Actress Adah Sharma, who is set to make her debut in the web space with a series titled "The Holiday", has got her hair coloured in three layers -- purple, pink and orange.
Actress Adah Sharma, who is set to make her debut in the web space with a series titled “The Holiday”, has got her hair coloured in three layers — purple, pink and orange.
Actress Adah Sharma wants her characters to be of importance in a script, even if she plays a demure girl running around the trees.
“I would love to be running around trees and I love to play the demure girl, which I have played in a few of my south films. My point was even if I am a demure girl or running around trees, I want that to be important in the script,” Adah told IANS.
“Whatever I am doing I want that to be important to the script. So, for me picking a role is not (about) sweet girl or bad girl,” she explained.
What does she for while taking up a script? “I want it (the character) to be important to the plot. If you take away the character from the story, will the story still work? Sometimes I do movies where, yes, if you remove the character the story would still work. but take the effort to make my character a memorable one,” she said.
Ram Charan listens to only credible information. (Photo: Durga Chakravarty/IANS)
Ram Charan completes 13 years as actor, says he ‘cherished every bit of it’.
Telugu star Ram Charan completed 13 years as an actor on Monday. He says while he has had his share of hits and misses, he has cherished every bit of it…reports Asian Lite News.
Son of superstar Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan made his debut as an actor in 2007 with the film “Chirutha”, directed by Puri Jagannadh. The film revolves around Charan, a young man in pursuit of the gangster who murdered his parents.
To mark the completion of 13 years, the actor shared a poster of the film and wrote: “Can’t believe it’s already been 13 years. Great highs and a few lows, I’ve cherished every bit of it. Thank you my dearest fans for always standing by me. Humbled by Your love! Promise to work hard for u guys.”
He added that he remembers every single day of “Chirutha” just like yesterday.
“Thank you @PuriJagannadh Garu, @VyjayanthiMovies, nehasharmaofficial, Mani Sharma garu and the whole team. And Happy Birthday Puri Jagan garu !!!” he wrote.
Ram Charan /IANS)
Ram Charan will be seen in “Baahubali” director SS Rajamouli’s next big-ticket film, “RRR”. The mega-budget film stars Ram Charan along with Jr. NTR and Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn. The film also features international actors Ray Stevenson, Allison Doody and Samuthirakani.
The period drama narrates a fictitious tale based on the life of Telugu freedom fighters, Alluri Seetharama Raju and Komaram Bheem. Unconfirmed reports have stated that the film is being produced at an estimated budget of Rs 450 crore.
Kangana: Fashion is nothing but freedom of expression
Actress Kangana Ranaut has shared how her fashion sense has evolved over the years, and defines fashion as freedom of expression.
Kangana took to Twitter and posted then and now photos. In one photo, she is seen wearing a frock and a pearl necklace. In another, she is sitting in the front row of a fashion show.
Explaining how her fashion has evolved over the years, she tweeted: “When I was a little girl I decorated myself with pearls, cut my own hair, wore thigh high socks and heels. People laughed at me.”
Kangana: Fashion is nothing but freedom of expression
“From being a village clown to attending front rows of London, Paris, New York Fashion weeks I realised fashion is nothing but freedom of expression,” she wrote.
Kangana has in the past used her stardom to promote Indian fashion. Earlier this month, she spoke about how we draw inspiration from Europe or Japan for fashion, but handlooms in India are often ignored.
Mumbai: Actress Tamannah Bhatia at the shoot of celebrity make-up artist Lekha Gupta's Amazon Beauty Vanity Diaries show in Mumbai, on June 25, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
Mumbai: Actress Tamannah Bhatia (Photo: IANS)
Actress Tamannah Bhatia is excited to reprise the role of Tabu in the Telugu remake of the Hindi thriller, “Andhadhun”.
“I’ve always been an ardent fan of Tabu’s work and it is such an honour to reprise a role played by her. The original film has this psychological influence on people and succeeded in inducing a sense of curiosity. What I personally loved about the original film was the brilliance of the script and the screenplay. It had no hero or no villain,” she said.
