Film Industry

She’s one of the most followed celebrities in the world, especially on social media. Having made an impact in both Bollywood and Hollywood, Priyanka Chopra has always marched to her own tune. In a recent conversation, the actress says glorification of trolling has added “crazy pressure” on entertainers. She feels the increasing prevalence of trolling culture will only lead to bullying and depression.

Speaking about the pressure of being a global star, the Quantico actress says, “First of all, the pressure comes from people’s opinion and how in today’s age everyone’s opinion becomes news. Most of the time, I see media writing about someone getting trolled for this or that. I have never understood how somebody’s opinion becomes news. How the media gives such credence to maybe 500, 600 or 1000 people writing behind the anonymity of the computer.” Priyanka also adds, “Those are the pressures that are not even created by us or the fans. It is just created by the one thing — which is the internet. It has has made people’s job easier... You can make a story out of anybody’s comment. Glorification of trolls has added crazy pressure on entertainers.”


The actress has come back to India for her brother Siddharth Chopra’s roka ceremony, which took place in Delhi recently. Right now she’s in Mumbai for professional commitments. And, speaking about the demanding lifestyle of a celebrity, she says, “There is something called living your life according to the social responsibility that you feel as an individual and then there is something else — living your life according to how everybody else wants to you to live. That is not the world we should live in.” Priyanka has also faced the wrath of social media for myriad subjects like her dressing style, using firecrackers at her wedding last year or even for taking her husband and singer Nick Jonas’ last name.

She points out a serious implication that comes out of the trolling culture, as she explains, “Our children should not be thought that people’s opinions are that important... When they get bullied in school or when they get bullied as teenagers because of the comments written on Instagram, it can lead them to depression or taking harsh decisions in their lives. It is being propagated by these stories where we give so much importance to the way we look on Instagram or what we talk about on Twitter or what our image is.”

Talking about her own journey, she says, “I have not lived my life according to somebody else. I have walked to the beat of my own drum, but I am very cognizant of somebody’s feelings as a public person.” 

Gurmehar Kaur says those who ridiculed her in 2017, now understand the relevance of peace between India & Pak

Gurmehar Kaur, the Delhi University student who kicked up a storm in 2017 with her post on social media, advocating stronger Indo-Pak relations, says her narrative against war is being understood now by people in the face of military escalation at the Indo-Pak border. The girl, who is now an author and student peace activist, says she still fears radical student outfits, who had threatened her when she posted a video in 2017 saying that, Pakistan didn’t kill her father, a martyred Indian Army officer, but the war did. Speaking to the team at an event, Gurmehar reitertated her stand. Excerpts.

Given the present situation between India and Pakistan, has your stance changed since the time you first started the narrative of peace between the two countries?


My stance will never change. My stance is something that I came to terms with after twenty years of walking this planet, and isn’t something that dawned on me one fine day. It’s a very strong opinion that I formed over the years. In the present situation in the country, people ask me why I haven’t made my opinions vocal now. I tell them that, I don’t need to speak about it again and again. Now that the fear of war is looming, people are like, ‘Yeah that silly girl was right’. I think now other people need to say what I was saying back in 2017. I have said enough.

In your opinion, is the present situation between India and Pakistan scary?

I am actually surprised that someone is using the word ‘scary’. Because when I had posted an anti-war narrative, people threatened me, hated me. Even now, the word they use is ‘tense’ and not scary.

Last time when you took a stand against political party, they threatened you with death and rape. You had to leave Delhi for a while too. Do you still feel fear?

Yes, I am still scared. I don’t take the metro, and I still travel by auto. I don’t take public transport anymore. I am now extra careful, and don’t go out in particular spaces or places that has radical presence. I will only go to certain events that are taking place for peace, or for protests against war. And if I am going to attend events, I don't really put out my location or whereabouts on social media. I just be a part of the protest and mingle with the crowd as one of them.

RAW is a tale of patriotism and valour



The teaser of RAW (Romeo Akbar Walter), which released on Republic Day, has caught the attention of every patriotic citizen. Set in the tumultuous period of 1968-71, the film is based on true events that left an impact on the future of three countries. It was one of the shortest wars in history, with the Pakistan Army eventually surrendering to the Indian Army. The story is based on a period where the subcontinent’s most decisive battle led to the birth of a new nation — Bangladesh. The country’s intelligence agencies played a crucial part in this conflict where India’s every action was precise, impactful and deadly.

