a music concert by Bhupen Hazarika. “I also handle Bhupenda’s work for him when I am not busy with my films,” she informs. Shuttling between addressing the needs of a visibly aged Bhupen Hazarika and the media, Lajmi ensures she does justice to both. “I will be in town again to promote my upcoming film, Chingari,” she promises other mediapersons and settles down for our interview.
“Chingari is a film about a love triangle between a prostitute, a postman and a priest,” smiling as we exchange looks. “It sounds funny like this but is actually based on serious realities of our country.”
“The film is nearly complete,” she informs. “We are looking forward to releasse it sometime next month or latest by mid-December.” The cast has Sushmita Sen in the lead role and debutant Anuj. “The whole of India is mostly an agrarian society and the film is about the need for education in rural India.”
Despite having made award-winning films like Ek Pal, Rudali and Daman, besides being Bollywood great, Guru Dutt’s neice, she is still finding it difficult to finance her projects.
“I don’t care if I am not considered a ‘mainstream’ filmmaker. The idea is to be able to educate,” she says.
“Today’s generation is ashamed of our own past. The film Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara did not run in theatre for more than six days,” she says. “The youth does not want to know the father of the country. They are least bothered about those million who have given up their lives for the freedom served to them on a platter,” she adds.
Definitely not among those only harping on the problem, she also has solutions in mind. “We need a parallel education system for the youth at home. The need of the economy is such that man and woman are forced to go out and work, leaving them with no time for the child,” she points out. “We need to go back to the grandparents to hand over generations of traditions that will otherwise be lost,” she signs off.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 20, 2005

A taste of heaven on earth

2007-02-23T09:30:00.000-08:00

As a singer and songwriter, Kailash Kher does not need any introduction. Having belted out chartbusters like Allah ke Bande and Dhol Vajda, he has definitely made a mark on the Indian music scenario. He is counted as one of the finest sufi singers we have today, but Kailash Kher insists there is more to him than just sufi music.
Many things remain the same for the famed singer, he stills believe in a love that is quintessential in nature and he still maintains his appointments in his sleek Nokia 9500 but what about his flowing, silky tresses? “Oh God, they were such a pain to maintain,” he says laughingly. “I got it chopped off yesterday and was shocked to see the amount of hair that lay on the ground.”
Often compared to the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, he frowns, “He was a walli. He just came to Earth to spread the message of love and compassion. Comparing me to him is like comparing a mosquito to an elephant.”
In his first solo album, Kailasa, Kher says he reflects his real identity. “ I don’t sing songs for my beloved that your eyes are like this and your ears are like that, for me music comes from the heart.” Though most of the music in Kailasa is deeply influenced by sufi music. “It is something I have grown up listening to. My father used to sing a lot of mirguni bhajans and I loved listening to them as a boy.
“As I grew I up I tried doing a lot of things for a livelihood but somehow things did not work out quite right for me and I moved to Mumbai to launch my music career,” he says.
It was in Mumbai, that major record labels heard him sing the tracks made famous by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and he was hailed as the new sufi voice. A title Kher is not very keen to carry forward. “I am just a singer. I have miles to go before I can even think of being a part of his legion.”
Kailasa also marks Kher’s collaboration with the former Bombay Black boys Naresh and Paresh Kamath. “We are looking at evolving the sufi rock scene in India and Kailasa is the beginning. Kailasa means heaven, so the love and the music we are talking about is meant to give you a heavenly experience.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on April 5, 2006

I am the same man

2007-02-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

“In my 25 years of experience in the music industry in India, I have never spared an opportunity to better the standards that I have set for myself,” says Ismail Darbar. Famed for his hit music compositions for films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Kisna, Darbar saab, has now set his eyes on television.
His latest piece of art is the title track for a teleserial, Paraaya Dhan. “Whenever we think of Lord Krishna, we think of a man, but I see god in girls as well,” explains the music director. “The music will have all elements of drama, necessary for a serial on television, yet, it will be distinct from all my former work.”
Though being a name to reckon with in the industry for over a decade now, Darbar saab, only got to the limelight when he became a judge for the successful reality music competition, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005. “Before the shooting of that serial, I was the same Ismail Darbar walking down the roads or shopping, but I was never recognised. After the serial, people started approaching me and asking me for autographs. I can’t deny that I like the experience,” he says. Though he adds in the same breath,” People respect me for my work, not just because I am on the television.”
He credits the producers of the hit programme for his new-found fame. “I was always there, it was the concept that brought me to the fore as a person.”
As for the plethora of talent pooling into the industry following a number of similar hit music contests, Darbar saab is more than happy. “Everything has a time. There was a time when a particular actor had only a particular singer for playback which helped the masses relate to the actors easily. Now, times have changed. People want variety, more so because it is available,” he emphasises. “I wish now that when I joined the industry, even I would have been blessed with a godfather,” he laughs. “These guys have already won half their struggles in the industry with the grooming of the best music directors in the country,” he says of his students at the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005. “All that counts now, is their honesty and hard work.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 4, 2006

From superstar to superhero

2007-02-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

When comes to this Bollywood hot bod, everything goes super. From the superstar status he acquired in his first film, to the supermodel style he flaunts in all his endorsements. While it still remains to be seen if he proves to be a superdad, he is geared up to play superhero with Krrish.
As he zoomed into the Capital on Thursday to celebrate Hero Honda’s 15 million bikes in 21 years, he played super brand ambassador, smartly keeping questions on his upcoming film at bay. As photographers clamoured to click the star with the dream machine, designed specially for him completely in chrome, he said, “Make it look good.”
“I already own a Hero Honda bike and this new one will complement my superhero image very well,” he said. Asked about any other brand he likes and he retorts, “You have always seen me on Hero Honda bikes. I use only these bikes in all my films.”
While other actors rave about a bike’s technicalities, Roshan puts it neatly, “I like bikes that I can identify with. The other components are not that important.”
Memorable moments of Hrithik Roshan with bikes include his debut Kaho Na Pyar Hai, where his character dies in a bike accident and then returns as a cool lookalike, both instances on a bike. He will also be seen in the lead in Dhoom 2.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on June 9, 2006

I am still on the hunt for good roles

2007-02-23T09:24:00.000-08:00

She is famed for her cherubic face or the winner of a Miss India title but hardly her days in acting are definitely not something to be written about. At least, not yet.
Not that Gul Panag has any issues with that. “I don’t want to be in cinema just for the sake of it. In fact, I don’t want to be so many other actors who I overhear regretting being part of a certain film. I want to be proud of my work. I don’t want to make a film that I will hate watching after a year or two,” she says.
In the city to promote her film, Dor, she seems proud of her work already. “The character I play is that of an intelligent, independent yet innocent girl. She potrays a myriad of emotions in the film and I have to say it was tough,” says Gul who plays a girl from Himachal Pradesh who travels to Rajasthan to look for a woman who can save her husband’s life.
“Every day when I walked up to the sets, I would wonder if I could do justice to my character. I was so scared I wondered how I would make it through the film. Thankfully, Nagesh came to my rescue. He knew every shot and ensured I gave my best throughout.”
The reason for doing Kukunoor’s film, says Gul, was the brilliantly etched out character. “I always go by the role that I play. I have very little experience so I have to work very hard in getting into the skin of the character.”
Back in Delhi, where she was raised, she says she feels suffocated. “In the years that I have lived in Mumbai, I have realised how little freedom women in Delhi get. Freedom is not about walking down the streets in mini-skirts and tank tops, it is about how secure you feel walking down any street even in a salwar-kurta.”
She has more reasons to be happy in Mumbai. “I will be working in an emotional film, Ali Bagh later this year and for the rest, I am still on the hunt for good roles.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on September 23, 2006

I was never naughty

2007-02-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

The famed ‘bad man’ of Bollywood has an relevation. “I was an exemplary kid. I came from a poor family but I was always good at studies,” says Gulshan Grover. “In fact, I was the kind of kid that the neighbours wanted to borrow, to chat and tell their children to look upto.”
Born and brought up in the Trinagar area of New Delhi, Gulshan Grover did not ever make an issue of not having enough space in the two-room flat that he shared with his parents and siblings. “I was always the neatest boy in school and I always had my homework done in time,” he recalls. “I was never a naughty kid.”
“When I appeared in my first film, Avataar, as Rajesh Khanna’s ungrateful son, my neighbours caught my mother in the gurudwara and shared their condolences,” he laughs. “They said things like, ‘He was such a good child here, look what those Mumbai people have done to him. How could he do such a thing to his father?’ My parents had a tough time explaining to them that I was just essaying a role.”
After scoring a 97 per cent marks from a government school, Grover moved on to study commerce in Sri Ram College of Commerce. “I had to change three buses and walk around four miles to get to college, but I never bunked classes.”
And the reason was not just academics. It was time for love. “I think the naughtiest thing I did as a youngster was to repeatedly fall in love,” he says. “It was actually a big thing at that time for the girl I was seeing was from Miranda House.”
They stayed in touch even after Grover left Delhi to pursue a career in movies in Mumbai. “I landed in Mumbai with promises to go back, flowers and many sweet memories but fate had other plans for us.”
He may not be a twenty-something anymore, but Gulshan Grover stills wants to stay in touch with the youth. “I am a guest star in MTV Roadies and the only reason why I chose to be a part f the project was because I want to know what makes today’s youth click and how I can be a part of them. I definitely was to stay in their midst.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on December 14, 2006

Laughing through a killer disease

2007-02-23T09:21:00.000-08:00

Words come easy for this VJ, tagged by some as a cute, adorable one and others as the one who is laughing through a killer disease. But believe me, diabetes and his daily dose of two insulin injections are far from being every aspect of his life. “I want to have.... three children,” he says when asked about his future. “Though, I think their mother might object.”
Returning to more serious sublect he says, “I am an RJ, a VJ, an actor and a writer. I am a jack of all things, master of none.”
We know him as a VJ and people in Mumbai know him as an RJ, but the writer and actor? “I have been dabbling in writing off and on, written columns for some publications
And am working on the script of a film right now.” As for the actor in him, “I am doing two films, first a chic flick called Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamana, where I star as Kim Sharma’s husband and the other film is called Saturday Night, where I play a roadside mechanic, Kareem,” he says.
Being sarcastic is his nature, he says, “Everyone has a streak of arrogance, mine s just observational humour. If there is someone does something wrong, instead of shouting at him, I will just pass a sarcastic comment. Since people out here are not used to these sarcastic takes, I get tagged as arrogant.”
The one thing he hates about himself is that he is extremely disorganised about his paperwork. “At the end of every financial year, I get franctic calls from my dad and my brother, ‘Have you filed this document. Today is the last date.’ And I am totally lost for a couple of days but then like all times, they too get over.” That explains his attachment to his family. “I don’t know where I would have been without my brother and my dad.”
So when can we look forward to seeing someone who will take care of these matters? “If you are talking of marriage then there are definitely no plans as of now. My family is after me to get married but that’s because I am post-thirty for them. I mean, I have been working from the time I was seventeen, so now it has been ages to them seeing me work.”
When can we see more of him in Delhi? “I am currently working on a play with Kushal Kriplani which is about lies. It is a monologue and I hope we can open the play here in Delhi sometime in May,” he says.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on February 8, 2005