Actor Nithin will reprise Ayushmann Khurrana’s National Award-winning role in the Telugu remake.
Tabu
“It is a very unconventional casting and I have always wanted to do a film that is entertaining, while it has moments of darkness. Lately, I have started taking an incline towards films that embody a sense of individualism, that are less scared of convention and much more stimulating. This is the first time I will be collaborating with Nithiin and he is one the few people in Telugu industry I have never worked with previously. So, I am quite looking forward to this project,” Tamannaah added.
“Andhadhun”, a black comedy crime thriller directed by Sriram Raghavan, has Ayushmann playing a piano player who pretends to be blind and whose life is thrown in a tizzy when he becomes witness to the murder of an aged film actor by the latter’s wife and her lover.
The Telugu version is being directed by Merlapaka Gandhi.
Mumbai: Actress Divya Dutta at a party organised to celebrate the success of the film "Andhadhun" after the film won Best Film award at the 66th National Film Awards, in Mumbai on Aug 21, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
Divya Dutta.
Actress Divya Dutta, who has completed 26 years in the entertainment industry, celebrated her birthday quietly with loved ones at home on September 25…reports Asian Lite News.
Divya started out as a mainstream Bollywood actress in the mid-nineties but made heads turn for the first time with a small but impactful role in Pamela Rooks’ 1998 screen adaptation of Khushwant Singh’s novel, “Train To Pakistan”. Over the years, she has carved a niche as a vesatile performer who can impress in commercial as well as arthouse cinema.
In conversation with IANS, the 2018 National Award (Best Supporting Actress) winner for her role in “Irada” looks back at the films that changed her career completely.
Veer Zaara (2004)
Recalling the Yash Chopra film, Divya said: “By that time I had worked in a few films but the amount of recognition that I got because of ‘Veer Zaara’, never happened before. Like many others, I have grown up watching Yash Chopra’s iconic films and in my dreams, I also wanted to be a YRF heroine! Of course, that did not happen with ‘Veer Zaara’ but the way Yash Chopra ji introduced me to the commercial cinema space and the recognition I got was surreal!”
“These days, everyone is doing substantial roles that are not so-called ‘lead roles’, nowadays the word ‘character actor’ is outdated. But 15 years ago, it was a risk for me — what if I get typecast? Everyone remembered Shabbo, though there were three superstars in the film.”
Delhi 6 (2009)
“That was the first time I have got a chance to work with Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehra and it was a completely different character from Shabbo. My look, my dialogues, the section of society that the character represents — everything was an integral part of the story. It was so satisfactory,” recalled Divya. In the film, she played a sweeper named Jalebi, who comes from a lower caste and is untouchable.
Mumbai: Actress Divya Dutta at Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival, in Mumbai on Oct 22, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013) “It was such a well-written character. It was the biopic on one man but the character of his sister and her contribution in his journey is so intertwined that it became a brother-sister story! I not only got positive reviews for that role but love, admiration and reverence.”
Badlapur (2013)
“The character graph of Shobha that I had in the film, some of the crucial scenes with Varun (Dhawan) in the story, and the way the equation between the two changes, was all so deliciously written! (Director) Sriram (Raghavan) is such a brilliant filmmaker. I think that film was also very important in my career because, again, with a superstar like Varun Dhawan in a film, we reached out to a different set of audience that otherwise I do not get a chance to with films that are close to my heart,” said the actress.
“Badlapur” also featured Yami Gautam, Radhika Apte, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vinay Pathak.
“Special 26” (2013) and “Ramsingh Charlie” (2020)
Apart from these films that gave her a wide exposure to the mainstream audience, Divya cites two films that are very close to her heart — “Special 26” (2013) and “Ramsingh Charlie”, which dropped digitally a few weeks ago.
