Hailing from Bihar, Manoj is an example of how an outsider can make it big in the film industry…reports Asian Lite News
Actor Manoj Bajpayee undoubtedly churns out good films every year but he knows very well how to balance out the limelight by staying low-key with his personal life. In a recent conversation Manoj called himself a private person and also talked about how “shyness is an aspect” of his personality.
“(In childhood) I was stubborn and I was shy… I am still that sort of a person today till I get comfortable and I am able to open up. That shyness is an aspect of me,” he said on the sidelines of the 54th International Film Festival of India in Goa. The ‘Satya’ star also shared that he does not like to talk about himself so much in public.
“When you work you have to talk to people, give interviews…so everyone is not aware about that aspect of yours …everybody thinks that you know it is very easy for me to talk but no it is not. I am giving interviews I take it as a job and I have to do it well. I am a very private person. I don’t like to talk about my life …I don’t like to get out from my home …I don’t like giving interviews. I feel tired talking about myself … I get exhausted. I like to talk about other people, other filmmakers and actors more than myself,” Manoj emphasised.
Hailing from Bihar, Manoj is an example of how an outsider can make it big in the film industry. His current stardom is a result of decades of hard work, underlined by hits, crushing failures and most importantly his never-say-die attitude. Reflecting on his journey in the Indian film industry, he said,” I believe it is a miracle…a boy from a village has spent 30 years in this industry. I have done a lot of work it is nothing short of a miracle.
With a big smile on his face, Manoj described his journey as “extraordinary”. “My story is not an ordinary story it is extraordinary because for a village person to come this far you need blessings from God…you need some kind of miracle to happen because it has not been easy and it is still not easy but people don’t understand they always see the end part of it they don’t see the journey,” Manoj shared. (ANI)
Shah Rukh will be next seen in the upcoming action thriller film ‘Jawan’ which is all set to hit the theatres on September 7. Helmed by Atlee, the film also stars Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead roles…reports Asian Lite News
Shah Rukh Khan is called the King for a reason. The actor – who has been entertaining millions since 1988 has created a niche for himself in the Bollywood industry. SRK’s journey is an inspiration for all his fans.On Monday, the ‘Pathaan’ actor conducted an #AskSRK session on Twitter, where he answered all his fan’s questions. When a user asked him about his journey in the film industry by coming from a middle-class background. “Sir coming from a middle-class background how difficult was this journey for you?”
To which King Khan responded, “Life overall has been very good to me. Audience and everyone have given too much love…so not difficult at all really.”
Shah Rukh Khan has a great sense of humour and mostly throws witty replies while being questioned. His humour only gets better and better. On Monday, he gave a hilarious reply to a fan who asked him what he has and what other actors don’t.
Pathaan actor conducted an #AskSRK session on Twitter to engage with his fans directly. During the interaction, one user asked, “What do you have or other actors don’t.” Replying to this SRK, he said, “Mere paas DDLJ hai….KKHH hai, Devdas hai Swades hai Chak se India hai…Pathan hai…Om Shanti Om hai….ohh need to stop showing off!! Ha ha”
Mere paas DDLJ hai….KKHH hai, Devdas hai Swades hai Chak se India hai…Pathan hai…Om Shanti Om hai….ohh need to stop showing off!! Ha ha https://t.co/FE7JRfjHJB
Meanwhile, on the work front, Shah Rukh made his comeback after a hiatus of 4 years with Siddharth Anand’s action thriller film ‘Pathaan’ which was released in January this year. The film also starred Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in the lead roles. It is the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time.
SRK’s charismatic personality radiates in the massive fan following. The superstar has given the audience memorable films like ‘Baazigar’, ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’, ‘Veer Zara’, and many more. Shah Rukh made his comeback after a hiatus of 4 years with Siddharth Anand’s action thriller film ‘Pathaan’ which was released in January this year.The film also starred Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in the lead roles. It is the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time.The film is now ready to release in dubbed versions across Russia and CIS countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.As per a statement shared by YRF, the dubbed version will release on July 13 across 3000+ screens.