Everyday is a bad hair day

2007-02-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

Quite a relevation for all those who loved this glamour queen of yesteryears for her luxuriant hair. “I have terrible, terrible hair, and only I know how much pain I go through to keep them in shape,” sighed Dimple Kapadia. “I oil them regularly, go in for special treatments and put all sorts of things on them.”
Years of strong-will and the desire to always look good come through as she brushes away streaks of her coloured blonde hair while addressing the media at the newly opened Keune’s Exclusive Hair Design Centre at Greater Kailash-I that she inaugurated.
Compliment her for her smile and she is shocked, “I must tell you this, when Raj saab was shooting me for Bobby and had asked me to smile he had said, 'Stop laughing like a horse'.”
Coming to her current projects and why we have not seen much of her on screen off late, she says, “I am doing only one or two select films in a year now because good projects for a person of my age are really rare. Currently I have finished filming two projects, Pal Tham Gaya and Finding Cyrus, besides these two I am also working on two other projects,” said Kapadia.
From being a teenage mother, to being divorced at a young age with the responsibility of two daughters, life has all but been kind to her. “I have no regrets, whatsoever in life,” she retorts at the mention. “ I feel God has given me far more than I could ever dream of.” So she is happy? “Perfect happiness to me means being happy with yourself and yes, I am very happy with myself.”
For the woman who stunned an audience with her bold roles, she is definitely not happy with the way Bollywood heroines are going about playing seductresses. “Most of the skinshow now is totally uncalled for but at the end of the day each actor is heading her own way.”
Besides Bollywood, she had also been designing clothes, “I haven’t been able to do much this year as I was concentrating on my films. I might work on something new this year.”
Way to go, Dimple.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on February 12, 2005

Destructive Dhoni

2007-02-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

In the midst of dim lights and some really groovy music, sportstar-turned-models Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni walked in style as brand ambassadors of Reebok. Sporting the cool new t-shirts of the Spring Summer Collection of the brand, the two ‘heroes’ smiled generously for the present media but sauntered off faster than they usually are while chasing the ball on the cricket field, when asked to speak about their experience.
As the models showcased the collection, Yuvraj Singh seemed to be very comfortable but Dhoni put up a bad show at trying not to be caught feeling claustrophobic. Was it just the crowd or was the cool collection sported by the models too hot… we wonder.
Kudos to Yuvraj Singh, who at least made an effort to come out and face the media and squeeze in a word of praise for Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh. When asked who he thinks is the best dressed in the Indian team, he said, “I think Dhoni, he is best dressed.” Then followed by a short pause he added, “And Bhajji, I think Harbhajan Singh is also very well-dressed.”
As for Dhoni, the only line heard from him was he posed for photographers. Through his smile, he said, “I can’t see a single face.” No wonder, he escaped from his faceless fear as soon as the show was over.
Whether Dhoni is just being media shy or is it just the start of a bout of star tantrums… only time will tell and soon.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on March 30, 2006

"It's a dream come true"

2007-02-23T09:03:00.000-08:00

With Water slated for a theatrical release in India on March 9, Deepa Mehta could not have been happier. “It’s like a dream come true for me,” the acclaimed director said. “ 11 years ago, I was in an ashram with G Krishnamoorty, that is when I decided that I should make a film on the plight of Indian widows,” she said.
When she started filming in Varanasi, seven years ago, she was met with violent attacks from a political group. But she does not wish to think of those times. “I am trying to be positive as this is a time for celebrations.”
Having the starcast realise her dreams was no easy task. While both her lead actors, Lisa Ray and John Abraham were not too fluent with the hindi spoken in India in 1938, child actor, Sarala, did not know English or Hindi. “There was extensive training that happened, besides the 30 day workshop for the cast members. I would translate every word phonetically to Sarala. But anyone who sees the film will not be able to make out the child cannot speak in either language.”
John Abraham was quick to prove her point when he chanted Sanskrit shlokas that he has also recited in the film, leaving the mediapersons agog.
When asked how much of the film she would consider a part of India and Canada, Mehta replied, “India gives me the passion to learn the lessons. She gives me the stories and Canada gives me the freedom to express myself and make the films.”
Though not to eager to share her plans for February 25, when she will walk the red carpet to the Academy awards night. “I will definitely be wearing a saree. I always wear sarees to award functions and yes, I am excited, as much as everyone of you are.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on February 16, 2007

I owe my success to my guru

2007-02-23T09:01:00.000-08:00

It has been months since he was crowned the champ of Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa challenge 2005 but Debojit is still on a high.
“My wife and I left our jobs in Assam so I could pursue a career in playback singing in Mumbai,” says Debojit of his great gamble. Luckily for him, a string of co-incidences led him to his guru, As Karan Sharma. “At a time, when I was facing serious financial trouble, he charged me a mere Rs 500 per month as fees. He is my God. I owe everything to him.”
Success and fame have not blinded Debo, as he is fondly called by friends, as he is focusing more on the North-East, “I owe my victory to those people who voted me as the voice of India,” he says. In the same breath he adds, “During the show, I was under the impression that people in the other parts of the country were not voting for me but when I performed live in Delhi with Vinit just before the finals, I was taken aback by the number of supporters I had here.”
Debojit is currently promoting his debut album, Debojit, that features mostly new songs. Only two, O Humdum Suniyo Re (of the film Saathiya) and Ek Hasina Thi(of Karz) are songs you have heard earlier.
Debojit is keen to pursue his dream of becoming a playback singer. He will make his debut in Bollywood with Cabaret, while he is also set to release two albums, one in Bengali and one Assamese.
The contest and the competition has been left far behind, says Debojit. “I always felt bad that Darbar saab never took my side as aggressively as Himesh Reshamiya backed Vinit. When I told him how I felt, he simply said that I should not take much notice of the antics and should instead focus on my singing,” he said. “He said, ‘It does not matter how much noise you make, if you sing well you will get good work in the industry.’”
But Debojit’s fan-following is not restricted to India. “I was a part of the Heat tour with many Bollywood actors and I was amazed to see the response of the people there.” Come June and Debo will be off to United States and United Kingdom on his personal tour but before that he makes a guest appearance on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Ek Main Aur Ek Tu on Thursday. With all that and the promotion of his latest album at hand, we can only wish this young man all the very best for his future.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on May 18, 2006

Don't test your luck too often

2007-02-23T08:59:00.000-08:00

“The more one learns martial arts, the lesser he uses it,” says Colin Handley, one of Hollywood’s best-known stuntmen. At 54, Handley is sharing his life-long experiences in the field of martial arts and stunts training in cinema in the form of a special workshop for students of the Marwah School of Fims and Television, Noida.
Being a teacher is no big hassle for Handley. “I started out as a martial arts teacher and have been teaching actors in Hollywood for so long, so it comes naturally to me,” he says. He is also running a training institute for aspiring stuntmen called the Australian Stunt Academy with his wife, Christine.
“I have just watched Kkrish and have not been able to stop raving about it,” he says. “I found the wirework technique used by the trainers at par with the international standards.” As far as other films go, Handley says he has not had the time to watch too many. “I did watch a couple of old Hindi films but I did not think much of the stunts. I can see that the Indian film industry has come a long way from that time.”
As a stuntman, he has had several accidents, “Thankfully, none of them were too bad. I have just broken my hand and nose a couple of times,” he says laughingly. “I feel the most essential component of a stuntman is a sense of fear. It is this sense that restrains a person from doing something foolhardy. It keeps the mind alert of one’s own safety along with that of those around him.”
Besides his stint as a teacher, Handley also has a dream soon coming true before his eyes. “I really wanted my son to continue in my footsteps, and I am glad, he is as keen on doing the same,” he says of his 18-year-old son, Riyan. “Riyan sometimes gets reckless so I never let him try anything too risky. Since I have been in the field I know how dangerous an act is. I always stay by his side during a dangerous stunt. He does not like it many-a-times and insists on doing the stunt. I tell him that I have been lucky to have survived so long and he should not test his luck too often,” he says before taking off to a sword-fight with Riyan.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 21, 2006

Dance with me

2007-02-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

“My love for dance started at about the same time as my passion for making films,” says an excited Kunal Kohli. Besides winning critical and commercial acclaim with films like Hum Tum and Fanaa, Kohli is now a household name, thanks to his stint as a judge on Star One’s Nach Baliye.
“I was always an active part of theatre in school. I loved theatre. I used to act in all the school plays,” he recalls. “Even as a kid, I used to visualise my stories as the end product, not realising that I was actually charting up what I later learnt in technical terms, a storyboard.” Kohli never restricted himself to just acting or making storyboards. “I would even write songs to go with the mood of the play,” says the alumni of The Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai.
Bookish or dreamy as he may seem till now, Kohli discloses that he was a real mischief maker. “Whenever the teachers had a complaint against a student, they would file a report in the student’s diary that his or her parents would have to sign for the next day,” he says.
“One particular year, I ran out of the complaint pages in my diary and my teacher had to buy me a new diary on her account to file a complaint,” he says laughingly. The repeated complaints would get him into trouble at home but Kunal Kohli had his ways. “I would get the complaints signed alternatively by my parents. They were both strict and saved myself a lot of scolding with the technique,” he quips.
But no technique seemed to work at the annual parent-teacher meet. “While the parents of other students would spend around five to 10 minutes with a teacher. Every teacher took at least 15 minutes to talk about me to my parents. The complaint varied from eating my lunch in class to being talkative and everything that I should not be doing in class.”
And there was more, “I can never forget one Tuesday morning at school. The detention for students would be announced in the morning assembly and that Tuesday morning, it was announced that I would was handed a second detention for bunking my detention,” he says bursting into laughter.
“The teachers would actually escort me to the detention room in fear that I would jump the walls and escape again,” he adds catching his breath.
So though he did not go for any formal dance lessons as a kid, we can surely say, that Kunal Kohli has a reputation for keeping people on their toes.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on November 23, 2006

I wanted to be a surgeon

2007-02-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

Even at the beginning of our conversation, it was evident that actor and television host Anu Kapoor does not like divulging details of his childhood. Yet, he allowed a sneak peek into his carefree childhood days, his dreams and the turn of destiny that made him a star.
“I was a brilliant student,” said Anu Kapoor. “In fact, I dreamt of being a surgeon when I was young. Unfortunately, my parents did not have the financial backing to support my education, so my tryst with school ended after Class X.”
“I was born in Bhopal and spent a good part of my childhood there before I moved to Rajasthan with my folk theatre group. I was pretty much a regular boy of the villages, who was so much in love with his land, the farms and the animals. While I could not be a surgeon, I took up a job with a local nautanki and started performing there. From there, I started traveling extensively. I went to Rajasthan and then to Delhi, where I freelanced as an actor and then got signed for my first film. That was twenty-five years ago,” he added with a laugh.
He became a household name as a host of Antakshari on the television. “That show gave me the social standing which I enjoy today.” And now, he is set to return to the small screen with yet another Antakshari, this time on Star One. “I have no issues in dealing with people in any age bracket. I love the youngsters and I am proud of how responsibly most of them are fulfilling their tasks. I also respect my seniors a lot.”
Before setting out for the auditions of the show in Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities in the country, he said, “You will have to wait till the episode begins to see the changes in the new phase of Antakshari.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on January 4, 2007

