Film Industry

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Thankfully, no one has questioned me about Abu Salem in so many years

    Monica Bedi is in a happy space these days. Along with playing a vamp in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saraswatichandra, she also walked the ramp at the recently concluded jewellery week.
    The actress, who was imprisoned for her alleged links with underworld don Abu Salem, says she is thankful to God and the film and television industry for giving her a new lease of life. “Nobody gets a second chance after living the kind of life I did. But, thankfully, nobody has asked me about Abu Salem in so many years. It’s all in the past now. I thought people will ask me about him and it will haunt me forever when I started working again. But no one has asked about Abu Salem till now. I think this can happen only in India.”
    Monica also denies rumours that Saraswatichandra is going off air. She says, “People like to say such things, but I feel you can’t ignore the effort Sanjay has put in. I don’t have any information about the show going off air and I don’t think there is any truth to this. More so, since we are not concerned about the TRPs.”
    She has also been getting compliments for her glam look in the show. She credits her stylist and Bhansali for it. She says, “My saris and look are all thanks to Sanjay. He has a clear vision about how his characters should look.”

Monica Bedi

The Bharatiya 10:16 AM

A well played out evening

It was an evening that saw theatre aficionados at a suburban auditorium, despite the rains, to watch Lillete Dubey’s latest directorial venture, starring daughter Ira. Kabir Bedi with partner Parveen Dusanj was seen enjoying the evening. Dolly Thakore and Alyque Padamsee were also present at the event along with others. Ira made her solo debut with this hour-long Heather Raffo play that was about the plight of nine Iraqi women in the wake of the Gulf wars.

Alyque Padamsee and Lillete Dubey

Joy Sengupta

Ira Dubey and Dolly Thakore

Kabir Bedi and Parveen Dusanj

The Bharatiya 10:16 AM

INDIAN CHARACTERS PART OF 10 POPULAR INTERNATIONAL SITCOMS

Ten popular Western sitcoms that have a global fan following have important characters who are of Indian origin as part of the plot. Earlier, there used to be just an occasional Ranjit Singh from Mind Your Language or an Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from The Simpsons, some of which were not even voiced or played by people from India. But, today, almost every sitcom has either a protagonist or recurring popular characters, who is Indian. Be it the dorky, unlucky-with-girls Raj Koothrappali or the sensuous and volatile Lacey, these characters have their own fan bases across the globe.

Character: Kevin Venkataraghavan Played by: Kal Penn How I Met Your Mother

Character: Lacey Played by: Noureen DeWulf Anger Management

Character: Raj Koothrappali Played by: Kunal Nayyar The Big Bang Theory

Character: Kelly Kapoor Played by: Mindy Kaling The Office

Character: Timmy Played by: Adhir Kalyan Rules of Engagement

Character: Tom Haverford Played by: Aziz Ansari Parks and Recreation

Character: Abed Nadir Played by: Danny Pudi Community

Character: Ravi Ross Played: by Karan Brar Jessie

Character: Principal Figgins Played: by Iqbal Theba Glee

Character: Cecelia Cece Parekh Played by: Hannah Simone New Girl

The Bharatiya 10:15 AM

Anushka Sharma will play a bar dancer in Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet

ANUSHKA’S ABOUT TO JAZZ IT UP

It was earlier rumoured that Anushka Sharma will play a bar dancer in Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet. However, our source, who is close to the film, denied the news, adding, “Anushka is playing a 60s’ jazz singer. She has been taking lessons from a renowned Indo-Australian jazz choreographer to get her body language and posture right.” The actress, currently in Sri Lanka, has also been watching the videos of renowned jazz artistes to add depth to her character. She even wanted to attend live shows when in Mumbai, but that didn’t happen.