Shah Rukh will be next seen in the upcoming action thriller film ‘Jawan’ which is all set to hit the theatres on September 7. Helmed by Atlee, the film also stars Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead roles. The film is billed as an event film with high-octane action sequences. Shah Rukh’s production company Red Chillies Entertainment has produced it. Apart from that, he also has director Rajkumar Hirani’s next ‘Dunki’ opposite actor Taapsee Pannu. The official release date of ‘Dunki’ is still awaited. (ANI)
Big and small stars are all making a bee line to bid goodbye to perhaps the most- loved actor…reports Asian Lite News
Innocent, one of the most popular actors of the Malayalam film industry, died here in Kerala on Sunday night. He was 75.
He was admitted to a private hospital in Kochi on March 3.
The former MP — a two-time cancer survivor, had contracted Covid and later suffered from pneumonia that eventually led to his death.
His body will be taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor stadium in Ernakulam at 6.30 a.m. on Monday morning. The body will be kept there for three hours.
From the stadium, his body will be taken to his native place Iringalakkuda where the funeral will be held in the evening.
The veteran actor who had acted in around 700 movies and produced many of them was a comedian and a character actor.
He had won from the Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 as a CPI-M candidate, and had been quite a “significant voice” in the Parliament while representing the constituency.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his condolence message said: “Innocent, through his natural acting had entered the hearts of people. He was also a good social worker. He has stamped his presence in all the areas of film industry and had performed as a comedian, character actor and producer.”
Vijayan also offered condolences to the bereaved family of the actor.
Innocent has written a popular Malayalam book, ‘Cancer Wardile Chiri’ or ‘Smile in Cancer Ward’. Innocent entered the Malayalam film industry with the movie ‘Nrithasala’ directed by Mohan, one of the most popular Malayalam directors.
Innocent was also the president of Association of Malayalam Movie Actors (AMMA) — an organisation for Malayalam actors.
He headed the AMMA for 18 years.
He also worked towards the development of a pension scheme for the retired Malayalam actors.
Innocent won the state award for the best actor in the movie, ‘Mazhavilkavadi’.
Malayalam superstar Mamooty, Jayaram, and several other top actors of the Malayalam film industry are present in the hospital where he passed away.
Kerala Minister for Higher Education, R. Bindu also condoled his death.
Smile of Innocent immortalised in movies
Loved and adored by one and all, the radiant and innocent smile of one of Kerala’s most popular film actors Innocent, will now be immortalised through the more than 700 films that he acted in a career that spanned over 50 years.
Seventy-five year-old Innocent, who won millions of hearts with his comedic style, was never tied down due to his deficiencies. He often took pride in his educational career, which got over in Class 8 and every time he spoke about it, ripples of laughter ran through the crowd.
He often said it was because of his brief stint as a student, that he was able to win the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from his home constituency Chalakudy in Thrissur district trouncing veteran Congress law-maker P.C.Chacko.
Soon after winning the elections, he was felicitated at a school in his hometown-Irinjalakuda. “If you want to become an MP or MLA, you should study in the same class for at least a few years. I owe my victory to the half a dozen schools where I studied and sat in every class for two or three years and hence all my classmates voted for me, as they know me very well,” he said, evoking laughter among the students.
Another memorable speech that always made the audience laugh out loud was his hilarious account of how the then Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan liked him a lot, while that was not the case with M.B.Rajesh (the present Kerala State Minister for Local Self Govt).
The innocent smile of Innocent, will now be seen only in reel life.
“She was extremely fond of me as I never uttered a word in the House because I had no clue of what to speak as I did not know Hindi, while Rajesh used to speak a lot,” he would say.
However, in 2019, he could not repeat the winning formula and lost to Congress leader Benny Behanan.
Even the diagnosis of cancer in 2014 could not dampen his spirit and he fought the disease bravely only to return to his passion –acting for sometine. Though he had a relapse, he out-lived that too and returned to acting in 2020.
The role that he found more challenging than his stint as an MP was being the president of the Association of Malayalam Movies (AMMA) for an uninterrupted term of 18 years. Handling actors and actresses (known for their massive egoes) was never but he his amazing sense of humour always came to his rescue. “I had the knack of lacing the most serious and at times not-so-pleasant decisions with humour, which many a times saved the situation from turing ugly and explosive,” he would say.
That he was so much loved and adored by his colleagues was established by the tearful farewell by his colleagues at an Indoor stadium where his body has been kept.
Big and small stars are all making a bee line to bid goodbye to perhaps the most- loved actor.