I am famous for speaking my mind

2007-02-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

Childhood was anything but normal for Sonu Nigam, yet the acclaimed singer says emphasis he was like any other normal kid. “My father had a transferable job so I changed a lot of schools as a child. We stayed mainly in Delhi and Mumbai but I got the opportunity to study in seven schools till I reached Class VII. I also did my graduation in correspondence,” he says.
Since meeting new people was regular for him, he had no issues facing an audience veen at a tender age. “I was earning from the time I was three-and-a-half years old,” he says.
As a student his life in school revolved mainly around his shows, sports and academics. In that very order.
“I was a great lover of cricket and wished to pursue a career in the game till I broke my hand in a bike accident. After that I switched to playing badminton and table tennis,” he says. The accident changed the course of things for Nigam who focused completely on his musical career.
“Both my parents were very good singers and they were the first influence on me,” he says. “After my father, I credit Mohd Rafi saab, Manna De, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Ghulam Ali saab and other legends as my influence in music.”
Nigam is also known for standing his ground sternly in many matters. From making a stand at the Priyadarshini Mattoo case to being one of the first names to supprt AIDS awareness in India, he endorses everything he believes in. “I am famous and notorious for speaking my mind,” he says seriously. “I feel lucky that all the friends I have today know me as a honest person. That is all that counts in the long run for me.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 5, 2006

I was a drama queen

2007-02-23T08:51:00.000-08:00

Having starred in roles as diverse as Ankur, Arth, Godmother and Morning Raaga, Shabana Azmi is now set to romance Boman Irani in Zoya and Farhan Akhtar’s upcoming film, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. The lyrics for almost all the songs have been penned by husband Javed Akhtar. “There is no doubt that the film is special to me,” says the actress.
“I had a very normal childhood,” says Azmi. “I have tried to give my children the same kind of upbringing. There has never been a sense of being very well-off or belonging to a very well-known family.
“In fact, Farhan used to spend such a lot of time before the television that I thought he would never become something in life. I have never been able to figure out how or when he underwent his training to be a director and I am amazed with his good work,” she says with a laugh.
“As a child, I was no less. I was known as the drama queen of the house. If ever it happened that my mother would hand a toast to my elder brother before handing one to me, I would say that I would commit suicide,” she reveals.
“I used to run off to the beach at the slightest matter and hide from my family members so that they could not find me. But I was still better than my very naughty brother,” she insists.
There has been much talk about her famed kiss with Boman Irani in the film. “That was very short, innocent kiss. I don’t know why there is so much talk about it.”
Well, considering the film is about her honeymoon a ‘short, innocent kiss’ really does not matter. Especially since Honeymoon Travels is her own ‘family’ film.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on February 22, 2007

An artist can never be satisfied

2007-02-23T08:48:00.000-08:00

“If I would ever debut again, it would be in a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film,” Amitabh Bachchan had said a year back. And now, starring as a teacher in a very talked about film, Black, he is far from retreating from that statement. “There has not been a single shot in the film that I might have done before,” he said while promoting his film in the city on Tuesday. “It has been the most challenging role in my career.”
In Black, Amitabh Bachchan will play the teacher of a young girl, played by Rani Mukherjee, who is impaired in three faculties. “She understands only the language of touch. I play a retired teacher of a school of handicaps who is approached to help out this young girl and how I help her achieve whatever she wants to achieve.”
As a teacher of a young girl who cannot see, hear or speak. The role required him to be extremely fluent with the vocabularly of those challenged in all the three faculties as he was to teach the young girl, how to communicate with others.
“We (Rani and I) underwent training for six to seven months before shooting for the film and even on the sets we always had a trainer with us. We listened to tapes and read a lot about the activities of the people with similar handicaps. We also visited the Hellen Keller Institute in Mumbai,” he says. “The desire of those people to be normal makes you feel that you are misusing your faculties. It is very inspiring.”
“There was not a single day when I did not leave a part of me at the sets of the film and take something back as well,” he says.
Doing a role as different as this involves undertaking a great risk but he was far from deterred by that. “It surely does involve a lot of risk but along with that comes a realisation that such films do not keep happening and if you have got that one opportunity it must be preserved and valued. I hope I will get to do more of such films,” said the superstar.
If there was one person, he would not stop praising, it was director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. “It is very difficult to create something as elaborate as Devdas at one time and then make a film like Black. It is a huge canvass.”
On whether he feels Bollywood has come a long way he agrees, “There has been great changes in the industry in the qualitative fields. We have so much better faciltites and technology that allows us to be exposed to everything around the world. There is such a huge influx of young talent and that too of girls and boys in equal proportions. They have the zeal to excel in them.”
So what should the young learn from Black, “Education is not to be mixed with films,” he retorts. Despite his numerous endorsements, he always appears different in each of them. “I take it on me as a challenge that I wake up to everyday.”
And regarding when he feels he will be satisfied with his work. “An artist can never be satisfied, once he is satisfied, he is finished.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on February 3, 2005

2007-02-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

His hands tremble as points to members in the audience and he fails to remember lines of his own songs, but neither his voice nor his enthusiasm seem to have been affected by time.
All of his 69 years, Bhupen Hazarika or Bhupenda, as he is lovingly called by millions, was in the capital recently for a very noble cause.
“I am putting up a concert where I will perform to raise funds for the completion of the Srimanta Sankardeva Bhavan here in the capital. The institute will promote the cultural arts of Assam,” he said. “I feel that Assam’s culture has a distinct flavour of its own.”
Of his sudden disappearance from the music scene, he says, “I have not been keeping well and so I took the whole of last year off to rest. But now I am back. I also have a couple of offers from Bollywood but I am still thinking about them.”
If despite the illness his enthusiasm surprises you, his rational take on the music scenario of today will leave you gaping. “I find no fault in today’s generation singing the rock and pop music. Eventually, they also arise from classical music. The notes are universal,” he says. “The youth must have an ear for good music. As long as that is there, we have nothing to worry about. All the same the youth must stay in touch with their roots as the touch of the roots alone can make a modern society modern.”
His brief foray into politics still makes him uncomfortable. “I have left everything that even smells of politics behind me,” he says. “I have decided to spend the rest of my life busy with my art world.”
His concert is named Legend’s Nite: From Brahmaputra to Mississippi. Ask him about his path to the future and he breaks into his famous lines, Moi eti jajabor…

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 21, 2005

Back with dhoom boom

2007-02-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

Three years after the success of the title track of Dhoom, Thai pop singer Tata Young is back in India to promote her latest release, Temperature Rising. She shares her plans for her music career and Bollywood.

After the success of Dhoom, you had said you would want to act in a Bollywood film. When do we see you face the camera for a Hindi film?
Yes, I have wanted to be a part of the film industry here but I have not got any substantial roles. I hope that sometime later this year, I will be working on getting a good role here, but, there are no offers as of yet.

Tell us a little about Temperature Rising?
I have worked on this album for a year while also promoting my previous album, I Believe. The album has songs written by Natasha Bedingfield, Paul and Linda McCartney and Diane Warren among others.
The album also has a track with Hindi lyrics, Mila Mila. The song has been composed by Sandeep Chowta. I wanted a hindi track in my album after the success of Dhoom Dhoom, and I got it. I flew down to Mumbai to record the song.

How different is Temperature Rising from I Believe?
I believe was a pop dance album with a lot of emphasis on dance beats, while Temperature Rising is more of a pop album with a heavy hip-hop influence. I think that is what makes it different.

Who is your favourite singer?
Madonna.

So do you plan to go the Kabbalah way?
No. I am just inspired by her music.

Temperature Rising was released in August 2006, why took you so long to promote it here?
I am really taking things easy with this album. I am not even working on any other music or film project right now. I want to give this album my best shot. I have planned to come to India in March for a tour to promote this album and follow that with a tour of Europe in April, all for this album’s promotion.
I am also fighting for a video for Mila Mila. I want it to be aired in India.

You have been criticised to indulge more in skinshow in your videos, than your vocal abilities.
I have nothing to say about that. I feel music is a complete package of who is up there on the stage wearing what, as much as how good he or she sounds.

You have been a celebrity from the age of fourteen. What do you think are the pros and cons of being a celebrity?
Everything has its share of pros and cons. Being a celebrity can be tough because every aspect of your personal life is out in the public eye. People want to know what you are doing at any time of the day or night.
But the good side is that I get to do what I love most. I love to sing on stage before a lot of people and I get to do that. Life is good.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on February 20, 2007

Keeping her stand in Bollywood

2007-02-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

Riding high on the success of Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dor, Ayesha Takia’s next is the much awaited film, Salaam-E-Ishq. But she will be making her presence felt on the television before that. Takia has been named the brand ambassador for the Sabse Favourite Kaun awards on Set Max.
“I have been associated with the awards from the time I joined the industry. I gave my first live performance at the awards. After that I was handed the title of Best New Actress in the following year and the Best Actress after that. So these awards mean a lot to me,” says Takia.
Famed as an actress who never compromises with her principles, she seems happy with her performance so far. “I have a fixed set of principles for work and there are things I will not do in films. So it is only on the basis of my acting ability that I have got work so far,” she says.
While most other actors would happily blame the absence of a godfather in the industry to back them, Ayesha Takia thinks it hardly makes a difference. “I think it depends completely on an individual. Having a famous last name or a godfather can help only to a certain limit. In fact, even if the industry does not like you, the audience must love you. Only the audience decides who stays in the long run and who does not.”
“I have been lucky not to have any issues with the industry so far. I cannot classify myself as an insider or an outsider o the industry but I am happy I have got so many chances to prove myself as an actor.”
Back to Salaam-E-Ishq, Takia says she had a blast while shooting for the film. “One can make out from the sets what kind of a blast we had while shooting. I think, Nikhil Advani is a great director because he is so sure of what he wants that you just have to play with him and leave the rest.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on December 2, 2006

I have had a blast

2007-02-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

Before you go on to call him the funny man from the films, he hurls at you the names of the next not-so-funny roles that he will be seen in this year. “I am an actor, not a comedian,” he insists. “Variety is the spice of life and I don’t want to miss out on any of it.”
Though in Kuch Meetha Ho Jae, the film the actor was promoting in the Capital a few days back, he plays a funny character, “a modern-day devdas, that’s how I see him. He has a lot of pain in him but he always smiles.” He plays the role of a staff member at the Gangapur airport. Having lost his family and his lover at separate incidents, he takes to drinking and escapes his own pains by making the people around him laugh.
But the laughs end here, he says. “My next film is Seher which a thriller,” his second attempt at playing the lead after the unsuccessful, Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II. Besides Seher, he will also be seen in another thriller, Chocolate by Vivek Agnihotri, Kisse Pyaar Karu, Rokda – where he gets to don some negative shades, Munnabhai - Part 2 and Yashraj Film’s Salaam Namaste this year and in Golmaal, Gopi Kishan and Kabul Express next year.
Busy than ever before, he credits his ability to work at a very fast pace in bagging the above projects. “I try to do only one film at a time and put all my energies to it. I finished Kuch Meetha Ho Jae in 28 days and Kisse Pyaar Karun in 32 days. So I know exactly how much of work I can take on to keep me busy for the whole year,” he says.
Things weren’t always so good fro him. He has a turbulent career graph so far. “Turbulent maybe from your point of view, because as far as I know, I have had a blast,” says the actor. “Maria, my wife was doing very well as a VJ so it was not a hassle at all if I was not working. All the while when people here thought, ‘Poor chap, he does not have any work’, I was touring the world meeting my friends and having a blast.”
“I had so much at that point of time that right now, my gruelling schedule of work 16 hours a day does not hurt at all.”
He maybe doing films by the dozens right now, but he assures you that he only does ‘quality acts’. “I don’t want my friends and film fraternity to be ashamed of me.”
Though he keeps no parameters and no goals for himself in his professional life, he does have a dream role. “Mrs Bachchan once told me that I should something like Al Pacino in Scarface and I think I should do something like that too,” says Warsi.
Of course, with the stars and the producers backing you, we look forward to seeing you as the next Terminator.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on April 12, 2005

