I’ve been wanting to play Bhagat Singh: Karam Rajpal
Mumbai– Actor Karam Rajpal will play the late freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in “Chandrashekhar”. He is thrilled about it as it has been his dream role.
“When I was 10 years old, my elder brother used to follow Bhagat Singh a lot. He used to dress up and wear a turban like Bhagat Singh. I was really inspired by my brother and that gave me a kick to play this iconic role,” Karam, who hails from Punjab, said in a statement.
“I have been wanting to play this role and on the personal front, I was also inclined towards his life journey, struggle and contribution to justice and freedom. From a family where I come from, Bhagat Singh is no less than a God.
“My father was almost in tears when I told him that I would be playing Bhagat Singh in Anirudh Pathak’s (show) ‘Chandrashekhar’,” added the “Naamkarann” actor.
The show saw Ayaan Zubair Rahmani play the young Chandrashekhar, who is now portrayed by Dev Joshi.
Always wanted to be face of my own show: Nora Fatehi
Mumbai– Actress Nora Fatehi, who will be seen hosting a dating reality show “Dating in the Dark”, says she always wanted to be the face of a show.
“I’m very excited to start the shoot of ‘Dating in the Dark’, this is huge for me as I’ve always wanted to be a face of my own show and MTV is the perfect platform to reach the younger audience. This is going to be a really interesting and unique show and I’m sure the audience will really enjoying watching,” Nora said in a statement.
“Dating in the Dark” will give three single men and women a chance to meet and get to know each other. But, the twist will be that the contestants being able to speak with each other without any eye contact because the dating happens in a dark room.
On being the host of the show, Nora said: “The show makes dating fun as it leaves millennials with a question – are looks really that important? I strongly believe that appearance is important as it’s the first impression you get but that is definitely not the deciding factor.”
Nora added that the MTV show, with its unique concept, has always managed to go beyond the standard conventional way of engaging with its audiences.
“This show marks my first stint as a host and a face of a show. I am extremely happy to be part of this amazing team. I hope that the audience and my fans appreciate my role and find their own answer to the question – do looks really matter or is the personality more important in finding the one,” she added.
‘Veere Di Wedding’ a very modern film: Manoj Pahwa
Mumbai– Veteran actor Manoj Pahwa, who will be seen in “Veere Di Wedding”, says the film’s story has a modern outlook that emphasises the freedom of choice women have in the new age society.
Manoj told IANS: “I am playing the father-in-law of Kareena Kapoor Khan’s character in the film. Though the length of my role in the narration is not huge, I agreed to do the film because of the story.
“I think ‘Veere Di Wedding’ is a very modern film on women empowerment. When we talk about empowerment and gender equality, we mainly focus on education, job opportunity and financial independence. But this film talks about the choice of personal lifestyle as well.
“Though it is an out-and-out commercial film with four women actors of Bollywood, and offers a high value of entertainment, the film has more to say. It is a very modern film that questions why a girl has to face questions and doubt from the society if they choose to be single or in a living relationship after a certain age? I really liked the approach of its storytelling.”
Apart from Kareena, the movie features Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhasker and Shikha Talsania.
Manoj is playing the father of actor Sumeet Vyas, who is featured opposite Kareena in the film.
“My character pushes his son to get married to the girl who he is in a live-in relation with. However, when they decide to get married, the girl finds it difficult to deal with the complication in a relationship that comes along with a marriage. The story moves forward with what happens then.”
Directed by Shashanka Ghosh, the film is releasing on June 1.
Casting couch is everywhere, say Sachin-Jigar
Mumbai– Music composer duo Sachin-Jigar say the casting couch exists everywhere, but hope people come “off their dirty ideas” and make way for true talent.
Sachin-Jigar were speaking at the second season of “Talking Music” on Saavn, a music and audio streaming service.
On the existence of the casting couch, Jigar said: “I would say (it is) everywhere. It is there, of course nobody wants it to be there, but it has been there and it still exists, I feel. It is something I will strongly oppose and do not believe in, but at the same time I want people to know that it is not only in Bollywood it is just everywhere and it’s absolutely disgusting.”
Sachin said that for him and Jigar, it has always been about discovering a new voice or a new lyric writer.