While superstar Mammootty was at the hospital, the whole of Sunday on hearing that Innocent was sinking, Mohanlal, presently shooting in Rajasthan, is scheduled to arrive later in the day to bid him goodbye.
He often used to say he was never ever born with a silver spoon, but started his film career with a remuneration of a mere Rs 15 at the then Madras, which was the capital city of Malayalam cinema and there were times he felt he might not make it and one occasion returned back, but only to go back again.
But his perseverance paid off and at times he used to say that in those hard times, when he used to see actor Sukumaran (father of popular star Prithviraj and Indrajeeth) arrive on an ambassador car, will he also own one.
Ever since the tragic news of his passing broke out late Sunday night, all roads in Kerala now lead to Kochi and then to Irinjalakuda, where the funeral will be held on Tuesday at his family Church.
Condolences have also started to pour in and practically every political leader who matters in Kerala have either sent their condolences or personally paid tributes to him with their presence.
The very fact that several have shared their loving actor’s picture on their status in mobile phones reflects how Innocent had made a place in the people’s hearts through his impeccable acting skill and a radiant smile.
Soman feels it is important to choose one’s exercise based on goals considering everybody has his/her strengths and weaknesses. “You need to identify the latter and work on it as weaknesses amplify with age if nothing is done to arrest them.”…writes Sukant Deepak
How does it feel to be the most good-looking man in the room? “Well, doesn’t everyone like to be appreciated? But believe me, people want to meet me thanks to the fitness level I have maintained,” he smiles.
Actor and model Milind Soman, who was in Chandigarh on Sunday for Gilco’s ‘Run for Health Marathon’, and was recently seen in the movie ‘Lakadbaggha’ stresses that cinema is not really high on his priority list. “It is happiness that I value most.”
And this is something he wants to deal with in his next book. Soman, who wrote ‘Made In India’ tells that several publishers have been pushing him to write another one – on fitness and health, but it is ‘happiness’ that he wants to explore in his next one. “I am glad we have started talking a little more about mental health. There is a debate on what is more important, but they are both interconnected, and that is something I would like to focus on – practical tips and understanding. Also, let us not forget that fitness means different things for different people.”
For someone who exercises 20 minutes a day, fitness is all about doing a little bit every day and not going overboard. He feels that the mindset with regard to fitness, especially after the Pandemic has changed. “It is also a very new topic. Around 60 years back, nothing was needed because people, in general, were very active – everyone did not have vehicles and did everything themselves. Today, we are extremely dependent on technology. The pandemic nailed it that the virus is everywhere and all you can do is keep the body strong. Now that requires effort, but more than effort, it requires insight into yourself.”
Soman feels it is important to choose one’s exercise based on goals considering everybody has his/her strengths and weaknesses. “You need to identify the latter and work on it as weaknesses amplify with age if nothing is done to arrest them.”
Ask him if the term ‘supermodel’, synonymous with his name is a media creation, and he responds – “Absolutely. Modelling is an industry, and each one (industry) has a requirement. When they needed supermodels, they made them.”
Talk to him about the many outages he has experienced – the Tuffs commercial, trolling owing to his marriage, and reference to RSS in ‘Made in India, Sonam says while living in a democracy it is important to hear everyone, and everybody has a right to opinion. “It’s a different fact that we don’t know how to deal it.”
The actor, who has just completed the movie ‘Emergency’ says whenever he is offered an interesting role, he goes for it.
Calling his mother, who started trekking at the age of 60 as inspiration, Soman who successfully completed the Ironman Triathlon remembers being bitten by the running bug when he participated in the Mumbai Marathon (2004) for the first time.
“I was 38 years old. After the Mumbai Marathon, I ran from Delhi to Mumbai. I did Iron man when I was 50 and people could not believe it because most Indians cannot move when they touch the age of 50. We have to realize our capabilities. Our life span has increased and cannot afford to slow down at 40. The body follows the mind,” he concludes.
Hollywood star Will Smith walked up to the stage and slapped comic artiste Chris Rock over his humorous remark on Will’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith…reports Asian Lite News
Everyone at the Dolby Theater was in for a shock when Hollywood star Will Smith walked up to the stage and slapped comic artiste Chris Rock over his humorous remark on Will’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
The incident took place when Chris was on the stage to present the Oscars for the Best Documentary category.