Taking Bollywood promotions the hi-tech way

2007-02-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

Forget full-length animation feature films, Bollywood has scaled greater heights in technology than ever before. And no, we are not talking about roping in videshi babes for expensive promotion campaigns here.
When off-beat filmmaker Prakash Jha needed to promote his film, Apharan, he chose as simple a look for his means as his characters in the film. Blogs.
Following a tie-up with rediff.com, Jha has placed a link in the portal’s homepage that connects you to the official website of the film and to the blogs of four key members of the crew of the film, Bipasha Basu, Nana Patekar, Mohan Agashe and Jha himself. Ajay Devgan’s blog will be added to the list shortly.
“I know that the Internet is used heavily by the Indian audience abroad and having creative websites for films is not something new to Bollywood,” says Prakash Jha. “We tied up with rediff.com to carry a microsite on their homepage and for three months they have given us that space,” he says.
“Ajay Devgan is far lesser known abroad than the Khans and the only way to make him known was through the interaction online,” says Jha.
Jha says that if the blogs ensure a good response of the film in India and abroad, he would make it a regular feature of his film promotions. “I know that it has been noticed. I keep a regular watch on the number of comments we receive and I also answers in the blog.”
Jha also admits that by far, the blog that has seen maximum response is that of Nana Patekar. “The response for his blog is phenomenal,” he says. His very first post has received as many as 166 comments.
“It is difficult to fathom the success of it right away as we have to wait till the audience comes to the cinema.”
Meanwhile he ensures that the response to the questions will be stepped up in the coming days, as the film releases this Friday.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on November 31, 2005

‘I did not making any promises’

2007-02-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

Known and severely criticised by viewers and media alike for his expertise at taking out flaws in conrtestants, Anu Malik is enjoying his stint as the judge for Indian Idol 2. “Who says people are complaining?” he retorts. “I have personally met several parents of the contestant I have asked to leave and they are grateful that I did so. They say that the kids don’t listen to us but if you say it they understand.” But he promises to be a surprise this time, “Check me out,” he winks.
“I did not go around making promises about offering the contestants a break but hey, I have got Prajakta, Rahul and Amit Sana their first breaks in films. Surprisingly the Indian Idol, Abhijeet himself has not got any offers from me. This time I have promised him one project from my side,” he laughs.
But the tough guy also has a soft side. “When we disqualify a participant and ask him to leave but he doesn’t go, that really puts me off,” he says shaking his head. “This year we are looking for someone with the right mix of music and good looks,” he adds. Surprisingly, the contestants who appear at various venues are not just some names on the list for him. “I still remember some of the participants whom I liked from the first auditions. They did not make it to the higher rounds but I have not forgotten their voices.”
Coming back to this year’s auditions, he says, “I want people to be original with their work. Some of them do such good copies of Mohammad Rafi and even Sonu Nigam, but we already have a voice of Sonu Nigam and we have already heard so much of Rafi saab. There has to be something different to be noticed,” he says.
Also he feels jealous of those participating, “In my times, we had to go through hell to be where we are today and these guys just walk into audition rooms and we are sitting here to make them Indian Idols,” he signs off.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 25, 2005

What's life without fun?

2007-02-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

Fun is life’s essence for Angad Bedi. “I always do things I enjoy doing,” he says. So from modeling for friends JJ Valaya and Rohit Bal to cooking for his friends in his latest television show, Cook Na Kaho, fun is the catchword for this 22-year-old cricketer from Delhi.
“It is not exactly a classy cookery show which has exact amounts of ingredients and a ready script to read out before the camera,” explains Angad, son of famous cricketer Bhishen Singh Bedi. “It is about me, Angad Bedi, who lives in Mumbai and is tired of eating outside everyday. So gets up one morning and decides to cook for himself.”
Not only that he also invites his family and friends over to meals that he cooks for them. “I always helped my parents in the kitchen and my dad is a fabulous cook, so I have an idea of what I am supposed to do. Also, I follow a cookbook by Karen Anand. I am basically a safe cook. I prefer to follow a book than try my own concoctions.”
“But, there were times when I was saying, ‘Here is the perfect cook at work’ and the ghee in the utensil starts boiling at me,” he laughs.
“I also have the privilege of inviting my own guests to dinner and the first person on my guest list is Bhishen Singh Bedi.” He is followed by many others. From good friend Arbaaz Khan to commentator Harsha Bhogle to Rohan Gavaskar, they all take a seat at his dining table.
Cookery and modeling is for fun, so what is he seriously? “I am a serious cricketer. I play for the Ranji Trophy and am also a part of the Film Cricket Board which comprises members from film industry as well as from the cricketing field.
“I am a trained actor and would like to be known as a serious cricketer who also did good films.”
Though he has not signed any films yet, he is on the lookout for a good break. “I don’t believe in doing things for the sake of doing them, if I do films I want to put in 15-20 odd years in it and do it. I have age on my side.”

Published in Hindustan Times on May 26, 2005

It takes two to tango

2007-02-21T09:46:00.000-08:00

Having a platterful of international acclaim can be their share of luck but living upto that fame has turned out to be an arduous task as Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash have found out. “I really miss my schooldays,” says Amaan, the elder brother, “then I was free to do whatever I wanted to. I was so much into sports and was very naughty as a child.”
“I gave my first public performance at the age of eight and then I was travelling around the country for my performances. As soon as I left school, I took to performing extensively and could not enjoy doing a regular college course,” he says.
“It is like a homecoming,” says Ayaan on performing in Delhi for the Shradhaanjali Concert. “Amaanbhai and I were both students of Modern School, Vasant Kunj and had a great time there. It was tough, giving up the normal school life and traveling but I have no regrets.”
“It is tough being what I am supposed to be as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s son, instead of what I want to be,” says Amaan. And nothing has kept him or Ayaan from playing around with their music to have their own entity. They are both looking forward to the release of American Daylight, their foray into movies. “American Daylight is an English film based on two people. A guy who lives and works in America and a girl who works for a BPO in India,” says Ayaan. “We have given the background score for the film and have also composed a qawwali.” Besides the two, the film will also feature Elton John’s Sacrifice and Diamonds and Rust in its songtrack.
“Composing music for a film is difficult in the sense that there we are enlarging the director’s canvass,” says Ayaan. “In a normal performance, what you play is what you see inside yourself, but in the case of films you have to perceive the director’s view and project it as your own.”
Besides this, the two are also bringing out a lounge music album. In which they will be heard singing a lot as well. “The lounge music is more techno in nature,” says Amaan.
Does that mean a deviation from the classical music? “No. not in any way. We are respected today only because of the Indian classical music,” says Amaan, “ we believe in experimenting and this is just an experiment.”
Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is all in favour of his sons’ experiments. “People tend to group them always but they are two different people with two very different approaches to life.”
About the lounge music album, “A formal training in Indian classical music is a strength for musicians. As the seven chords of Indian music are like the sun and all other forms of music are like the rays around it.”“There are far more approaches to entertainment now than ever before, but the number of people attending classical music concerts has been rising,” he says. “It is important that we do not lose our identity as Indians, besides that, we are free to do whatever we want to.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on February 1, 2005

I used to be Mr Hot

2007-02-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

In an industry as huge as Bollywood, maintaining the reputation of a being a good actor is anything but easy. And so for Akshay Kumar, whose 101st film, Garam Masala once again establishes his prowess as a great actor, it has been a long way.
Though he is tagged as Mr Hot in the film, he does seem to be warming up to the title in real life. “Garam Masala is about me five years back. I hardly had to prepare for my character in the film as I had a living experience of the same,” he says of his flirataious past. What now? “John says he has taken over,” he laughs.
After his fabulous performance in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, he does a pretty good job at tickling the audience in Garam Masala. “I got pretty bored of doing all the action films and decided to take a break. Thanks to all the media persons who reminded every Friday that there was more to acting than just action,” he says.
But that definitely does not mean that there won’t be anymore stunts coming. “I have decided to do one action film every year. Besides, I think even comedy has its share of stunts. Doing stunts involves a great risk and so does doing comedy,” he says. “It is tough to make others laugh.”
“There is so much tension all around us today,” he says about the recent blast that shook the Capital. “There is no dearth of reasons to be upset, so when people step into the theatre I want to make them laugh, I want them to be entertained.”
He is also a believer in luck and admits that Paresh Rawal has been lucky for him. “I have given at least five hit films with him and I consider him lucky.” Besides Paresh Rawal? “John, definitely.” No wonder then, with his two lucky charms in the film Garam Masala is clearly the best bet among the other Diwali releases.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on November 9, 2005

The word ‘no’ has incredible power

2007-02-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

Elegance is an attitude, says the tagline of the latest collection of Longines watches, and who better than Aishwarya Rai to launch this collection. Rai, who is in the Capital after a gap of almost three years now, was her usual self.
“I really do not need to workout as much now,” she said in response to a question on her fitness mantra. “My hectic schedule keeps me on my toes,” she added with her trademark giggle.
She refuted rumours of any plans to shift permanently to Hollywood. “I always stick to a planned schedule,” she said. “I had three Hollywood projects at hand and some from Bollywood. Since getting suitable dates are a major problem in Hollywood, I decided to complete all my overseas projects at one go. So, I have wrapped up all my international projects last year and this year I am only focusing on the projects in Bollywood,” she explained.
Besides Umrao Jaan and Dhoom 2, Aishwarya will also be seen in Akbar-Jodha and Sarkar 2.
There was little scope for the former Miss World to escape questions about her alleged relation with Abhishek Bachchan. But, she handled the question with tact. In her reply to a question of any pranks played by Bachhcan junior (who is a famed prankster on the sets), Rai replied, “I don’t know if he is a prankster, but he sure is a brat.”
Aishwarya was also in the news recently for performing all her stunts in Dhoom 2. “It was awesome,” she says giggling again. “My favourite stunt was the one shown in the promo where I jump off the cliff. I wish I could have indulged in some more, they really were fun.”
Bollywood has almost always been the domain of men. Male actors continue to get bigger paychecks than their female counterparts. “Everyone has their own perspective on that,” Rai said. “All I can say is tha I am thankful to the people in this industry. They have been very open-minded to the way I chose to chart my course. Whether it was my professional choices or where I pushed the envelope, they have always been supportive. The word ‘no’ has incredible power and I am glad the industry has taken that answer from me.”
“It takes great courage to say ‘no’ to someone but it takes greater conviction to stand by one’s own decision.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 18, 2006