Anushka Sharma

The Bharatiya 10:14 AM

When celebs reveal almost all

Rihanna is known to be controversy’s favourite child, and a wild one at that! The singer stays in the news by making appearances in different outfits that create a stir. Recently, RiRi outdid herself at the Barbados carnival, where she was spotted in a revealing bejeweled bikini. There are other celebs who have made appearances in revealing outfits that set tongues wagging. We take a look at a few…

ELIZABETH HURLEY Where Love Ball charity fundraiser
When February 2010
What she wore A sheer blue-grey sari without a blouse underneath.
Reactions She drew a lot of flak for her sense of style or lack of it, as people weren’t sure whether her missing blouse was intentional or not.

JENNIFER LOPEZ Where Grammy Awards
When February 2000
What she wore A sheer printed Versace gown with a neckline that ended below the singer’s navel, which she has since kept on a mannequin in her bathroom.
Reactions The dress has often been referred to as “notorious”, “infamous” and even “iconic” because of its boldness.

RIHANNA
Where Kadooment Carnival, part of the Crop Over Festival in Barbados
When August 2013
What she wore Rihanna wore a carnival-style bejeweled bikini with a high-cut bottom, matching necklace and feather headgear. She completed with the look with a pair fishnet tights and white trainers.
Reactions Several people have reacted quite strongly to the revealing outfit, but natives of the Caribbean have said that RiRi’s outfit was not out of the ordinary for the festival.

MICAELA SCHAEFER
Where Men In Black 3 premiere, Berlin
When May 2012
What she wore The German model used strips from VHS tapes to make a halter-neck dress that was kept together by a belt and her ample assets.
Reactions The dress was called “a walking wardrobe malfunction” as Micaela wore nothing underneath it.

The Bharatiya 10:13 AM

Nargis Fakhri, who plays a war correspondent in Madras Café, interviews John Abraham and director Shoojit Sircar

This film brings us closer to what changed India’s political history

Nargis Fakhri, who plays a war correspondent in Madras Café, interviews John Abraham and director Shoojit Sircar

Nargis Fakhri: What makes M a d ra s C a f é , a signature John Abraham film?
John Abraham: This is a story both of us have been wanting to tell for a long time, but Vicky Donor happened earlier. Then Shoojit and I discussed how we want to educate the young audience and also entertain them. It was this common idea that made us work on this film.
NF: What is the significance of the title? Shoojit Sircar:
Wherever you have an Indian population, there is a Madras Café. This could be in London, New York or Singapore. The main conspiracy of the film happens in the café. While we’ve not addressed where the café is located, it is an integral part of the plot, almost like a character.
NF: Why did you choose this subject? Shoojit: Since I have Tamilian friends, I have always followed the Tamil issues. My films have always touched upon issues that have bothered me — be it the Kashmir issue in Yahaan or infertility and sperm donation in Vicky Donor. John: I clearly remember a day in the early 1990s, when I woke up to see my mother crying. I learnt that Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. That moment intrigued me. I like to know about everything around me, not just Kashmir but even Bosnia, Serbia or Africa. This film brings us closer to what changed the political history of our country.
NF: Does the film take a stand on political issues? John: There is no truth in that rumour. We even flew down to Chennai to clarify it.
NF: How difficult was it to shoot the depiction of the civil war? Shoojit: It was challenging; be it the artwork, production design or cinematography, which has been done splendidly by Kamal Negi. We were supposed to shoot in Sri Lanka, but the content of the film was such that we would never be able to do justice to it over there. That’s why we recreated it in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. For instance, we’ve depicted how a guerilla civil war takes place.
NF: What was your brief to John when approaching his role? Shoojit: I asked John to be himself and treat his role — as a special forces agent — without thinking about what he has learnt so far in the industry. In a way, he’d to unlearn whatever he learnt during films like Force and Shootout At Wadala.
NF: How was it working with me (Nargis)? John: Everyone would wait for Nargis to reach the set, especially our director.
Shoojit: My team would jibe me that Nargis will reach the set in three days. It was really great working with her. Her character Jaya is inspired by many war correspondents, including Anita Pratap.
Madras Cafe, under the banner of JA Entertainment, Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Rising Sun Films Production, releases August 23.