Written and directed by Robbie Grewal, this espionage thriller is a salute to those who serve the nation behind enemy lines and yet remain nameless faceless and often forgotten. The trailer of the much-anticipated film is being launched today by producers Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom18 Studios, Ajay Kapoor, Producer and Managing Director, KYTA Productions and Vanessa Walia of VA Films. John Abraham essays the role of a RAW agent, who chooses to serve his country and sacrifices everything he has... even his very existence. The film also has an ensemble star cast featuring Jackie Shroff, Mouni Roy, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, Sikander Kherr and Raghubir Yadav.


RAW (Romeo Akbar Walter), produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Ajay Kapoor, Vanessa Walia, and Gary Grewal, releases on April 5.

Kartik Aaryan

The story of Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon’s Luka Chhupi is set in Gwalior and recently, while promoting the romantic comedy, the lead man revealed that he was warmly welcomed in the city with placards with slogans like ‘Son of Gwalior’. It was during a location reccee that the director, Laxman Utekar discovered that the quaint Madhya Pradesh city is Kartik’s home town. However, Laxman admits that he was surprised to see the kind of fan-following the actor enjoys back home.

When we asked if it became a nuisance to shoot in the city, Laxman told us, “Kartik is a superstar in Gwalior. I am not joking; we had to call the police and get extra bouncers to guard him. We were shooting at the Gwalior Fort and it became so difficult to film, because there were thousands of people waiting to see him. When we cast him, I had thought yeh ubharta sitara hai, but eventually, I realised yeh already sitara hai.”


Despite being in his home town, Kartik preferred to stay with the film team. Laxman reveals, “You can’t force actors to hang out with the unit or to stay in a hotel together with everyone in the crew. In that sense, Kartik was very professional. He stayed with us throughout the schedule except for the days when we were not shooting. Those were the only days when he went to see his parents and friends, or they came to spend time with him. He used to get irritated if an acquaintance dropped by when he was shooting. He had that apologetic expression on his face. He hates being distracted at work.”

Carnival Cinemas is all set to celebrate Thackeray, Abhijit Panse’s biopic on late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, in a unique manner. In what is touted to be a first, starting January 25, when the movie hits theatres, a two-day-long movie marathon would be organised in Mumbai (in Hindi and Marathi) at the Carnival outlet (Wadala).

Though many films have had 24-hour screenings on the opening day, this is said to be the first time it is being done on such a large-scale. The first show will begin as early as 4 am on January 25 and the last show will go on approximately till 2 am on January 27. Early morning shows are also planned for the Carnival outlets across Maharashtra. Carnival Motion Pictures is a co-producer of the film, which will be screened in over 2,000 screens in India. Also, this is the first time a Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer is releasing in 16 countries, including India, simultaneously.


Dr Shrikant Bhasi, Founder and Chairman, Carnival Group, said, “Balasaheb was an iconic figure in Indian politics and people love him a lot, especially in Maharashtra. We are honoured to be associated with this charismatic personality, who served the people of Maharashtra with his blood and sweat. On public demand, Carnival Cinemas is planning to keep early morning shows across Maharashtra, much before anyone else, to showcase the real-life story of this legend. We believe in content-driven cinema and after being a part of Sachin: A Billion Dreams, we found the most suitable project in Thackeray. Carnival will serve complimentary refreshments before the early morning shows and midnight snacks to the patrons. Authentic Maharashtrian dishes will also be served at select locations on the release day.”

He added, “We are already serving Balasaheb’s favourite snack, Shiv Vada Pav at 72 locations across India. In Kerala and in GCC territory overseas, Carnival is distributing Sanjay Rautji’s most ambitious project. You will witness a feast at any of our cinemas on the release date; our staff will wear traditional Maharashtrian attire and people will also be able to enjoy Nashik dhol and taasha.”

Thackeray, presented by Sanjay Raut, has been produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Carnival Motion Pictures, Raut’ers Entertainment LLP.

She’s the rebellious Rani of Bollywood, riding high on guts and glory, all armed with heavy-duty talent (yes, potentially explosive, too). She has been on multiple battlefields, and now, the actress, known for her fearless choice of roles and fierce spirit, is galloping towards the warpath, on the silver screen. Playing the titular role in Manikarnika – The Queen Of Jhansi, Kangana Ranaut also makes her directorial debut (she shares the direction credit with South filmmaker Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi aka Krish) with this ambitious period drama. And as the war cry fills up the air, the actress sharpens her sword to give it her best fight. Excerpts from a conversation...