Chris started his gig with a few jokes about the audience members, including Pinkett Smith, referring to her as “G.I. Jane” due to her closely cropped hair, Pinkett Smith has spoken in the past about her battle with alopecia.
Moments after the joke, Smith walked to the stage and smacked Rock across the face; however, it was not sure if he connected well. It was unclear if the assault was a planned bit.
The uncensored footage of the show had Rock saying, “Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” as Smith was on his way to his chair. “Wow, dude. It was a G.I. Jane joke.”
Will got back to his seat and shouted at Rock saying, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth”.
Sean “Diddya Combs, who came on stage a few moments later, said, “I did not know that this year would be the most exciting Oscar ever. Will and Chris, we’re gonna solve that like family at the goal party right now we’re moving on with love.”
The book announced recently on the actor’s 54th birthday will be officially released on February 14. Amitabh Bachchan has written the foreword…writes Sukant Deepak
It is not about their meetings, their conversations, the long rehearsal sessions. It is a love letter to what need not be said. To what can be conveyed just with a glance. It is also about friendships sans reminders about bonds, about gazing into the abyss together, drowning and allowing magic to happen — be willing partners to find otherworldly rhythms. It is about an actor who never ceases to be human, and was therefore superhuman in his craft. It is also not just about Irrfan, but also filmmaker Anup Singh, the writer — someone who observes, the one who refuses to instantly interpret but leave spaces. Someone who wants to dive into the many layers of the actor’s method, never divorcing the man from his craft or vice-versa.
Anup Singh’s book ‘Irrfan: Dialogues with the Wind’ (Copper Coin) starts with his landing in Mumbai to meet Irrfan and cast him as the protagonist in the critically acclaimed film ‘Qissa’. But then, that is just the start. A lot happens between Singh casting him for ‘Qissa’ and ‘The Song of the Scorpions’.
Irrfan would always startle the filmmaker by returning to some vague conversation that they might have had months ago. The late actor would sometimes think anew about whatever they had been discussing and would excitedly begin the conversation again as though there had never been all these months in between. “And, then, his phone calls. At all times of day or night. He wanted to share a piece of music or a line in a poem or had thought of a new way of doing a scene. I miss those calls unbearably. And his voice as he said, ‘Anup sahib, why are you still awake? Anyway, yeh aap suniye…’,” the filmmaker tells from Switzerland.
The book announced recently on the actor’s 54th birthday will be officially released on February 14. Amitabh Bachchan has written the foreward.
The filmmaker says while writing it, he allowed every moment between them to unfold to its fullest. Adding that his attempt in the book has not been simply to give flesh and bone to memories, but just as importantly to evoke the spirit, the vigorous aeration of life that was Irrfan’s. “At no point did I feel that Irrfan might not want to share this or that. Quite the opposite, actually.”
Stressing that one of the joys of working with Irrfan, of spending time with him, was the thrill of never really knowing what his exuberant curiosity might be tinkering and playing with on any particular day, he adds that he could start with a gesture and wonder about the bone and muscle, and flare of nerves that are only some of the elements that drive that gesture. “And soon, he might be mulling about the force and gentleness of gestures suggested in the ‘Tibetan Book of the Dead’ as the soul makes its journey to a new state of being.”
Singh recalls that at one moment while writing, he suddenly realised that he seemed to be writing an elegy, a lament, as it was grief that was shaping his memories. But he stopped immediately. While melancholy, even desolation on occasion took possession of Irrfan near the end, he would still compel himself to keep his imagination alive, to keep fantasizing, to keep his faith in possibilities as long as he was breathing.
“I told myself to keep that in mind. Keep in mind that while working together, both Irrfan and I understood that it was necessary to be relentlessly on our guard against emotional responses that only hold half-truths. Emotions that lock us into but just one aspect of our experience,” Singh says.
Reminding himself of Irrfan’s belief that the rhythm with which one walks or raises one’s head or lets it sink, links us to the larger rhythms of our world, that attention to the breath and pulse of our being helps us to shape for ourselves the inchoate experience of our community as well as the rest of humanity, Singh realised that he needed to nuance his sense of loss by not forgetting the lively, expansive aspect of Irrfan: his exhilaration in life.
