Hema Malini unveils Navratri songs on her birthday
Hema Malini unveils Navratri songs on her birthday
Veteran actress and politician Hema Malini celebrated her 72nd birthday on Friday, and her daughters Esha and Ahana Deol took to social media to wish her on the occasion.
“Happy birthday mamma. God bless you. Stay happy and healthy. Love u my super woman, my tinkerbell… my beautiful mother!@dreamgirlhemamalini,” Esha wrote on Instagram, with a picture of her with her mother.
Hema Malini’s younger daughter Ahana, too, posted a birthday wish on social media.
“Happy birthday to the most special person in my life. My mama bear You are deeply loved. Have a wonderful day,” Ahana wished.
Fans wished Bollywood’s Dream Girl, too. From posting Hema Malini’s pictures to sharing scenes from her iconic movies, netizens showered the actress with a lot of love.
‘Dream girl’ Hema Malini turns 72: Daughters, fans shower her with love
“A timeless beauty. Wishing Dreamgirl Hema Malini a very Happy Birthday! @dreamgirlhema,” a user tweeted.
“Wishing a very happy birthday to the veteren actress and the Member of Parliament from Mathura Mrs. Hema Malini. May God bless our forever dreamgirl with healthy and long life so that she continues to serve the country. @dreamgirlhema,” another user wrote on the microblogging site.
Hema Malini has been regaling fans with her dancing skills and acting for over 50 years now. “Seeta Aur Geeta”, “Sholay”, “Dream Girl” and “Satte Pe Satta” are some of her memorable movies. A BJP politican, she is also currently the MP of Mathura.
Unveils Navratri Songs
Hema Malini unveils Navratri songs on her birthday
She added a festive touch to her 72nd birthday celebrations on Friday, by releasing Navratri tracks.
One of the tracks is titled “Durga saptshloki”, which is a collection of shlokas from “Durga saptashati” and is sung by Hema Malini.
In the video of the devotional song, she prays to Goddess Durga.
The song is part of a Virtual Navratri celebration. “Jai ambe gauri and Durga naamavali” by Hema Malini, and “Durga kavach” by singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan have also been released as part of the campaign.
“I have learnt Sanskrit and have been reciting ‘Durga saptashati’ at home. It was a great experience to associate with an all-women team of music composer, Anjali Dayal, and video director, Anuradha Nishad, to come out with ‘Durga saptashloki’, ‘Jai ambe gauri and ‘Durga naamavali’ for this Navratri. It is a blessing that the songs are released on my birthday,” said Hema Malini.
Kareena's mushy note for hubby Saif on 8th wedding anniversary
Kareena’s mushy note for hubby Saif on 8th wedding anniversary
Bollywood couple Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan got married on 16 October eight years ago, and on Friday the actress dropped a mushy message for hubby dearest on social media.
“‘Once upon a time there was a girl named Beboo and a boy named Saifu. They both loved sphagetti (spaghetti) and wine… and lived happily ever after. Now you guys know the key to a happy marriage… On that note, happy anniversary SAKP… here’s to eternity and beyond,” Kareena wrote on Instagram.
Mumbai: Actors Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor arrive with their son Taimur Ali Khan (Photo: IANS)
The couple came close while working together in the 2008 release, “Tashan”. Although the film failed to create fireworks at the box office, it ignited the sparks for Saif and Kareena, who would eventually get married in 2012 after a period of courtship.
They have a son Taimur, who was born on December 20, 2016, and Kareena is currently expecting their second child. She recently wrapped up the shoot of the upcoming Aamir Khan-starrer, “Laal Singh Chaddha”.
Kangana Ranaut completes latest schedule of 'Thalaivi'.
Kangana Ranaut completes latest schedule of ‘Thalaivi’.
Actress Kangana Ranaut has completed the latest schedule of her upcoming film Thalaivi.
Kangana took to Twitter, where she shared a new look from the film. In the monochrome picture, the actress is seen sporting a sari and her hair is tied back into a bun.
Kangana Ranaut completes latest schedule of ‘Thalaivi’.
“With the blessings of Jaya Ma we completed one more schedule of Thalaivi — the revolutionary leader. After corona many things are different but between action and before cut nothing changes. Thank you team,” she wrote.
“Thalaivi” is a biopic of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. The film will be released in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.
Kangana Ranaut completes latest schedule of ‘Thalaivi’.
Kangana gained almost 20 kilos for her role in the film. During lockdown, she took help of her personal trainer to shed the extra kilos.
Kalyani Priyadarshan opens up on shooting sans ‘comfort crew’.