Growing in leaps and bounds

2007-02-21T09:41:00.000-08:00

At his age, most people would be dreaming of flying and touching the stars. And though his dream of being a school champ has not been realised just yet, the young star of television in India, Adil Badshah, is playing just that in his new serial Ghost Bana Dost on Star One.
As the name of the serial suggests, Adil plays Daboo, a rich orphan living in the care of his evil uncle, aunt and their two children. He finds a friend in Ni Ke, a ghost, who helps Daboo become a superstar. Daboo is the only person who can see Ni Ke and they have a blast together.
“I have acted in 371 advertisements already and have also been part of the film, Wah! Life ho to Aisi, so I had no problems as such shooting for Ghost Bana Dost,” says Adil in a matter-of-fact way. “Everyone was very co-operative and it was a lot of fun.”
Adil has performed a lot of stunts for the serial. Ask him how he managed to do that and he says, “It’s magic, you know. When I went on the sets I had magic power to fly.”
“I was never scolded by anyone, especially Milind Soman was very calm. He would never be frustrated or angry if I made a mistake, he would tell me how to do a better job,” he says sounding like a true professional.
He lets down his practiced professional façade only when faced with a question of his studies. “That’s only for Saturdays and Sundays,” he says, sounding his disinterest.
“When I grow up I wan to be more like Hrithik Roshan. You see, he can fly very well and he can also dance, so I really like him,” he says. So what would he want to be an actor or a dancer? “Both the things. Actually, once you grow up and become an actor then the directors come to you to ask what you would want to do. So, I first want to become an actor.”
So do we, Mr Badshaah.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on December 19, 2006

Confessions of a legend

2007-02-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

Most people in the film industry today cannot stop ranting about the things they have done and how they have struggled but for music maestro, AR rahman, his stint in the international arena is ‘just normal.’ A man of very few words, he spent some time talking about becoming the brand ambassador for Worldspace Sattelite Radio.
Ask him about the response to his Lord of the Rings musical in Toronto and he replies, “It was great.” That’s it? “Yeah, it was good.” And what about future plans of international collaborations and performances? “I have no plans as of now.”
“I wish to work with Antonio Pinto, the composer for films like Lord of War and Collateral,” he says finally. “We have not signed on the dotted line yet but we are in talks and hope to work together soon.”
Coming back to Bollywood, he has a couple of films lined up for release. “I have a couple of films now, starting with Mani Ratnam’s Guru.” And between his hectic schedule between countries he still finds time for his Hindi lessons. “It is going slow because of my constant travelling but I am still learning.” Rahman wants to learn to speak better in Hindi so he can convey the message of taking medicine to prevent tuberculosis, to the masses. He is also a global ambassador for the cause.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on May 5, 2006

Aby's baby takes the mike

2007-02-21T09:35:00.000-08:00

His father made the country jive to the tunes of Rang Barse in Silsila way back in 1981, he made the nation cry with Main Yahan Tu Wahan in Baghban and now it is time for son, Abhishek Bachchan to debut behind the microphone in Rohan Sippy’s Bluffmaster.
Even as the son sits beside his ailing father’s bed in Mumbai, prepare to groove to his track Right here, Right now from today on Channel V.
“We were choosing a track for a particular situation in the film and Abhishek walked into the studio. We got him to sing the song and after a good fifteen minutes we thought he did a good job. We made the song in two versions, one with the rap and one without, he has sung both of them,” says Rohan Sippy.
Abhishek will be accompanied by Sunidhi Chauhan in the track and Priyanka Chopra, on whom the song is picturised, will also pitch in, “I’m a good girl.”
Well, but it’s not only Aby’s Baby who will be singing to success. December will also see John Abraham and Sanjay Dutt sound their vocal chords with Pakistani duo Strings for Zinda saying Main Zinda Hoon (Ye hai meri kahani).
But that’s not it either, by the end of December theatre and silver screen veteran will debut as a singer for Naseeruddin Shah’s directorial debut Yun Hota To Kya Hota...What If. So gear up for a groovy December ahead.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on November 31, 2005

There is so much to be done

2007-02-21T09:34:00.000-08:00

He debuted in a film by a controversial director with some of the best actors. Rahul Khanna has come a long way from his stubbled look in Deepa Mehta’s Earth starring Aamir Khan and Nandita Das. He gained the limelight as the handsome NRI in Bollywood Hollywood who marries Lisa Ray. But it is upcoming film Elaan, that releases nationwide this week, which has him in the limelight once again. “I did not require prosthetic make-up for my character in the film. It was an ordinary urban guy.”
In Elaan, Rahul Khanna playa the role of Karan Shah, who was a street urchin selling tea at the roadside before a successful businessman adopted him. When his foster father is killed ny the henchmen of an underworld don, he draws up a team of five members —Arjun Rampal, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, Amisha Patel (who plays his love interest in the film) and himself. They take it on themselves to bring the don (played by Mithun Charaborty) to India and see that justice is done.“I have faced many questions about this being my first Bollywood film but I feel there were hints of that in Bollywood Hollywood as well.” He adds in the same breath, “I do agree that this is the first full-of-stunts, action Hindi film that I am doing.”
The transformation was not a difficult one for him at all. “My father has been a Bollywood veteran, my brother has also made his mark, there was no reason why I should not have joined the club. I really enjoyed filming for Elaan. We shot in Europe in the middle of winter in four feet of snow. It was very physically demanding but I loved all the stunts.”
Rahul Khanna, born and brought up in Mumbai comes from a family of Bollywood lineage and was only happy to go along with the custom. He studied in the Acting and Film School in New York before he returned to India to make a career out of acting. He says his father Vinod Khanna has been an immense source of inspiration for him.
But it is not only family ties he wants to discuss right now. “I think Mithun Chakaravorty is to Hindi films as a Bentley is to cars. He has perfected the nuances of film-making and helps his co-stars to give their best shot,” he says. Though he has no problems in admitting that he has absolutely no projects on hand right now, he says, “I want to more of everything, be it crossover films or Hindi films. I am open for projects."

Published in Hindustan Times Next on January 13, 2005

I want to be like my mother

2007-02-21T09:32:00.000-08:00

“It is indeed an honour to be told that I have a resemblance to my mother”, said Soha Ali Khan. In town to promote her debut Hindi film Dil Maange More, Khan turned out to be a pretty good spokesperson for the film.
“I play the role of Neha in the film who is a college graduate from a small city and wants to be an air stewardess in Mumbai. She is a very sweet girl, a little arrogant at times but a great person to be with.” This from the girl who in her real life left the security of her home to go to Mumbai to work for a bank. “The film saw five months of shooting and I believe the young people will enjoy the film as there is no rona-dhona here and no villain, it is a bindaas film.”
Her first film will definitely see her dancing around trees with Shahid Kapoor, whose primary love interest she plays in the film. “There is a song in the film Gustakh Dil that has been shot completely in retro style, with us dressing in 60’s style.”
Her mother must have been of great help there. “Of course, she has been giving me a lot of suggestion for my make-up and styling.”
“I particularly like acting for Bengali films because there the films have a lot of scope for a female protagonist. But here in Bollywood the films are bigger and flashier,” says Soha.
So what are the little Pataudi’s plans for New Year? “We will all be getting together at our house here in Delhi for dinner on the 31st, then maybe my brother, sister-in-law and I will go out with our friends somewhere, maybe.”
Diplomatic she maybe but she can’t stop raving about co-star Shahid Kapoor. “He made me so comfortable throughout the film, he is a perfect sweetheart.” Talking about the controversy about his more than just lip-lock with Kareena Kapoor, “I was hurt, basically because he was so hurt.” What? “He is such a good friend, in fact such a good person. He has been so good to the media, it was bad to see what they did. It was completely uncalled for.”
Her idea of a holiday is “spending time on the beaches, lazying around and eating good food”. Though her plans for a holiday are some time away with her working on an unnamed film by Hriday Shetty starring Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia.
Meanwhile, she is also waiting for her second Bengali film, Rituparno Ghosh’s Antar Mahal, to release in early January. “I really want to be like my mother, to be able to bridge the art and commercial divide.” Her dil definitely Maange more and more.

India's own Harry Potter

2007-02-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Athit Naik, who will be seen as a protagonist in Aabra Ka Daabra prefers Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter as the latter is for kids.
The eighth standard student of Mumbai’s St Gregorias is not a new face in Bollywood. He was seen in Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Janasheen, Bhagat Singh, Saya and also as Preity Zinta’s brother in Kal Ho Na Ho.
“This is my first film in the lead,” he says. “I am slightly nervous now that the film will be releasing this Friday.”
He plans to join the NDA after his education as "the Army instills discilpline in you and teaches you to give your best shot to everything.” Though he does not mind returning to acting after the disciplined schedule and he aims it big. He wants to be an ‘Amitabh Bachchan’.
This big-time fan of Tom Cruise is not particularly interested in girls. “They are very talkative, you know. When we study in class, they suddenly start screaming.”
A lover of mathematics, he loves to juggle between his shooting schedules and homework. “My friends are great, they always help me out with notes, but that’s basically because I don’t have an attitude thing like other actors.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on January 5, 2005

Cricket is a way of life

2007-02-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

For Mandira Bedi, cricket is a way of life. She is now a well-known figure among cricket lovers. From playing cricket to analysis of the game, Mandira knows it all.

"I started playing cricket when I was a kid. I would play with my brother and his friends. They allowed me to play but put me to field on the outer boundary and I always had one more player right before me because they took me to be absolutely worthless at the game. Even when my brother and I played at home, he would always play “Gavaskar” and do the batting while I was always “Chandrashekar” doing the balling’.
“I think girls should be encouraged to take up cricket in their curriculum. I remember playing squash, hockey and a host of other games, but never cricket,” says the Mumbai’s Cathedral passout.
When asked about the emphasis on cricket as against the other games she quips, “People know the players by their performance. Tennis is popular because Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati and Sania Mirza. Anjali Bhagwat and now, Rajavendra Rathore have made shooting a more-known sport. So it is the performance of the players that affects the sport.”
As far as juggling between home and work goes, Mandira says she is lucky to have a supporting family. “It could have been very tough in other circumstances but my husband is very supportive of my passion for the game. He understands when I pick my bags and leave to attend all the matches happening around the globe.”
Coming back to the topic of the Indian teams performance she says, “I find a total loss of a team spirit in the Indian team. I have seen the Australian team hang out together, attend parties and go to the pubs as a group, but the Indians were always in twos or threes. As a group, the Australian team is so strong… this strength helps them to win and now winning has become a habit with them.”
Mandira hopes the Indian team will bag the Natwest series. “I am positive that they will make it to finals, but so will Australia. It is upto them to crack the Australian team this time.”
When asked what keeps her going with her hectic schedules, she says, “I stay fit and I am in love with the game. I just love the work I do, I feel so fortunate to be in the place I am today. I hope I can continue doing this all my life.”