“With that vital, zestful rhythm thrumming within me now, I could return to writing what for me is a more comprehensive portrait of Irrfan. At the end of reading the book, I hope the reader will carry a little bit of this lilt into their lives too,” he adds.
At many places in the book, it is evident that Singh wants the actor to get into a certain rhythm and tone of the lead character in ‘Qissa’. However, he says that ‘drowning’ himself in a character would not have been Irrfan’s way. “For him, a rhythm was made not of what there is – for example, words – but of pauses, hesitation, the uncertainty between the words. And, for me, that’s what makes his play in Qissa so exquisite.
At one moment you think he’s full of malignance and the very next you see a fragile, vulnerable man. With this kind of performance, you don’t get a ‘character’. What you get is an alive, vibrant spirit, seeking to find his ‘character’ but, instead, constantly finding a new aspect of himself. Such a performance is as much a surprise for the audience as it’s for the actor. What emerges, I believe, is a human being. Someone eternally changing, someone always a mystery.”
Even though at one-point Irrfan refused to be part of ‘Qissa’. Singh says he cannot imagine the film with anyone else.
For both the film they worked on, the attempt was to rehearse hard, and improvisation then was not simply doing what felt right at the moment. “It meant we could choose to make that moment wrong because we could imagine how it would change a performance, a story, a film when we finally hit the right note sometimes much later in the process,” the filmmaker says.
Singh says that once he started jotting down just about everything that he remembered, the pain of his loss lessened. “It was as though we were working together again. It was only much later, that I started putting all these memory notes into some kind of structure, which is finally how the book took its shape.”
Ask him if the book gave him a ‘closure’, and he feels that the word is paradoxical. “Of course, the writing of the book has made me accept that Irrfan and I will no longer make any new films together. But that acceptance has also, in some strange way, fired my imagination. I have already completed one script after his death. This one was to be our next film. I wrote it quickly, feverishly, because in the writing I could see how he might turn at the doorway or how he might hold and then release a certain dialogue. While writing it, I felt we were working together again. I have now started writing another one. Again, this is based on a story we had discussed ardently. Irrfan and I are hard at work together again! What will happen with these scripts? Well, I await an actor whose one gesture will not remind me of Irrfan, but give me a sense that this is that one gesture that would have filled Irrfan with joy.”
The wedding rituals of Bollywood stars Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif will start from today…reports Asian Lite News
The wedding rituals of Bollywood stars Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif, who will tie the nuptial knot on Thursday (December 9) at Six Senses Fort in Sawai Madhopur, will start from Tuesday.
The couple along with family and friends reached the wedding destination on Monday night where they were welcomed with grand fireworks. They were offered garlands, and ’tilak’ was applied to their foreheads.
The sangeet ceremony will start from Tuesday night.
Earlier, since Monday afternoon the Jaipur airport was buzzing with activity as Katrina’s siblings and friends arrived one after the other.
On Monday night, a dozen guests came along with Katrina and Vicky Kaushal, who were given a rousing welcome at the Barwara Fort. Three luxury vehicles were arranged to pick up the family of Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif to the Barwara Fort.
Vicky and Katrina will stay at the Barwara Fort till December 12. After marriage, both are likely to visit the temple of Chauth Mata.
As per the sources, the couple will have a ‘sangeet’ ceremony on Tuesday night which will be followed by ‘Haldi’ ceremony on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Thereafter, on December 9 will come the D Day when functions like ‘Sehrabandi’ are scheduled. The couple will take ‘phere’ at 3 p.m. on Thursday afternoon and then there will be dinner and poolside party at night.
Preparations for the much-hyped marriage between Bollywood stars Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif have begun at the Six Senses Fort Barwara located in Sawai Madhopur district in Rajasthan…reports Asian Lite News
An event management company has been entrusted with the responsibility of making all the necessary arrangements for the big day.
Accordingly, special suites have been booked for the bride and the groom at the lavish hotel. While Vicky will put up at the Raja Mansingh suite, Katrina will be staying at the Rani Padmavati suit, both most expensive suites in the hotel. The tariff for the suites is Rs 7 lakh each for one night.
Both the suites have private swimming pools and gradens attached to them, while the windows open to a grand view of the Aravali hills.
The hotel has two more suites costing Rs 7 lakh each per night, while it has 15 suites worth Rs 4 lakh. The one-night tariff for the rest of the rooms is Rs 1 lakh per room.