Shoojit Sircar

John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri

John, Shoojit and Nargis

The Bharatiya 12:22 AM

Strumming bass in the hinterland

Rock Goes Rural As Metal Bands Perform To Audiences In Maha’s Countryside

    The harmonium is missing, the musicians are wearing half-pants and instead of closing his eyes into a soulful song, the singer is frowning at them as he screams into the mike. It takes a while for audiences in the middle of agricultural land in Baramati and Jalna to adjust to the vagaries of a rock show.
    However, a few aggressive songs down, at the point when a Bandra crowd would be wildly headbanging, they too reciprocate, albeit with rustic dance moves. The lyrics, after all, are in their own mother tongue.
    In their own way, young Marathi bands such as Moksh, Say and Asmi that have performed in rural Maharashtra, are filling the gap between rural audiences and western genres of music with language. “Since rural audiences are used to sitting during concerts, we usually start the show by explaining the rock show etiquette in Marathi,” says Sagar Joshi, bassist and band manager of Thane-based Moksh, known to be the world’s first Marathi metal band, which has performed at many rural venues like Jawhar, Baramati and even a hybrid seeds company ground in Jalna. To initiate the audience, the five-member band Moksh opens with a couple of its songs including ‘Ghe Bharari’ which is a result of their frustration at not being allowed to open for drummer Tom Jones during a show despite being promised. Later, the tenor descends only to pick up again near the end.
    Initially, performing in rural areas involves encountering requests for rustic Marathi numbers such as Kombadi Palali (the Marathi counterpart of Chikni Chameli) and Mungda. “We have to politely refuse saying that these are difficult to play on a keyboard, drum and guitar ensemble,” laughs Gaurav Tanksale of Asmi, a Nagpurbased Marathi pop-rock group that recently did a tour of Vidarbha, in which they covered villages in Chandrapur, Akola, Yavatmal and Buldhana districts. Routinely, during its rural shows, Asmi, which experiments with various genres such as jazz, blues and reggae, even demonstrates the difference between each form. “For instance, at a show in the Bhilai civic centre, we played our song Aai in jazz and reggae patterns,” says Tanksale.
    Also, since their songs cover the gamut of social issues ranging from farmer suicides to female infanticide, a connect is easily established. “Religion too holds a strong grip here but despite that, our songs based on the Vidrohi Sant Sahitya which talk about the inner conflict of saints like Tukaram, too, do well,” says Sagar Joshi.
    Of course, young fans tend to look for a bit of dark, youthful humour. Mumbaibased three-member band Say’s anti-smoking song which contains certain explicit Hindi words and another number Gacchi, which contains pauses at opportune moments, have been downloaded and received well in places such as Alibaug and Ratnagiri too. Besides, the popularity of their song Break Up Ke Baad, a funny take on breakups, made an engineering college in Karjat invite them. “Since the budget was low, we performed without instruments by playing a track CD,” says Saptiskar, adding that Say’s tendency to use Hindi words, has helped it enjoy a following among non-Maharashtrian audiences too.
    Inadvertently, these shows serve as spontaneous studies in consumer behaviour. For instance, during Asmi’s show in Bhandara district, the crowd demanded Hindi songs too— something that was so far only characteristic of a cosmopolitan Nagpur crowd. Besides, all publicity is through word-ofmouth. Also, “in villages too, youngsters listen to songs on their cellphones and even log on to facebook,” says Saptiskar, who once received a call from a Panvel girl who had made her entire chemistry class listen to Say’s break-up song during practicals.
    However, being a regional band also means coping with lack of adequate sponsorship and involves its share of uncanny negotiations. Once, an organizer called up Say’s band manager asking if his band could perform for Rs 5000. He tried reasoning it was too less an amount given that they were three members. “Can you perform with two less members?”