Mumbai: Actress Divya Dutta at a party organised to celebrate the success of the film “Andhadhun” after the film won Best Film award at the 66th National Film Awards, in Mumbai on Aug 21, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
“During the shoot of both these films I had to unlearn a lot in order to play these characters. Neeraj Pandey (director of ‘Special 26’) and Nitin Kakkar (‘Ramsingh Charlie’) have very different styles of working, and I had nervous energy on the first day of shoot. I think that is good energy, which made me push to an extent to bring out my best. So, these two films are very very special!” said Divya.
Raghav Juyal reveals his process of turning evil on screen
Raghav Juyal
Actor-dancer and TV host Raghav Juyal aspires to do a great role in the romance genre, but says he is not the son of a bigtime producer or director and is neither from Bollywood.
Raghav rose to fame in 2003 with his performances on the dance-based show “Dance India Dance 3”. He was then seen in films revolving around the concept of dance, such as “ABCD2” and “Street Dancer 3D”.
Is there anything else he aspires to do? “I am playing an antagonist in ‘Abhay 2′. It is something I wanted to try once, and it happened suddenly. Now I want to try romance — something like ‘Rockstar’ and ‘Tamasha’. I will try for something like this and give auditions. It’s all about the timing. I am not the son of some producer or director nor am I from Bollywood, so that if I say I want to do this it will get done,” Raghav told.
When Raghav Juyal wore his mother’s suit during lockdown
“Obviously, it is a benefit to be a star kid,” he added.
He says he gives a lot of auditions, which is good as he is learning a lot. “But you cannot take away the fact that Ranbir Kapoor is the greatest actor we have. I know that he has a Bollywood background but despite what is being said about nepotism right now, you cannot take away the fact. He is one of the greatest actors I have seen in Indian cinema,” he said.
“Abhay 2” had a staggered release over the past weeks, and all episodes will finally be available at once on Zee5 on September 29, when the final episodes stream.
Mumbai: Actress Radhika Madan seen at Bandra, in Mumbai on March 10, 2020. (Photo: IANS)
Mumbai: Actress Radhika Madan seen at Bandra, in Mumbai on March 10, 2020. (Photo: IANS)
Actress Radhika Madan says she drew inspiration to join films from superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Radhika was a well-known face in the television industry before she won plaudits with her film roles. She was seen in the television show “Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi” and also participaite din the reality dance contest, “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 8”. In 2018, she made her Bollywood debut with Vishal Bhardwaj’s “Pataakha”, and there has been no looking back.
“I was quite well known in TV, but I had to start from scratch while starting my journey in Bollywood. It was not that I got roles immediately. I had to give several auditions. I had to start from the very beginning. I even heard a lot of negative comments about myself. But those remarks did not stop me from moving ahead. I believed in my dreams,” Radhika tol.
Mumbai: Actress Radhika Madan at the red carpet of Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival in Mumbai on Oct 17, 2019. (Photo: IANS)
“I used to say to myself, ‘If Shah Rukh (Khan) sir or Vidya (Balan) ma’m or Sushant (Singh Rajput) could do it, I can too. Their journeys inspired me a lot. They all came from television background. I feel the medium does not matter. What truly matters is hard work,” Radhika shared.
She recalled working on her debut film “Pataakha”, saying: “It was not a typical Bollywood debut. The film let go off my inhibitions. From getting my hair bleached and teeth stained to gaining 12 kilos, the movie taught me the real meaning of my craft and made me realise how important it is to put the character above yourself. It was a dream debut. Working with Vishal sir was always on my wish list. (I) Couldn’t have asked for more,” Radhika added about her debut film, which also features Sanya Malhotra and Vijay Raaz.
Just a few weeks, ago that filmmaker Shekhar Kapur shared that he was impressed with the amazing new acting talents that the OTT space has been introducing to the world. The audience is with him on this. Take a look at actors who have grabbed maximum eyeballs in the digital space, emerging as the new OTT stars:
AMIT SADH
The former “Bigg Boss” contestant began as a television actor in 2002 and later entered Bollywood with “Phoonk 2” in 2010. “Kai Po Che” brought him fame and he went on to feature in films like “Sultan” and “Gold”. Now, he is one of the favourites in the digital space as he got a thumbs up for his role as Inspector Kabir Sawant over two seasons of the web series “Breathe”. He was then seen as an army officer in the web series “Avrodh: The Siege Within”. For him, it seems like the thrill to do a web series is still on as he is currently giving his all for the upcoming web series, “Zidd”.