Security has been tightened in the entire area, and restrictions have been imposed on the movement of people.
Katrina and Vicky, along with their family members, are expected to check-in on December 6, and depart on December 11.
The wedding preparations have been entrusted to six different vendors, who will arrange flowers, decoration, security, transportation, food and jungle safaris.
For security arrangements, 100 bouncers will come from Jaipur on December 5. Rajasthan police personnel will also be deployed for the security of the VIP guests.
The wedding programmes are likely to be held between December 4 and December 12. The two are expected to tie the knot on December 9, as per Hindu customs.
The ‘Sangeet’ ceremony will be held on December 7, followed by the ‘Mehendi’ ceremony the next day.
A special reception will be held after the wedding ceremony on December 10.
After starting out in B-films in the 1960s, he caught the eye in “Sungharsh” (1967), where the manner in which he held his own against Dilip Kumar is now the stuff of Hindi film folklore…writes Makhijani
They hail from diverse backgrounds. Mumbai-based Hanif Zaveri is an author, journalist, actor and playwright. New Delhi-based Sumant Batra is one of India’s leading insolvency lawyers, rated amongst the top 100 globally — and a film buff. The meeting of their minds has resulted in “An Actor’s Actor” (Penguin/Ebury Press), the first authorised and authoritative biography of the personal and professional life of Sanjeev Kumar, an actor who remains a role model even 35-years after his death.
Born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala in Surat on July 9, 1938, the book takes off from his family’s traditional ‘zariwala’ business, his struggles in the Hindi film industry where he underwent a “celluloid metamorphosis and was known to the worlds as Sanjeev Kumar”, his romantic involvement with some of Hindi cinema’s biggest names, his lifelong battle with loneliness and his glittering achievements on screen that won him several accolades, including two National Awards for “Dastak” and “Koshish”.
“Sanjeev Kumar was in a league of his own, one of cinema’s most prolific stars, one of its finest actors. All he cared about was the integrity of his performance and the intensity of his role. The body of work that Sanjeev Kumar left behind remains a treat to watch,” Batra told IANS in an interview.
“Even over thirty years after his death he remains among the most mimicked actors of all time. His style informs the works of many actors who came after him. Indeed, he remains the gold standard when it comes to the art and craft of acting. He remains an actor’s actor in the truest sense of the phrase. Sanjeev Kumar was a complete actor,” Batra added.
And what an oeuvre he has left behind!
Sanjeev Kumar could light up the screen in underpants, paunch showing, in one of Hindi cinema’s most lovable song sequences, “Thande thande paani se nahana chahiye” (“Pati Patni Aur Woh”, 1977). Entirely unselfconscious of his image as a star, he would often be cast as the father figure to a number of his contemporaries, most famously Sharmila Tagore in “Mausam” (1975) and Amitabh Bachchan in “Trishul” (1978), or as the elderly Thakur in “Sholay” (1975) — not forgetting the indolent Mirza Sajid Ali in “Shatranj ke Khiladi” (1977), the only Hindi film directed by Satyajit Ray — and yet leave an indelible mark with his presence and his acting prowess.
After starting out in B-films in the 1960s, he caught the eye in “Sungharsh” (1967), where the manner in which he held his own against Dilip Kumar is now the stuff of Hindi film folklore. Equally adept at comedy (“Angoor” and “Manchali”, for example) and dramatic serious roles (“Anubhav” and “Koshish”), he was truly an actor’s actor.
Through all this, he remained down to earth.
“Sanjeev Kumar was shy and an introvert. He had no greed for publicity. In his entire film career, he never kept a personal public relations officer, which most of his contemporaries appointed. His sartorial sense was also in keeping with his down-to-earth lifestyle. No costly, fashionable suits for him. He was a simple person who was most comfortable in a kurta pyjama or in a silk kurta and lungi with simple slippers. Whenever in stress, he smoked but never discussed his feelings with anyone,” Zaveri said during the interview.
Zaveri also revealed a lesser-known facet of Sanjeev Kumar’s personality, quoting from a previous interview with the actor.
“I wanted to be like other actors who played romantic roles and sang songs, running around trees. But working on stage changed my concept and helped me a lot, and I found myself improving. I learnt that an actor has to justify the given character. I got confidence after working on stage.