South star Kalyani Priyadarshan says she found it liberating to work on her upcoming Tamil film amidst pandemic without her comfort crew.
Recalling her experience of working in “Putham Pudhu Kaalai, an anthology of five short films, Kalyani told IANS: “The most interesting thing about it was that it was shot during the pandemic, during the lockdown when full on shoots were not happening.”
The unit followed safety measures and ensured not too many people crowded the room, said Kalyani, daughter of renowned filmmaker Priyadarshan.
“As actors, it was an interesting experience. We didn’t have hair and make-up teams or assistants and staff who are part of our comfort crew,” she said.
“A lot of times you are hesitant about stepping into a new film, and not having these people around you. The set is new and people are new. They (comfort crew) just bring the comfort blanket along with them,” she added.
But she had to let go of them due to Covid-19 concerns.
“It was very liberating. You had to take care of yourself. It was interesting to know that all of this was possible, so it was liberating for an actor. But for someone who was part of a crew, I felt it was such a crazy experience because it felt like we were in college making a short film,” said Kalyani.
In fact, shooting for the film over three days were best ones for the actress during lockdown.
“For an actor who has been working like crazy during normal period, this (lockdown) was one of the toughest things I had to go through. In fact, the three days that I shot for this film, were probably my best three days. Otherwise, I was incredibly bored. I am not used to that. I am either travelling or shooting,” she said.
Kalyani added that she enjoyed spending time with family during lockdown though missed “shoot pretty much every single day”.
“Putham Pudhu Kaalai” will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on October 16.
“OTT platforms give accessibility to a lot of people. That gives you more opportunity to show your work to more people and makes you excited about that. Right now, I don’t know who will go to a theatre to watch a film. I would, but that’s only because I am crazy about cinema. A Friday without going to a theatre didn’t exist before. But to most people, I am sure this is a much more accessible platform for films, especially for regional content,” said Kalyani.
Falguni Pathak back with a romantic Navratri song.
Falguni Pathak back with a romantic Navratri song.
Navratri is just round the corner, and singer Falguni Pathak has the perfect song for the festival that takes place later this month.
Composed by Rasbihari Desai and written by Sudhir Desai, Falguni’s latest, “Madhmithu Naam”, is a popular Gujarati song.
“‘Madhmithu Naam’ is undoubtedly a very beautiful composition and one of my all time favourites, always wanted to try singing it. I feel so glad that I am the first to put out the recorded version of this iconic song,” said Falguni.
In the video of the song, Falguni takes on the task of bringing young lovers together.
“It was a lot of fun recording it and shooting for the music video. This Navratri as we will all be celebrating from our homes, this song is just my way of reaching out to everyone who loves music and spread the message of love and hope. Have a happy and safe Navratri”, said the singer.
One of the most recognised faces of Indian comedy, and the mind behind talk show ‘Son of Abish’, Abish Mathew says that COVID-19 forced a lot of creators to go completely digital and it will be difficult for the comedy industry to come back to the live space…Abish speaks with Siddhi Jain.
“Just like a pendulum, we went from a completely live experience to completely digital, doing web series, sketches and shows. Once again, live stand-up was appreciated more than the YouTube stand-up. After the COVID-19 hit, everyone took to the digital space. Coming back to the live arena is going to be different. What that means is, this pandemic will blend the digital and live in a hybrid space,” Abish, who has hosted Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Comicstaan’, told IANSlife.
Speaking about the impact of the ongoing pandemic on the comedy industry, he shared over the phone: “Before COVID-19, we were justifying ourselves by saying industry standards don’t apply to us because we’re artists. As soon as COVID-19 hit, we would see that immediately, everyone evolved. Nobody cribbed, nobody complained. A lot of people were forced to evolve into digital creation, and they have adapted to it really well. That’s when I realised we’re an industry.”
Luckily, Abish’s talk show had been going on for the last six years, and was easy to plug into the digital port because hundreds of viewers were anyway watching the edited version online. “The setback in the live industry was a lot, but thanks to Zoom or video conference platforms, it is recovering very slowly as well. It’s like being back in 2009.”
The show’s seventh season, which was completely home-made, features Shruti Haasan, Kalki Koechlin, Asif Ali, Flying Beast aka Gaurav Taneja, Tanmay Bhat, Kanan Gill and Rahul Subramanian as guests in some of its episodes. Boman Irani and Anubhav Singh Bassi are upcoming guests on the show. While the content proves to be an engaging crowd-puller just like before, the setting of the show has transformed from a set to a video conferencing call.