Indian OTT develops its star system .
PANKAJ TRIPATHI
The actor, who has a theatre background, is commonly seen in Bollywood films. Be it comic or villainous roles in films like “Stree”, “Bareilly Ki Barfi” and “Gangs Of Wasseypur”, he has done it all. But it’s his role of power-hungry Guruji in the web series “Sacred Games” that made him talk of the town. The audience also loved him as gangster Kaleen Bhaiyya in the web series, “Mirzapur”. He is now set to reprise the role in the season two of series. In the digital space, the “Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl” actor had also played a lawyer in “Criminal Justice”.
Indian OTT develops its star system .
AKSHAY OBEROI
The actor, who was seen in some interesting films like “Pizza” and “Gurgaon”, is currently being lauded for playing a menacing dark character in the web series, “Flesh”. The actor will also be seen as the main antagonist in the web series “7th Sense”. The “Illegal” actor has another series titled “Magic” in his kitty, apart from films like “KTina” and the Hindi remake of “Thiruttu Payale 2”.
Indian OTT develops its star system .
NAMIT DAS
He was the cute college friend of Ranbir Kapoor in the film “Wake Up Sid”, but it was the digital platform that brought out his versatility. Namit, who started his journey on TV with the show “Pancham”, and got noticed with the TV series “Sumit Sambhal Lega”, has utilised the web space to step out of ‘the good guy’ zone, notably the show, “Mafia”. He played Jawahar, a character with grey shades with aplomb in the web series “Aarya”, which starred Sushmita Sen. He also featured in the crime thriller of “Abhay”.
TANUJ VIRWANI
He is one actor who has been shooting for web series back-to-back. After making his debut in 2013 with the film “Luv U Soniyo”, he appeared in films like “Purani Jeans” and “One Night Stand”. But Tanuj really became a household name once he ventured into OTT zone. The first season of the cricket-based drama “Inside Edge” released in 2017. Following this, he got flooded with digital projects and his presence in the web world has only grown. He got to play integral roles in “Code M” and “Poison”. He also has “Kamathipura”, “7th Sense” and “Line Of Fire”. In addition, he has “Inside Edge 3” coming up, where he will be seen revisiting his character of a star cricketer from the earlier seasons.
RADHIKA APTE
Indian OTT develops its star system .
Although she said that while choosing projects, the platform does not matter, she is famously called the “Netflix girl” by netizens due to her association with the OTT platform. Radhika, who has acted in films such as “Badlapur”, “Phobia”, “Pad Man” and “Andhadhun”, had starred in three Netflix projects — the anthology film “Lust Stories”, the series “Sacred Games” and the limited series “Ghoul” — all released in 2018. The platform’s love for Radhika continued this year too. Before the release of her film, “Raat Akeli Hai” in July, Netflix India tweeted: “Crying happy tears because Radhika Apte is going to be in a Netflix original again.”
MITHILA PALKAR
The actress with curly locks is popular for her lead role in the web series “Little Things”. Now, known as a digital sensation, Mithila was also loved for featuring in the online video “Confusing Things A Girl Says”. The “Karwaan” actress also starred in the series “Girl In The City”.
SHWETA TRIPATHI SHARMA
She gained prominence for playing an upper caste girl in the 2015 film “Masaan”. She went on to do a couple of films, but caught attention of fans with her act in the series “Mirzapur”. In fact, she will be reprising her role as Golu in the much-awaited “Mirzapur 2”. She also showed her versatility in web series like “Made in Heaven” and “The Gone Game”, and the web movie, “Cargo”.
RASIKA DUGAL
Indian OTT develops its star system .