Manikarnika has gone through its share of turmoil. Every time the project hit a roadblock, did it push you to go all guns blazing with more passion and conviction to make it happen?


I think adversity has a certain quality to it, though we think that it’s not a good thing. When things reach an extreme point, there is a different force working inside you that wants to make it happen. During such times, you become far more alive and alert. It’s like being in a heightened state of mind. That is what happened during the making of Manikarnika.

I would forget to eat and sleep, which is unlike me. Making this film sometimes felt like I was going into a war zone, whatever could go wrong with it, did. And then suddenly, for the first screening of your directorial debut, you land up in Rashtrapati Bhavan to show it to the President of the country, Ram Nath Kovind. It was not even something I had aspired for, it just happened. The President and Mr LK Advani really liked the film and they encouraged its spirit. After all, it is about governance and leaders, so I think it resonated with them.


Kangana in

Manikarnika – The Queen Of Jhansi

KANGANA RANAUT

‘THE PROBLEM WITH HINDI MOVIES IS THAT THE FILMS ARE BIG, BUT THE IDEAS ARE SMALL’

In the past, you have spoken about how you’ve had to struggle for everything that you’ve achieved. In your words, “I’ve never done anything in my life without obstacles.” Do you thrive in adverse situations?

Well yes, you can say that. For a 15-year-old, to try to survive on her own, without resources or her parents’ guidance, was a huge struggle. Now, I know how to deal with all this; initially, I was just trying to cope. I think there is a lot of grace in all this too, in this entire struggle. Last year was particularly difficult with my accident on the set of Manikarnika and my films not working; it could have been my end, right? No matter how talented or amazing you are, we all need second chances.

After Simran, you had said that there was a setback in your life and you were unsure about when your stint as director would take off. Back then, did you fathom that your directorial debut would be an epic drama?

After Queen (2014), I started to feel absolutely underutilised, and I had already decided that I wanted to direct. I even directed a short film. I thought Queen was just like a hobby film for everyone involved, as we all had a chilledout attitude. At that point, I had started thinking that acting is not something for me, and I must pursue direction, though I knew that I had to start from scratch. After Simran, I thought that I would get an opportunity, but that didn’t happen. When the Manikarnika challenge came upon me, I was so ready to direct that I could take it head-on. As a director, there is a certain skill set that you need to develop; you are not born with it. So, when we reached the point where I took on the reins of Manikarnika as a director, I was raring to go.

It is rare to see an epic war film directed by a woman. In fact, it is quite a challenge to shoulder a film of this scale on your own even as an actor...

People have this sense of disbelief that a woman is driving a project like this. I am tired of explaining that a woman director can make an epic film of this kind. I guess, when the audience watches it, they will decide for themselves. The general belief is that actors aren’t smart, isn’t it? They are supposed to be dim-witted; or at least, that’s the perception. In the writers and directors’ circle, they often roll their eyes when an actor gives a suggestion. On top of that, if it’s a female actor, it’s even more. Interestingly, when Kamal Jain (producer) approached me, he felt that this subject needed a woman director. They offered me this film to direct. At that time, I thought that if I were to do this, I would need one year to prep, one year to shoot and one year for post-production. They obviously didn’t buy my three-year plan (laughs!), and they said that Krish will write it in one year. I said I don’t know how that is possible. Even when I shot for the film as the director, I prepped for three-four months to shoot a 45-day schedule. I prefer to prep thoroughly, as I can’t function in chaos. I think so far, this is the biggest budget movie that’s been made with a female lead in our country. Movies with women leading the show are being made, but they are mostly small-scale films. So if it works, it’s fine, else it doesn’t hurt the producer’s pocket to a large extent. If it wasn’t for the commercial appeal of the films that I have done in the past, people wouldn’t be investing in me. So, everything fell into place for this to happen.

Krish had a different vision for this film, right?

Yes, he had a different vision for the film, which was that of an action- revenge drama. Now, it is more of a patriotic film, which is what I wanted it to be. When I came on board as director, I felt that this film could have a bigger meaning. It isn’t about a piece of land or claiming the throne, there is a larger picture. Along with the writers, we collectively tried to look for the bigger picture. We tried to bring about that spirit of patriotism in the story of the throne.