On making of the seventh season, he says: “Pandemic had set in uncertainty about ‘what we are going to do’, and it has started growing. We were discussing possibilities and, I said, wait, why don’t we do ‘Son of Abish’ ? And my friends and others were like, ‘That’s not a good idea’. I agreed. But, then they said, hold on, ‘It’s your show, you can do what you want. What’s the worst that could happen? I would not get views.’ I’d show people this was done at home, if it doesn’t work. This time around it was a bunch of people, who had this attitude which can be summarised in five words: F*** it, let’s do it.”
“Everyone was doing this entire season for the first time, so there were no expectations, thus no stress. The only deadline was Friday 8 P.M. We, as artists, what we do is we keep editing, editing, adding, adding, colour correcting. You put that effort in movies. Here, the effort was to put out the best version you can. Otherwise, you keep working, and people don’t like it, and your emotion is connected to it. ‘Son of Abish’ is my therapy.”
The hit talk-show, has previously featured stars like Irrfan Khan, Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu, Sonakshi Sinha, Badshah, Vicky Kaushal, Abhay Deol, Radhika Apte, Vishal Dadlani, Vir Das, Jim Sarbh, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Kunal Kamra.
“‘Son Of Abish’ Picks is where we bring new talent and it is an explosive hit. The comments are overwhelmingly about them and a lot of artists are being recognised because of this. Bringing in international artists has expanded the reach of the show. Bringing a huge Pakistani Creator (Irfan Junejo) has sparked a lot of cross border artist collaboration,” he adds.
Abish Mathew has become one of the most sought after comedians and producers in the comedy world. “In the future, these changes will happen — Tier-based seating: You will have broadcast, people watching it on a website online or a software. You have the live experience, which means the closer you are to stage, the more expensive it gets. In the digital show, the differentiation would be like this: people who can only watch the show, people who can be on the same Zoom or Google Hangouts call but not have the right to speak, people who get chat access, people who get a private conversation at the end of the show, and then people who can do screenshots (new-age selfies) ‘backstage’ will be another tier.”
“As an artist, you’d be doing shows with people from San Francisco and from Mumbai, which is why you can’t just do jokes for the people of Bombay. You’d have to make it slightly more global and understand your audience,” Abish said.
After the pandemic, everyone is coming to the realisation that we have an audience which is very wide, he says.
“Our accountability has increased. During the pandemic, I have learnt the names of more of my fans than I have in my entire career. I knew 5-6 people, now I know 20 people who keep coming back to the show. There’s a community finally being built around ‘Son of Abish’, which is a very positive thing. Everyone wants to belong, also the audience and the artist.”
Abish also spoke about content-wise evolution for creators.
“There are two things that can happen: implosion and explosion. In implosion, when you get validation from people who follow your stuff, you only start to create for those people. If you take one million followers, and you create jokes for them, they’d become exclusive super fans. You’d become buddies with them. You make specific art that connects with them. Then there’s an explosion, where I want new people to discover my stuff. It was a numbers game. We’d have to figure whether we have to make implosive or explosive art.
Riteish Deshmukh gives up non-veg food, black coffee, aerated drinks
Riteish Deshmukh gives up non-veg food, black coffee, aerated drinks
Actor Riteish Deshmukh has given up non-vegetarian food, black coffee and aerated drinks for a cause.
Earlier this year, Riteish and his wife Genelia D’Souza had pledged to donate their organs.
“I have given up non-vegetarian food, black coffee and aerated drinks. I want to keep my body healthy. And eventually, when the time comes for donating my organs, people should say, ‘Jaate jaate healthy organs chhod kar gaya’ (he left healthy organs),” said Riteish.
Actors Genelia Dehmukh and Riteish Deshmukh
He also shared about how he and his wife decided to donate organs.
“We (Genelia and Riteish) have been thinking about this (organ donation) for a few years now. During this lockdown, we got a lot of time to think about what we should do. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of information on organ donation like where to go and how to go about the process,” said the actor while supporting Dr. Sunil Shroff on the Karamveer Special episode of “Kaun Banega Crorepati”.
“One day we both decided to make a video and said that we want to go out there and donate whatever possible,” he added.
Popular actress of southern films, Kajal Aggarwal, is all set to marry entrepreneur Gautam Kitchlu on October 30 in Mumbai. The actress took to Instagram to share the news with fans in a long note she posted on Tuesday.