She has featured in critically acclaimed films such as “Qissa”, “Manto” and “Hamid”, but what made her a household name was the web series “Mirzapur”, in which she played the bold Beena Tripathi. Her role of a young cop in “Delhi Crime” added to her popularity. She also starred in “Out Of Love”, which revolved around marriage, infidelity and insecurity. She will soon start shooting for its second season.
SHRIYA PILGAONKAR
Shriya began her movie career with the 2013 Marathi film “Ekulti Ek”. After “Un plus une”, she was seen in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer “Fan”. But it was her role of Sweety in the web series “Mirzapur” that put the spotlight on her. Her latest digital series “Crackdown” has just released, and she was more than happy to do it as it let her explore the action genre. Apart from this, she also shot from home for the digital thriller series “The Gone Game” during lockdown.
Lockdown is helping me design new choreographies: Ashley Lobo.
Ashley Lobo.
Indian-Australian choreographer Ashley Lobo, who is also the founder and artistic director of Danceworx Academy and Navdhara Theatre, says that for dancers, dance is the workout and their gym and naturally, their fitness companion.
The noted choreographer speaks to IANSlife on achieving mental and physical health through dance. Excerpts:
Dancing comes naturally to everyone from a baby to an adult. How does it spark mental and physical joy?
Yes, that is true, dancing is a natural movement and because it connects the mind and body it sparks mental and physical joy. You don’t need to be the perfect dancer, you have to just want to move your body. Close yourself to everything else, play the music you like and sway away. Dance helps you liberate yourself and it is what makes you feel happy. Today the world has come to a standstill, we are all in shock and dance can help keep the calm and balance our bodies and minds. Dance, for yourself, dance because it is the most natural thing for us to do.
Being a dancer yourself, your thoughts ln dance being a fitness companion as well?
When you exercise, be it dance or any other form, you become flexible and that is the first step in staying healthy. Dance also builds strength and stamina which are other requirements to keep fit and healthy. Also, do not forget, dance helps you ease out socially and sociability is quite another way of staying in the groove. For dancers, dance is the workout and their gym and naturally their fitness companion.
Lockdown is helping me design new choreographies: Ashley Lobo.
Dancing is the best cardio workout. Do you agree?
Cardio has been designed to increase your heart rate and sweat you out – what one does in dance is a form of cardio like aerobics was a craze years ago. Dance helps keeps the muscles moving and the heart is ultimately a muscular organ so inevitably dance helps it stay conditioned. Dance also gives the body strength training – which is important to keep your heart healthy. Not to forget that dance gives the body flexibility which is a way to keep your movement smooth and comfortable. And most importantly, dancing is also fun and a happy person means a happy heart. Speaking about your technique Prana Paint, how is it an exercise in spirituality and holistic health?
Prana Paint is a technique that involves a unique sensitizing approach through yoga, breath, connectivity and touch. Prana is a Sanskrit word for life force or energy. The key in this technique is to listen to the body rather than tell it and, to allow rather than to create. It involves various experiential exercises from floor to skin to air that are used to get the person closer to accepting themselves fully and activate the prana flow.
In our world today, we need to look at things that matter more closely than chase things which are not meant to be. Prana Paint helps you to adopt a more expansive approach to listen to yourself – which is your body and mind and calms you to do what is best.
Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan is among the most comfortable superstars to work with, says Priya Patil, his stylist on Kaun Banega Crorepati.
Talking about Bachchan’s preferences when it comes to clothing, Priya said: “The format of the show (KBC) is that it is an evening show and we have been using the three-piece suits for the last three years. He carries it well, so that remains the same. This season, I am following deep colours like black, wine, purple because Mr. Bachchan likes to keep it classy and knows how to carry it off. So, the attire is going to be consistent.”
“Mr. Bachchan is one of the most comfortable superstars to work with. He is always open to trying new things. When I had introduced him to the tie idea last year, he accepted the theme and I garnered appreciation from many other people, too. This year I am using collar pins and brooches and again, he has been open about it,” she added.
She feels that Bachchan is “such a style icon, whatever he wears, becomes a trend,” and adds: “He is a legend, really”.
The 12th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati will premiere on Monday, on Sony Entertainment Television.