Published in industan Times Next on September 1, 2004

Vrooming on the success of Dhoom

2007-02-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

Still on a high with the fabulous success of Dhoom, John Abraham is ready to take on the world again. His first release this year will be the Vikram Bhatt’s multi-starrer Elaan, in which he will be seen along with Mithun Chakraborty, Rahul Khanna and Arjun Rampal.
“I was ready to work with the Bhatt camp. In fact, Mahesh Bhatt is the best director I have known so far. I would be glad to work with him again,” he said.
John studied at Bombay Scottish School, along with the likes of Abhishek Bachchan, “and Hrithik Roshan and Uday Chopra who were my classmates from kindergarten.”
“School life was amazing and I don’t recall having a really bad day there.” Though he grew up with students whose families were into Bollywood, he never thought of becoming an actor. “I wanted to be a footballer. I even played for Mumbai in the national soccer events. I used to be a great athlete.”
Things changed after he completed his graduation from Jai Hind College and proceeded for a Master’s degree in Business Administration. “One day, I was in office working for a shoot but the model did not turn up, so I ended up modelling for the product. My director saw the advertisement and suggested I try my luck at the Gladrags Megamodel Hunt. I won that event.” And from there, there was no looking back.
John has been very busy with his projects. Besides his role as an ex-convict in Elaan who will do anything for his lady love Sonia, played by Lara Dutta, he has just completed shooting for Deepa Mehta’s controversial film, Water, starring Lisa Ray. Also in the pipeline for releases are Karan Johar’s Kaal with Shah Rukh Khan, Viruddh with Amitabh Bachchan (where he plays Big B’s son), an out-and-out comedy by Priyadarshan starring Akhshaye Kumar and Paresh Rawal and also a thriller by Ramesh Sippy starring Nana Patekar.
This list could be flattering for many but John is far from satisfied. “I want to do more and more films, better films.”
Given a chance he would love to do a Sylvester Stallone in Rocky but would like to have Nicole Kidman star opposite her. Among men in Hollywood, he is in total awe of Robert Di Niro.
He is not averse to the media glare on him. “I think it is a part of being a celebrity. The media has been very responsible till now. I think the media’s glare should be taken graciously by the celebrities even if it means taking it with a pinch of salt.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on January 11, 2005

The Bond with a difference

2007-02-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

One master creator has made his way into the hearts through his sheer simplicity and precision. Indeed, Ruskin Bond, has never been a bestseller but his has made his way into the hearts of many a readers. Bond launched two new books on Monday at the Oxford Bookstore. Book of Nature which Bond calls “a record of my relationship with the natural world which has sustained and inspired me over the years” and The Hidden Pool, which is the first novel he wrote for his young readers.
As he read out some passages from his books, it was not difficult to imagine the scene that he read, as clearly as it were happening right before us. “I was once talking to one of the children when a girl asked me, ‘Your ghosts are not scary at all. Can’t you make them more scary?’ See that is the effect of television. Nowadays, the idea of my good, friendly ghosts is not that appealing,” he said.
Ruskin Bond says that his growing up years and his indulgence in the classics helped him a lot. “I still love the detective stories,” he says.
He is far from complaining about the children not reading much like in the earlier days. “Reading has always been a minority pastime. It is not that television alone is disturbing them. Even in my time students founds ways to avoid having to read books.”
For those who aspire to be great writers like him he says, “Discipline is very important in everything that one does. One must make sure that he/she is writing at least one or two pages every day and at the end of the month you realise that you have actually done quite a lot. It is also a good idea to keep a notebook with you always. As when a new idea occurs you can always write it out.”
Making a living out of writing can prove to be a difficult task. “No, I did it in my time and made a decent living for myself. You must be prepared for disappointments all the same.”
He named Delhi Is Not Far as his favourite work among all.
Any detective stories coming up for us? “Well, I maybe doing one soon.”

Published in Hindustan Times on January 11, 2005

I'm ready to go solo

2007-02-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

His last act as a college dude in Main Hoon Na, got him some good reviews. But the newest Khan kid on the block is definitely not ready to take off on a solo project as yet. “That’s my current dream and I am working on it to become a reality soon,” says Zayed.
As Sanjay Khan’s (of Tipu Sultan fame) son, Fardeen Khan’s cousin and younger brother of Hrithik Roshan’s wife, Suzanne, acting came naturally to Zayed. “I always knew that I was going to be an actor. I did not know how or when but I knew I would.”
His debut, Chura Liya Hai Tumne, sank without a trail but Zayed kept his hopes up. Then, last year he was seen as a ‘cool dude’ in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Main Hoon Na. Though his role was definitely not that of a protagonist, his performance was well received.
In Vaada, he plays an obsessed lover of Amisha Patel, who marries a blind man, played by Arjun Rampal. “I feel this is one of my strongest portrayals till now. The character is shown with lots of shades to himself. He is a passionate lover who cannot give up his love. I think he was a cool character to play.”
Did he find it difficult to get into the character? “An actor has to have his own take on a character. He should understand him. I mean, if an actor playing Superman should decide if his underpants are red or yellow. That’s his take on the character.”
Zayed Khan spent a year at the London Film School mastering the art of film-making. “I wanted to be technically sound before I got into the job. Now, I know exactly which frame I should be in and which side I should be looking at to make very shot my best shot.”
His upcoming films include Shabd and Shaadi no.1. Shabd will see him starring with Sanjay Dutt and Aishwarya Rai. Also in queue is an untitled film by Farah Khan.
He plans to pursue direction after a while. “Of course, I would love to direct films. But not right now.” Right now, he would rather sit back and watch his performance in Vaada.
We hope the film is as promising as it sounds.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on January 8, 2005

As gorgeous as ever, Dreamgirl

2007-02-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

Despite her age and poise, there is a childlike restlessness in Hema Malini. In town to promote her new television serial Kamini Damini, she is just as gorgeous and youthful as she appeared on screen in Baghban.
“I owe it all to my daughters,” she says. “Each time I gain a little weight, they make it a point to get me back in shape.” She laughs at the mention of Amitabh Bachchan’s comment that she looked more Esha’s sister than her mother during the shooting of Baghban.
Hema is emphatic that Baghban was not her comeback film. “What comeback? I have been around all the while. Have you forgotten Himalayaputra?” Not quite, but wasn't that 1997?
She is happy with the way she has executed her many roles in life — mother, wife, dancer, actor, social activist and now parlimentarian. “(On screen) I have played Razia Sultan, a Sita and Gita, a Dhano — and in playing these roles, I have really lived my life.”
Her huge success is in complete contrast to her lack of ambition. “I never wanted to be anything,” she says, “My mother persuaded me to become an actor, a dancer. And once I started working, I also started liking it, so I played along, despite my father being totally against my being in films.”
Hema must have had a moment of déjà vu when she guided her elder daughter Esha into films in spite of papa Dharmendra’s opposition. “I am not like my mother,” she insists. “I allow both Ahana (younger daughter) and Esha to do as they wish. I do guide them but I don’t force them.”
Of her two daughters, Esha is the clear favourite. “Esha is my baby, she just needs the right platform. She is the most promising actor among them all.” What better platform can she have than Hema directing a film with Esha in the lead? “Yes, I am working on that.” Ahana is “very different,” says Hema. “She is more like her father, even look-wise.”
Bollywood’s newest crop holds no interest for Hema, but given a chance she would love to act with Aamir Khan. “He is the cutest of them all, that boy.” Not Dharamendra? “No, I am his wife. I don’t think he will be comfortable acting with me any more.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next in January 2005

I don't consider myself a part of Bollywood

2007-02-21T09:17:00.000-08:00

“I have never considered myself a part of Bollywood,” said Lisa Ray. True, after the critics had her head for her performance in her debut Kasoor, opposite Aftaab Shivdasani, no level-headed actress would. But with a not-so-bad performance with Rahul Khanna in Hollywood Bollywood, she remains a part of the industry.
“I have just completed working in Deepa Mehta’s Water.” The controversial film? “That’s not how we look at it,” she laughs.
“To me Water is a very beautiful film based on a very relevant topic,” she says. “I had great fun working with John Abraham, Seema Biswas, Raghubir Yadav among the others.” She still has a long way to go in learning Hindi to deliver her dialogues well, “It is coming along,” says Lisa. “This year I was totally into a full course in theatre in London so it did not happen, but I am working towards it. In fact, I have learnt more Hindi in London than here in India.”
Bollywood maybe out but acting is not. “I have finished shooting for a Canadian film Seeking Fair this October. I play a cop in the film and it was great fun.” That was also when she got a new hair-cut to change her image. “I really love my new self.”
In clear awe of Vikram Bhatt, who gave her her debut in Kasoor as a pragmatic lawyer who falls in love with her client, she is willing to do a film made by him, provided the film is of an Indian sensibility but western in production. “The system should be more efficient. Back in the West, you focus on the job that you have at hand and give it your best shot, not like in India where you have so many plans in so many stages of execution.”
So if she were to have the chance which film would she like to be a part of? “Mughal-e-Azam, I have just seen the film and it is so beautifully made. It was so sophisticated.”
Noor Jahan she maybe but she is in no hurry to choose her Shah Jahan. “Ooh! That’s asking for too much,” she says and after a brief introspection, “No, forget it, I don’t want to fall into trouble.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next in January 2005

New magic teacher of Bollywood

2007-02-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

“I definitely do not agree that the film is based on Harry Potter or any other film,” said an incensed Anupam Kher. In the city to promote his film, Aabra Ka Daabra - The School of Magic, he put his foot down on this being a novel concept with no resemblance to any other project.
“Indians have this bad habit of crediting the West. Magic has been a part of India for centuries, even Ramayana and Mahabharata have elements of magic to them.”
The protagonist of the film is Shanu, played by Master Athit Naik, whose father gets killed while doing a magic trick and is called a fraud by the onlookers. Enraged by the shame brought on his family, Shanu decided to learn magic and enrolls himself in the Aabra Ka Daabra, School of Magic. Here he befriends a magical creature (a thinner variation of Casper with a cape) and encounters adventures with his friends (sounds similar?). There is a part where Shanu and his friends play a match while flying in their playground (similar again?), the children also find themselves before a flying face of sand (miniature mummy).
“Every love story is similar isn’t it? The story is of a student in a magic school and the events that happen there.”
Kher plays a teacher in the magic school who is friendly with the students. He is also a friend of Shanu’s father. He dismisses the point that he has not been seen much in movies off late. “I have done over 200 films by now, and in the recent past I don’t think I have seen a single film and said ‘I should have played that character.’
“I have just completed Tanuja Chandra’s Hope And A Little Sugar and a tele-series for BBC, ER. I was also there in Bride and Prejudice.”
But, he is far from retiring from acting. His latest theatre offering Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai is the story of his own life. “As an actor is was very difficult for me to play my own life before an audience. It is difficult to have people laugh at the mistakes that you made in life. But, it also makes me feel stronger as there is nothing left for people to laugh at me. I have admitted my mistakes.”
Currently his energies are focused on the acting school that he will be inaugurating in January, Actors Prepared.
Being with children is his cherished experiences, he says. “Children are the only source of reality for a grown-up. They have a sense of honesty in them that they lose with age, mainly owing to the way they are brought up.”
Coming to the fact that Aabra Ka Daabra will be the third biggest film made for children in the last few years, the other two being Makdee and 3-D Chota Chetan, he says, “Children’s films need imagination and put across the imagination one needs mind-blowing resources, but at the end of it all, there are very few takers of these films.”
Whether this funny teacher of magic finds a taker or not will be seen this weekend.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on December 20, 2004