Last year, in an interview with BT, you had said, “I have no problem with the mass entertainers that we are making, but that cannot be the only kind of cinema that we want to make”. Interestingly, 2018 was exemplary in that sense, movies which offered only good content with great performances triumphed at the BO, along with some potboilers, too...

The fact that we have to make an entertaining movie is a given, but apart from that, the point is, what are you offering the audience? As an industry, we have such huge opportunities, so how are we utilising it? Even mobile phones engage people, so if engagement is the purpose of cinema, then I must say that the power of such a medium is being reduced. It is like you are using an aeroplane like a bus; you can do it, but is it the smartest thing to do? This medium is extraordinary; it should be used to expand the horizon of people’s thoughts and perspective. If we can’t do that, it’s sad.

When you are reading the script of a film that you could potentially sign up for, do you mull over whether it will appeal to the masses or the multiplex audience? Do you think of making a movie for a certain kind of audience?

A film has several layers, but there are three primary layers. One is the internal core, which is the idea and theme of the film. The other is the body of the film, and the third is the persona of the film. When you think about the core of the film, you can’t look at it as mass or class. Like Queen was a small film, but the idea was not small. When you think of the body of the film, that’s when the business aspect of the movie comes into consideration. The problem with Hindi films largely is that, the films are big, but the ideas are small. The core of the film has to work for me. Manikarnika is a large-scale film, but it’s not half the budget as some of the bigger films that released in recent times.

The fringe group, Karni Sena, has threatened protests if you don’t show them the film. They allege that the film shows Rani Laxmibai's relationship with a British officer. They also say that the queen dancing to a special number is against tradition. You in turn, warned them saying that you will “destroy each one of them” if they continue to harass you. It takes a lot of guts to retaliate the way you have...

They were threatening me, so I felt that if they were thinking of physically attacking me, I’d rather have a headline that says, ‘Kangana’s brawl with Karni Sena’ than one that says, ‘Kangana got beaten up’ (laughs!). I should at least hit back, right? So, I thought that if they slap me, I will slap them back. We have reported the matter to the cops.

You have said that in real life, you feel like a warrior, but in this industry, do you see yourself as a lone warrior fighting various wars on different territories?

I can say this is true, but the fact is, everyone is a lone warrior in this industry. The other day, I was having a discussion with a very dear friend, who is a veteran in the industry, and he said that the industry will love you, they will be pally and nice to you if you let them exploit you. If you allow that, you will become everyone’s favourite person. If I incorporate these two things in my personality right now, one, I go to anyone and say that I will not charge for a particular film or take a pay cut, and two, I let men take me for a ride and tell them I have no objection, then, I will become a darling of this industry. This is the harsh reality, and everyone is a lone warrior here. It’s a jungle hierarchy, so one needs to be smart. To become everyone’s favourite, you should not lose yourself. The core of my existence is that I do not care about being everyone’s favourite.

Rani Laxmibai was a rebel and a fearless fighter. You have the fighter spirit in you, too. Some of it is inherent, but along the way, the industry has also toughened you and pushed you to resolve your own battles and stand firmly on your feet. Do you agree?

My life has definitely turned out to be overly dramatic. Yet, I feel that there is grace in all those struggles and battles, and that’s because I could always find a silver lining. I see so many people who fail to see that silver lining, or the silver lining fails to see them. I am living on the edge all the time, I enjoy it and it is exhilarating. If I am in a comfort zone, I feel dead. Only when you push your limits, you will realise how far you can go.

One of the key features of Bal Thackeray’s political career and strong leadership, was his ability to deliver impactful speeches. Such was the allure and influence of his words that the common man in the audience, felt empowered. Bal Thackeray taught the people to stand up for what's rightfully theirs and fight against all that is not right.

Needless to say, the dialogues in his biopic are actually his own. Therefore, Bal Thackeray inadvertently, is one of the dialogue writers of the film. Producer and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut says, “The biopic is real and edits no facts. The lines used by Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the film are actual dialogues of Balasaheb from his various speeches. Such was the strength of his words that we didn’t really need a dialogue writer for him in the film. We have merely reproduced his own words! This made our writers Arvind Jagtap and Manoj Yadav’s job quite easy.”


Thackeray is slated to release worldwide on January

25. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the Shiv Sena Supremo alongside Amrita Rao who will portray Meenatai Thackeray. Thackeray is directed by Abhijit Panse, presented by Sanjay Raut, produced by Raut’ers Entertainment LLP, Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Carnival Motion Pictures.