“That changes the way our sound is and maybe that casting couch is really meant for bringing about new talent to focus. And I hope that it finds its true meaning. I just hope that people come off their dirty little ideas and make way for talent who focus more,” he added.
The composers are known for songs like “Beat pe booty”, “D se dance”, “Afeemi” and “Beh chala”.
They say they aren’t too fond of working on recreations.
Asked about their opinion on remakes, Sachin said: “Well we are not for it… I mean very honestly, our thing is that we are creators right? We made a living out of that gift of God and what happens if I stop making music, original music; what will happen 10 years down the line who will you copy? So I think maybe we are so attached to those songs in a certain way and every song means something.”
From a creator’s point of view, “it is a total no”, he said.
Dharmendra idolised Dilip Kumar
Mumbai– Bollywood veteran Dharmendra says while growing up he used to look up to the legendary talent Dilip Kumar.
Dharmendra spoke about it during an appearance on Colors’ TV show “Entertainment Ki Raat@9”. The actor sported a black and grey attire with a stylish hat, read a statement.
While talking to host Saumya Tandon, he said: “In my growing days, I used to look up to Dilip Kumar sahab. I was in complete awe of his charisma and I think there can’t be anyone like him in this film industry.”
He recollected that he started his career with a photoshoot.
“I was horrible in studies and wanted to pursue modelling and acting but my father was totally against it. In those days, the film industry was not looked upon as a respectable career and he didn’t approve of it.”
Asked what profession he would have pursued if he weren’t an actor, he said: “If not an actor, I would have been an athlete and would get a gold medal for India”.
Adnan Sami celebrates daughter’s first b’day in Germany
Munich– Singer Adnan Sami celebrated his “angelic” daughter Medina’s first birthday here.
Adnan and his wife Roya Sami welcomed their first child, Medina, on May 8 last year.
“I know that God truly loves me…By blessing me with an angelic daughter. He has given me the greatest reason to rejoice and find new meaning to life and the magnificence of his generosity and creation,” Adnan said in a statement to IANS.
“My Medina is too little to read this but one day when she can InshAllah, she will know that today I was reliving every moment by the clock as to what we were doing at every minute till she entered this world one year ago. She will also realise that a smile on her face means the universe to me. I belong to the world but she is my world,” he added.
“Happy birthday my darling angelic princess Medina… ‘Baba ki Jaan’.”
He also thanked Roya. “I can never thank you for the joy you have brought me by giving birth to Medina.”
Roya, an Afghan-origin German woman, is Adnan’s third wife. They tied the knot in January 2010. The singer was previously married to actress Zeba Bakhtiar in 1993, with whom he had a son named Azaan Sami Khan. They divorced after three years.
Adnan was also married to Sabah.
John honoured to work with Manoj Bajpayee
Mumbai– Actor John Abraham says it was an honour for him to work with National Award-winner Manoj Bajpayee in “Satyameva Jayate”.
John on Tuesday tweeted a photograph of himself along with Manoj and wrote: “So much fun and an honour working with Manoj Bajpayee. It’s a wrap for you and my work starts now. Thank you Avinash Gowariker for the picture! ‘Satyameva Jayate’.”
Manoj replied by saying that he misses working with John and being on the set.
“Likewise brother! Missing being on the set with you all already. Good luck with all the fists and the kicks,” he wrote.
The film will release on August 15. “Satyameva Jayate” promises intense action and power-packed dialogues. It is produced by Bhushan Kumar of T-Series and Nikkhil Advani of Emmay Entertainment.
Rishi Kapoor demystified acting for me: Pooja Bhatt
Filmmaker-actor Pooja Bhatt says her “Hum Dono” co-star Rishi Kapoor made acting easy for her.
‘Hum Dono’! Rishi Kapoor — A man and co-star who demystified acting for me when I worked with him back in 1995! Invaluable lessons I carried forward for life! What a joy to have a free-wheeling conversation with him on the flight back from Chandigarh years later!
Rishi replied to Pooja by saying: “I second that, Pooja! So, nice to have travelled together. You made some very valid observations. Looking forward to ‘Sadak 2’ and your web series!”
“Hum Dono” released in 1995 also starred Nana Patekar. It was inspired by the film “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”, starring Steve Martin and John Candy. (IANS)