Jonty makes a diving point

2007-02-21T08:59:00.001-08:00

Cricket is a gentleman’s game and gentlemen do not get their clothes dirty.
Who said? asks Jonty Rhodes. In town to encourage children to get out and get dirty for the Surf Excel Dhoega to Jeetega contest, he emphasised on the need for teachers and parents to let their children get out and try to be the best at what they want to. No matter how dirty they get.
“Both my parents were teachers, and they were the ones who encouraged me to go out and play and be the best. I think parents all over the world should also encourage their children to do the same,” says the former South African cricketer.
Jonty washed a huge stain out of a sheet to reveal what was underneath the stain. What it turned out to be was a sum of Rs One lakh which he donated to two NGO’s working for the benefit of streetchildren.
Though, he was more than eager to comment on the present cricket tests between South Africa and India, he puts off any ideas of taking to the mike in the commentary box. “Commentary means going away from home. I don’t want to do that.” However, he may take up to coaching upcoming talents. “Every team nowadays has a batting coach and a bowling coach but fielding is left unattended. I think it is a real help to have efficient fielders to save runs.”
“It is a great feeling to be here working for children. I have worked for the underprivileged earlier, but that was in South Africa. It is my first off-the cricket venture in India and it feels good to be part of a cause,” he says.
The 15 children from the NGO Karm Marg got to pose for the shutterbug with the famous cricketer. Says Basant Kumar, who had never met a celebrity ever before, “It was for real. He was standing with me, I even got a photograph.”
But not everyone went home happy. The students of Modern School were furious because they were not allowed to meet Rhodes. “It’s unfair, we have been waiting for hours now but the security won’t even allow us to have a glimpse of him,” said one of them. But the children of the NGO’s took home with them a photograph that meant the world for them, “Till Sachin Tendulkar comes,” they said.

2007-02-21T08:59:00.000-08:00

Glad to be sore thumb

2007-02-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

Ashutosh Gowariker is positively not a happy man. His sincere efforts of potraying the need of Indians to look at the country in a more positive way has failed to deliver, at least so far. And no, he is definitely not aiming for an Oscar with this one. “What is the point in getting awards worldwide when the people have not seen it in your own country?” he quips and in the same breath, “I am not saying that I don’t love awards.”
Born and brought up in Bandra, Gowarikar wanted to study architecture. He was enrolled himself in the Mithibai College in Mumbai for a degree in architecture. “My architecture classes did not seem to be very inviting so I enrolled myself in all the other extra-curricular activities in college like theatre, folk dance and all. I don’t know what they found in me then but I was given a chance to perform, the rest is all an accident,” he says.
But you will not see him in front of the camera for a long time. “I can’t be directing, setting the camera and then moving in front of the camera, checking my make-up and say action. I don’t know how the greats like Gurudutt did it in their times but that’s not for me, not for at least a good ten years from now,” he says.
Women have, however, never been given a significant part in his films. “Yeah? Do you think so?” he asks. “I think Gauri in Lagaan was the one who stood by Bhuvan when he decided to take on the British.” But every Indian woman does that for her lover and besides there was nothing more from her but a song.
“Come on, in the age of Murder and Julie, my heroine is not showing off her cleavage and yet getting noticed. I am not doing a David Dhawan film here. In that sense, I am unwilling to do any films on women.”
He hopes Swades will get a better reception even two weeks after its release. "I don’t want people to see the film as a boring documentary. I want them to see beyond the facts in the film. It is a very slow paced film in a time of very fast ones. I want it to stand out as a sore thumb.” After three hours and twelve minutes, I guess it is not just about a thumb.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on January 5, 2005

Plucking stars for herself

2007-02-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

Her first offer to model for an ad may have come when she was in Class 12 but Gayatri Joshi’s parents were not very happy with the idea of letting her model. “I don’t repent it at all. In fact, it turned out to be a great decision taken at that time,” she says.
Her second opportunity arrived when she was in her final year of college. “In Mumbai, a lot of people come around in the campuses searching for new faces. I was registered as well and got an advertisement for Colgate.”
She has received a variety of responses for her performance in Swades but she is far from scared at getting lost in the overpowering presence of Shah Rukh Khan. “I was more excited about the project than nervous. I took it as a great responsibility on me. It was a challenge which I took on.”
Gayatri Joshi was brought up in Mumbai and went to JB Wachha School. “School life was fun, but very normal on the whole. I was very active in my extra-curricular activities and played a lot of table-tennis.
Working with Ashutosh Gowariker and Shah Rukh Khan in her debut will also have its cons. She might not appreciate the offers that come her way, after all films like Lagaan and Swades are not made very often. “I don’t want to be typecast as a simple village girl, please. I would love to play a character from the city, just the way I am. I do not ram around in starched cotton sarees and salwar-kameez all the time.”
Street smart, she maybe willing to be, but there are definitely no plans of shedding clothes as yet. “I don’t think that kind of a look goes with my personality at all. I just don’t have that kind of a face to carry a dare-bare look.”
What if she gets a response similar to Gracy Singh? “I am in no hurry to estabilish myself. I mean, I am not going to starve if I do not do films.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on January 6, 2005

The key is to keep striving

2007-02-21T08:52:00.000-08:00

Even 14 years after having left completed his graduation from Delhi, memories of his time spent in Hindu College came flooding back the instant he is asked for some snippets. “I believe Delhi is a great place to study in. I had the best time of my life here.”
Coming to why he was in town recently, the star cast his new film Vaada, which released nationwide this Friday, auctioned off their costumes from the film to raise money for the tsunami victims.
“I believe that whatever one does is a very private feeling. In a time when people have lost their houses, it is so rude to make a show of the help that you offer,” said the actor. “I have made my contribution as well and I will continue to help in whatever way possible but I do not want to talk about how much I am giving and why.”
“I am being asked constantly why I did not go to the people who are suffering there. I do not understand what difference that will make. Instead of an inexperienced lot standing there posing for photographs, I would rather aid the more experienced lot monetarily, to enable a faster recovery for the people.”
In Vaada, Rampal plays again the role of a blind person, his earlier stint being Aankhen with Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Sushmita Sen. “My role in Aankhen was very different as there I was a blind guy who was trapped into a robbery. In Vaada, I play a blind guy who is not as simple and innocent as he seems to be.”
“I worked pretty hard for playing this character. For one, I shed weight as I did not want to look like a tough guy. There were a lot of blind students in my college and the freshers had to read out books to them every afternoon as books were not always available in Braille. I learnt a lot from them then, I had no idea it would come back to me in such a big way again in life.”
Not all his memories from college are pleasant ones. “I used to be one o the better athletes in college, but we never found any backup. I wish all the young athletes in Delhi all the best. They must never give up hope and keep striving.”

Published in Hindustan Times Next on January 7, 2005

2007-02-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

Several actors have a charisma around them. Not Namrata Shirodkar.
In town to promote her upcoming Rok Sako To Rok Lo, her attempt to look seriously stark in black was anything but impressive.
“I don’t care if my films don’t do well. I am happy as long as I have work to do,” says the model-turned-actor. “If I am still getting work around here, it means I have what is required to stay.” So what if she plays the lead actor’s harrassed wife (see Vaastav) or a pained widow (Hathyar) or the love interest of Saif Ali Khan or a caring sister to Ash in Bride and Prejudice. “I don’t think so. The praise for Vaastav was universal. Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) may have bagged the award for the best actor but that’s just because the film was centred around him. All the critics, the ones who are worth their opinions, have praised my work in the film too.”
It could be noted here that all the films starring her in the lead (except for Insaaf) arrived and sank without a trail at the box office.
In Rok Sako To Rok Lo, Shirodhkar plays a young girl, Sandra, who runs a cafe on the campus and is like she says, “very with the students.”
“My role is a cameo in the film but I am an essential link to the story. I wonder what the film would be without me.”
The future holds great hopes as she wants to be as famous as her famous grandmother, Meenakshi Shirodhkar. In case you were wondering, she was a Marathi actor.
Her upcoming films are, “I have been approached for many projects but I haven’t signed the dotted line as yet. Umm…. they are big names, big ones.”
Given a chance Shirodhkar says she would like to play the lead in Mother India.
Mallika Sherwawat, are you listening?

Nothing better than being King Khan... is there?

2007-02-21T08:48:00.000-08:00

You can count on the King to be different, and different he was when he flew down to Jaipur after 18 years to launch the Carerra range of wristwatches by Tag Heuer. Clad in a light grey suit with a perfect white shirt inside, he seemed to have a long way from the traditional ‘man in black’.
Despite being all of his 39 years and still as charming as a young schoolboy, Shahrukh Khan declared himself as a 40 year old at a recent press meet. “I find being 40 sexier than being 35 or 39,” he says when first asked. But feeling sexy is not the real point, as he soon confides, “I find a shift in my fans towards Amit Saab, because he is elder. I hope with my being 40, more of the elder women will continue to find me appealing.” No wonder then, he is known to be an astute businessman.
"I will stay 40 as long as you keep taking my photographs and come to see me.” When Sushmita Sen, who was present with him at the event, voted him as the sexier of the two (Amitabh Bachchan and him), his comment, “I won” didn’t sound like he was joking.
In an era of big-budgeted projects bombing nearly every week at the box office, his films continue to make waves. “To be modest, I think I have had the best writers and filmmakers backing me, with all of that I don’t think there was much to worry. To be pompous, it is all because of me.”
For him acting is all about entertainment. “I am an entertainer. It’s my job to entertain. At the end of the time that people spend with me, I want them to feel entertained. Acting has given me an opportunity to fulfill my mission and passion.”
Christmas is around the corner but one hasn’t heard much about his good work for the society. “I like to keep my acts of charity to myself. Though, I have to admit that the kind of lifestyle that we actors have makes us lose sight of the real world, there are organisations like the UNICEF that come along to remind us of our obligations.” Shah Rukh has worked in some of the documentaries by the UNICEF based on social causes. He has high hopes from his children, especially now that Aryan, his son, is becoming a familiar figure first with his brief act in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and now with his voice for Tez, in the Indian version of The Incredibles. Does he want his son also to become a Shah Rukh Khan? “Of course. There is nothing better than Shah Rukh Khan, is there?”

Riding high on insecurity

2007-02-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

Insecurity makes this man tread his path.
He maybe one of the successful actors the industry has today but he insists that it is the promise of seeing a better tomorrow and the insecurity of its existence makes him gives the best in all the roles he is offered.
In town to promote his upcoming film Ho Sakta Hai, Victor Banerjee takes time off from in front of the camera for a few words on Bollywood. ‘There is no dearth of talent in the industry, the young actors, writers and directors are very promising but the stardom is not always about talent.
“Look at Amitabh Bachchan, a star by all means, but each time he tries to act the way he wants to or thinks he should, the film bombs. The people do not accept him as an actor, he is a star and must stay that way. On the other hand we have Naseer (Naseeruddin Shah) a brilliant actor but he is not considered a star,” he says.
As any other senior actor in Bollywood, he expresses concern over the latest trends of meaningless skinshow. “I am for total nudity, as long as it is well presented.”
His upcoming film Ho Sakta Hai, is being claimed to be the first full-length film on black magic. Despite being a staunch non-believer in the subject, Banerjee was the man in the mind of debutant writer-director Wilson Louis as the grandfather of the child on whom black magic is performed.
“I don’t want to do unconventional roles. It is sad for me that my first film was a Satyajit Ray film. I have been typecast as a serious actor for unconventional roles. Barring a couple of Bengali commercial films where I played an angry young man, I have been restricted to serious roles.”
Bollywood is definitely not his dream destination. “The people working here lack the passion,” he says. “They work on several projects at the same time giving their best to none, once they get a hit film, a series of similar films are made in the hope of a hit. In the West, if a director makes a single flop film he may never get to make another ever again.”
What is it then that makes him stay in Bollywood? He laughs, “I am just visiting, honey. I do not plan to stay.”
Besides Ho Sakta Hai, Victor Banerjee will also be seen in My brother Nikhil, a film on the first AIDS patient in Goa.