“I said yes”, she headlined her note, which read: “It gives me immense joy to share that I am getting married to Gautam Kitchlu, on October 30, 2020 in Mumbai, in a small, private ceremony surrounded by our immediate families. This pandemic has certainly shed a sobering light on our joy, but we are thrilled to start our lives together and know that all of you will be cheering us on in spirit. I thank you for all the love you have showered upon me over the years and we seek your blessings as we embark upon this incredible new journey. I will still continue doing what I cherish the most – entertaining my audience – now, with a whole new purpose and meaning. Thank you for your unending support.”
Congratulations have poured in on social media from friends, colleagues and fans.
Vishnu Manchu, Kajal Aggarwal play siblings in ‘Mosagallu’
“Congratulations Kajal. Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness,” Hansika Motwani commented.
“Many many congratulations love,” actress Mehreen commented.
Kajal is best known for her roles in “Magadheera”, “Kavacham”, “Arya 2”, “Thuppaki”, and ” Paris Paris”. In Bollywood, she has been seen in “Singham” and “Special 26”.
Bollywood actress Tara Sutaria believes that girls should leave their hair in its natural form. “Keep it simple, natural and be mindful of what you’re putting in your hair,” asserts Tara, who is the new face of St. Botanica.
The “Student of the Year 2” star will be endorsing the brand’s haircare range. In a short interview with us, Tara shares her haircare regime and suggests way to prevent problems. Excerpts:
What’s your haircare routine like?
Most of the time when we’re shooting, our hair tends to get rough due to the usage of lots of styling products. So I like to follow a basic haircare routine at home, after washing my hair, I leave it to air-dry. I prefer wrapping my head in a hot towel, apart from being very calming, it makes the hair softer. Another essential practice is oiling, it makes my hair feel great.
Mumbai: Actress Tara Sutaria (Photo: IANS)
Your go-to haircare hack?
My go-to haircare hack that I used to do as a child was applying yoghurt to my scalp and hair which helps make the hair soft, silky and smooth. Yoghurt is an ingredient that is available in every household, so I’d recommend everyone to use it.
Haircare tips you’d like to share
Best hair care tips I’d like to share are that as far as possible leave your hair in its natural form, it’s the most beautiful. The more we try to style it with products/equipment, it can really damage the hair and it’s bad in the long run. Because I’m in an industry that requires me to do so much of it, I’ve realised the goodness of simple products hence being a part of St. Botanica has opened my eyes towards sustainable and natural formulas that work for the hair. So keep it simple, natural and be mindful of what you’re putting in your hair.
This is the first time I’ve been associated with a haircare brand, it feels great and I’m happy to be associated with St. Botanica and learn so much about natural haircare. I love what they stand for – simple, natural and healthy hair.
It’s so amazing to go back to the basics. It’s not every day you come across brands that stand for sustainable, paraben-free formulas. I’m proud to be associated with them and completely resonate with their philosophy. Being an all-Natural brand that offers plant-based formulas, it’s great for our hair that takes us back to the old times when people took care of their hair in a simpler way.
Srishti Jain: Acting felt like a far-fetched dream.
Srishti Jain: Acting felt like a far-fetched dream.
Srishti Jain, who is currently playing the lead role in the show Hamari Wali Good News, says becoming an actor felt like a far-fetched dream.
“I was always fascinated with acting and really wanted to become an actor, but at the same time, it always felt like a far-fetched dream. Owing to the fact that I belong to a family of engineers and doctors, my family was always very sceptical of the industry,” she said.
“My father got a job in Mumbai, and we shifted. I felt like destiny has bought me closer to my dream. That’s when I built up the courage to talk to my parents. I wona¿t lie, it took some time but eventually they agreed. I guess they realised how passionate I was about acting,” she added.
Her struggle didn’t end there.
“The real struggle began when I started auditioning, I knew nothing about the industry or how to go about things. I can account for at least three years of countless auditions while managing my college and lectures. I remember I would travel by metro in those days. It wasn’t easy and there were times when people around me laughed at me, they would taunt me for being stupid and chasing after something that wasn’t guaranteed,” she recalled.
“When I got my first break, I quit design college. That was a huge decision and I was advised against it by everyone, but my parents supported me. Today, I’m glad I took that step, I wouldn’t have been here today without that. Then I pursued my graduation in psychology through correspondence while shooting for my show. God has been great to me and I’m very thankful,” she said.
Talking about her show and her role of Navya, she said: “The show is very interesting. It’s unique, fresh and progressive. Navya is a girl-next-door, she’s strong-headed and believes in standing up for what’s right and voicing her opinion. She’s full of life. She got married quite early because of family pressure. She’s 23 years old and is still a child at heart. But at the same time, she’s mature. She’s always happy and never really gets upset. She also loves everyone.”