“Whenever I watch an English movie, I always think what I can do to make it better. I always watch films from the actor’s point of view, trying to find something new in the role. Sometimes I practise particular characters in front of the mirror to improve myself. I advise newcomers to do stage,” Sanjeev Kumar had said during the interview.
Considerable research has gone into the book, which is based mainly on information resulting from extensive interviews held with the family members of Sanjeev Kumar, his co-actors, filmmakers and other artists. As a freelance film journalist, Zaveri had also interviewed Sanjeev Kumar a few times.
“Of course, we had to carefully corroborate and verify the information provided by the interviewees from other sources as Sanjeev Kumar had passed away over three decades ago when the interviews were conducted. Memories had faded and people were at times unsure. We had to undertake extensive research to ascertain the veracity of the facts and where possible, other information. The researchers at (Batra’s) Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation worked hard to dig out as much material as they could from the Foundation’s archive,” Zaveri explained.
Given their diverse backgrounds, how did Zaveri and Batra come together to collaborate on the biography?
“Hanif Bhai had just finished extensive rounds of interviews with the family members of Sanjeev Kumar and other persons associated with the late actor when we were introduced by a common friend. As the founder of the Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation, which is documenting the history of Indian cinema, I have deep interest in cinema. I am also a die-hard fan of Sanjeev Kumar,” Batra said.
“I therefore, enthusiastically volunteered to write the book. We sat together over many following months to decide the structure of the book and its narration. I am based in Delhi and Hanif Bhai is in Mumbai. I met him whenever I travelled to Mumbai for my professional work, which was in fact, quite frequently. Hanif Bhai had gathered extensive notes from the interviews. Selecting relevant information was the most time-consuming task.
“Then started the actual writing of the book, stitching pieces of information together to tell the story of his personal and professional journey. Unfortunately, the completion of the book got delayed due to the two lockdowns. But for this disruption, the book would have been out last year,” Batra elaborated.
What next? What’s their next project?
“We’re both discussing another book together. It is a bit early to reveal any details,” Zaveri said.
“I am working on a historical fiction which should come out next year if all goes as per plan,” Batra said.
With a foreword by Shatrughan Sinha, “An Actor’s Actor” is truly a succinct introduction to the life and films of a star who tragically left this world at the young age of 47 on November 6, 1985 but who continues to live through his unforgettable and remarkable contribution to Hindi cinema.
“Michael’s loved ones knew him as an actor, musician, cancer-awareness advocate and loving husband,” his manager said in a statement…reports Asian Lite news.
James Michael Tyler, an actor known for his portrayal of Gunther on ‘Friends’, died of prostate cancer, his manager confirmed. He was 59.
Tyler died peacefully in his Los Angeles home, reports variety.com.
The actor was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in September 2018. Tyler shared his story earlier this year on ‘Today’. He also worked as a campaigner for individuals with prostates to get a first blood test as early as 40 years old.
“Michael’s loved ones knew him as an actor, musician, cancer-awareness advocate and loving husband,” his manager said in a statement.
“Michael loved live music, cheering on his Clemson Tigers and would often find himself in fun and unplanned adventures. If you met him once, you made a friend for life.”
“Warner Bros. Television mourns the loss of James Michael Tyler, a beloved actor and integral part of our FRIENDS family,” reads a post on the official ‘Friends’ Twitter account.
“Our thoughts are with his family, friends, colleagues and fans.”
Tyler was most well-known for his performance as Gunther, a worker at the Central Perk cafe who reserves an unrequited love for Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel, on the wildly popular sitcom.
Dubbed by many as “the seventh ‘Friend'”, the actor was a series mainstay, first appearing as a background character in the second episode of ‘Friends’ and returning as a guest star across the remainder of its 10-year run.
He is the most frequently recurring guest star across the series. Tyler also made an appearance via a video conference on the special ‘Friends: The Reunion’ earlier this year.
Beyond ‘Friends’, Tyler’s acting credits stretch back to 1992, including series like ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’, ‘Scrubs’ and ‘Modern Music’.
While undergoing treatment, he continued to perform, starring in two short films ‘The Gesture and the Word’ and ‘Processing’, which earned him best actor awards at several domestic and international film festivals.
This year, Tyler’s spoken word performance of Stephan Kalinich’s poem ‘If You Knew’ was adapted into a short video to help raise awareness for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