The pretty new Pataudi princess

2007-02-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

She maybe a new-comer but she is surely has all it takes to be an estabilished one. Soha Ali Khan, daughter of Nawab pataudi and vetern actor Sharmila Tagore and little sister to Saif Ali Khan, was in the capital as the new brand ambassador of Frankfinn Air Hostess Academy.

Why an Air Hostess academy, when most Bollywood stars and starlets are busy endorsing expensive watches and swanky vehicles? “I believe in the ideas and thins that I endorse,” says Soha who is also an ambassador of Fair and Lovely’s Perfect Radiance range of cosmetics. “I like the company and the product. In the case of Franfinn, I like the institute and the work that they are doing.” A quick addition to that is, “However, I have nothing against endorsing expensive watches and vehicles.”

Though she was highly praised for her performance in her debut film in Bengali, Iti Shrikanto, she does not want to be typecast. “I am not interested in doing only arty films or english films or even regional films, I want to grow as an actress. I have just finished shooting for Rituparno Ghosh’s Antar Mahal with Abhishek Bachchan and Jackie Shroff," where she plays the role of Jackie’s second wife. "Then there is a mainstream hindi film, Dil Maange More with Shahid Kapur, Ayesha Takia and Tulip Joshi and I have also signed up for an english film Yatna by Ragshi Joshi who is based in Los Angeles.

“I have always received a lot of respect from the people I met in Bollywood and I owe it to my parents. I am grateful to them for being there for me,” she says. “Both my parents have been very open-minded and the three of us were always encouraged to do what we believed in.” Soha had been an executive with Citibank, Mumbai before she ventured into films. “My father is far from happy with my decision to join films, but I am stubborn and he can see that I am happy with what I am doing.”

Shedding inhibitions for films is a must. Where does she draw the line? “I do not believe in exposing for the sake of exposing but, if the plot demands it then I may.” So would she be able to do a Jism? “I am uncomfortable about taking off my clothes, maybe I won’t be able to do it.” Maybe? “I studied political science, I am bound to be diplomatic.”

I don't mind doing a Lagaan

2007-02-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

He may not have got a runaway hit registered to his name yet but, he definitely has a carved a niche for himself. From English August to his forthcoming White Noise, Rahul Bose has left lasting impression on Indian minds.
“I did not start my career as an actor as English speaking actors are not paid well here, so I focused on advertising. Gradually the scene changed and English movies started getting made in India, I moved into the line,” he says.
In town for the promotion of White Noise by newcomer Vinta Nanda, Rahul Bose was definitely not his wisecracking self. “90 per cent of Hollywood is crap,” he says. “If you ask me to do a Terminator 3 in Hollywood, I won’t. I am willing to be a disco dancer and dance throughout provided I play a disco dancer. I don’t want to be policeman doing the disco dancer bit. I have done Jhankar Beats and the film has fared far beyond my expectations,” he says.
"In White Noise, I play the role of Karan, who wants to direct a big film some day but gets stuck being a film editor for a studio. He does not like his work there, but that is the only chance he has of his big break. Then a new girl joins the crew, Gauri. Karan can sense the damage in her and they two size each other up and heal each other,” he says.
“I have no favourites in any of the actors I have worked with. I have spent some very memorable moments with all my co-stars,” he says.
As a director though, there are some parameters that he has set. “I look for people who are qualities of honesty, vulnerability, intelligence, sensitivity, intuition and rhythm”. He could cast the entire star cast of Everybody Says I’m Fine at a snap of his fingers but, there are so many others “Naseer, Om, Irfan, Tabu and Konkana, of course and there are so many others”, but not Kareena Kapoor? “She is talented and has a great sense of rhythm, but she fits only some roles.”
Being a director is also a lot more challenging? “You can’t always give the cast the truth. It is important to be tactful,” says Bose.
His upcoming projects include a Bengali film being shot in October, a semi-art Hindi multi-starrer and an English psychological thriller. He is also working on the script of a film that he plans to complete this December and start working on soon after.
But Bollywood and White Noise are not the only things on his mind. “I am working with NGO’s for the cause of communal harmony and gender equality. Twice a month I visit some 80 Muslim girls of a very backward background and talk to them about making their way through life respectfully. It is about a social change that can be brought about gradually. Even I one or two among them can break away, they will make way for more to follow.”

Still pretty garam, Dharam

2007-02-21T08:38:00.000-08:00

There are thousands of paji’s in the world, and then there is Dharam paji. There is no beating him to be up, close and emotional for a cause... or no cause.
In town, to promote the cause of the elderly by launching the “Archies Help Age India” cards at the Windsor, Le Meridien, he hardly looked all of his 50 years. “I have been very health-conscious,” he says when faced with the question of how he maintains himself. “The younger generation has become so health-conscious too. Both my boys visit the gym regularly.”
“I feel the elderly should maintain themselves to be independent till a long time. It is best to restrict your dependance on your children to the least. But, the problems caused by old age and illness cannot be ruled out,” he says.
Coming to the present day times and about his upcoming movie, Kis Kis Ki Kismat where he stars opposite the sensous Mallika Sherawat, he seems pretty kicked, “It is a very amusing storyline. Something on the lines of Chupke Chupke. Govind Menon had come to me with the offer of this film two years back, but I had asked him to work some more on the script. So, when he returned I agreed.”
About the film, “It is the story of a well-placed businessman whose family has the habit of squandering his money. Angered by his wife’s purchase of an expensive necklace he throws it out, only to initate a turn of events that leaves everyone confused,” he says.
About the kissing scene with Mallika Sherawat, “I don’t know where you picked that from. There is no such sequence in the film,” he says.
What about upcoming projects? “I am planning make a film about a man who tries to become an actor but fails. I would like to play the lead role.” As of now, his role as a parliamentarian takes the lead as he heads to his constituency of Bikaner in Rajasthan, where he contested and won elections a few months back.
“You don’t need books or politics to know how to serve. It is an emotion, a respect that comes from within,” he says.

"I am not a bar girl"

2007-02-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

Stunningly stark in her knee-length black gown, Dia Mirza looked well prepared for her meet with the press at the Reliance Webworld in South Extension.
Armed with her new-found confidence, evolving mainly from the bold role that she plays in Tumsa Nahin Dekha, the film she is promoting in the Capital, she takes on the questions posed to her with an air characteristic of the Bhatt camp.
“I don’t play the role of a bar girl. I play the role of Jia, a very sweet, normal girl in Mumbai, who works in bar for her livelihood. I have worn just two sets of sneakers throughout the film and have a very normal, basic kind of a look.”
No sooner said, she puts forward clarifications. “When I was initially approached for the film, I felt apprehensive. But I was given a very interesting way to look at it. I was told that I one visited the outskirts of Mumbai in the morning, you could hardly differentiate between the girls who were walking out after dancing in the bars and the other girls.”
She seems much more at ease than she says she is with the smooch scene that starts the film. “Emraan walks upto me and smooches me on a crowded street,” she giggles. Modesty sets in soon after. “If any girl is placed in that kind of a situation, she will feel very awkward. But, Emraan was very supportive and promised ‘not to trouble me’, she says. “So it turned out to be a very natural shot.”
Her celebrity status has her in two minds. “I find it great to be a celebrity,” she says as she settles into her sofa for a talk and no sooner than a couple of pointed questions she retorts, “This gets really frustrating at times.”
Though her upcoming film list includes Blackmail with Ajay Devgan, Dil Sachcha Chehra Jhootha with Arjun Rampal and Paresh Rawal, Kahin Bhi Kabhi Bhi, Prateeksha and a couple more, she seems more than confident that this film will be a success.
“Sincerity cannot be outdone. If you work hard and the result is good, everyone is happy.”
Of course, with a former Miss India sincerely doing a seductive number in a bar, everyone should be happy.Mahesh Bhatt was at his outrageous best. “I know people say that my film are tittliating, whats the harm? I want to titillate. I want to titillate an adult audience that wants to be titillated. I will not cover it up by showing sex in a temple or potraying sex in the manner of a mother feeding her child.
“This film is one that your grandmothers will ask you to see. I have tried to rekindle the values in the society, this is not another Murder at all. If you ask me I think Emraan’s performance was the best in this film,” he says.
As for Hashmi, who is still waiting to shoulder a solo hit film, “I have been named a smooch king and I don’t mind that. In Murder, it was a strategy that Mallika Sherawat would be highlighted more than Ashmit and me, it is different here,” he says.
At the end of the day, every actor works for a selfish motive. Naming himself a bold lover, he says he has no problems doing a kissing scene.
Asked which of the actors he would like to kiss, “Just get me anyone.”

I am a very shy person: Samira Reddy

2007-02-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

Clad in a safari dress that ended a good many inches above her knees, Samira Reddy was the centre of attraction at the Shopper’s Stop at Gurgaon more for her tantrums than for her two-minute shot.
In town to shoot for an episode of MTV’s Roadies Part 2, the Darna Mana Hai girl was all offended by the uncomfortable bed she had to sit on while waiting for the shoot to happen, not to mention the discomfort of not having the air-conditioning up to the mark.
She was hot, and that was for all to see.
Settling down for an interview with the media persons, she coyly pulls a dupatta from a mannequin nearby, places it across her exposed thighs and says, “If you think my image is that of a bold girl, you are wrong. I am a very shy person.”
“Though my character in Darna Mana Hai was very well accepted by the people, only I know what kind of effort I put in to have that kind of a look,” rued the dusky starlet.
“I have drawn the line for myself and will never cross it.”
So does the line include the hot smooch scene with Anil Kapoor in Musafir? “If I am convinced of the script only then will I be able to convince the audience of its justification,” she says. “Every actor who said she would not take off her clothes has done exactly that. I do not want to do the same.”
Speaking about Musafir, her next film directed by Sanjay Gupta (of Kaante fame), she says, “I have heard a lot of rumours about the film. All I can say is that the speculations are all wrong. But the speculation is doing good for the film’s publicity, so I don’t want to stop it.”
“Musafir is about the journey of Anil Kapoor. It is also my journey within me. In fact, all of us who star in the beginning of the film end up being very different. Everyone has a strong role in the film.” As for her role in the film she says, “I have a lot of shades to my character in the film. My character is that of a very traumatised woman.”
The ongoing skinshow in films is not offensive at all for her. “The audience is bored. They want to see something after which they can go home with a sense of fulfillment. If you give them the same old stories of saas-bahu and the like, they won’t come to watch films anymore.”
Asked what she likes to do except films, “Sitting in a hot, stuffy corner of a crowded mall and answering journalist’s queries.”