Love has no gender: Nia Sharma
Mumbai– Actress Nia Sharma, who has played a lesbian in web series “Twisted”, is glad that television is getting bold, and says that people are “no more shying away and acknowledging the fact that love has no gender”.
She also praised an upcoming episode of “MTV Love On the Run” for highlighting a lesbian love story.
“It really amazes me when I look at the content that television is curating these days. It is now not only taking brave steps but taking ownership of creating awareness in a way which reaches out to the youth of today,” Nia said in a statement.
“I am glad that we are no more shying away and acknowledging the fact that love has no gender. I’ve been looking forward to watch this episode to see how it actually unfolds and what happens when two women stand up for their relationship and trust me, having portrayed a character of a lesbian, it may look easy but it is quite challenging,” she added.
The show airs on MTV.
Deepika turns 32, B-Town pours in wishes
Mumbai– Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone on Friday turned 32 and received birthday greetings from popular celebrities like Anupam Kher, Boman Irani and Shreya Ghoshal.
The stars wished her “love” and “happiness” in life.
Deepika, daughter of former badminton player Prakash Padukone, became an overnight star with her Bollywood debut film “Om Shanti Om” in 2007. She has also appeared in films like “Love Aaj Kal”, “Housefull”, “Cocktail”, “Race 2”, “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani”, “Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela”, “Bajirao Mastani” and “Kochadaiiyaan”.
The actress made her Hollywood debut with “xXx: Return of Xander Cage” in 2017. She has gone through a lot of trouble regarding the release of her controversial film “Padmavati”, which is yet to hit screens.
Here’s how Bollywood stars wished Deepika on her birthday:
Anupam Kher: Happy birthday dear Deepika Padukone. Love, peace and happiness always.
Boman Irani: Wishing you a very happy birthday, my darling Deepika Padukone. May you be blessed with lots of love and happiness. Keep inspiring us always.
Shreya Ghoshal: Wishing the supremely talented and beautiful Deepika Padukone a very happy birthday!
Rahul Dholakia: Happy birthday to one of our best – Deepika Padukone. Wish you don’t have to deal with political (like you had to deal with in ‘Padmavati’) and can concentrate on perfecting your art! Good luck! Love and wishes.
Richa Chadha: Deepika Padukone happy birthday. Brave the storms, stay strong, stay sweet.
Shoojit Sircar: Happy birthday Deepika Padukone.
Sonali Kulkarni: Happy birthday to the most graceful vivacious and from the heart person. Wishing you a grand year ahead dear Deepika Padukone. May your talent, hardwork and beauty make you stand strong in life.
Diana Penty: Sending virtual hugs your way Deepika Padukone! Have a very happy birthday! Lots of love.
Armaan Malik: Happy birthday Deepika Padukone. You are the epitome of beauty and I’m sure you’re an even more beautiful person at heart. Hope I get to meet you in 2018.
Neil Nitin Mukesh: Deepika Padukone happy birthday. God bless you with all the happiness always. Loads of love and blessings.
Getting ’21 Sarfarosh…’ look was challenging: Mohit Raina
Mumbai– Mohit Raina spent six months to grow his beard to get into his character as Havildar Ishar Singh in “21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897”. The actor says getting the look was the most challenging part, but it was worth it.
“I have always been fascinated by defence services. As a student of army school, I was always surrounded by men of discipline. It is an honour to play a Havildar who laid down his life for his motherland,” Mohit said in a statement.
“To look the part was the most challenging task, but the research/creative team has done such a wonderful job. Minuscule details were taken care of… hoping the audience likes the first look and accepts the part,” he added.
The show “21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897” is a work of fiction inspired by the real life story of 21 brave soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army who defended an army outpost at Saragarhi in the North-West Frontier Province against an onslaught by over 10,000 Pashtun and Orakzai tribals in September 1897.
The show will beam on Discovery JEET. It is being produced by Abhimanyu Singh’s Contiloe Pictures Pvt Ltd.
Prachi Tehlan excited to shoot in Rann of Kutch
Mumbai– Actress Prachi Tehlan is excited to shoot a wedding sequence for her TV show “Ikyawann” in the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.
In the Star Plus show, Prachi plays a tomboy who has been raised by four men in her family — her father, grandfather and two uncles. A wedding track between Susheel (Prachi) and Satya (Namish Taneja) will be shown soon.
“The Rann of Kutch is a beautiful place to shoot a destination wedding. I am excited that Susheel will be wearing a ghagra choli and will take on a female’s avatar. I would love to see the audience’s reaction on Susheel’s different look,” Prachi said in a statement.
The location is in sync with the Gujarati theme of the show. The crew is expected to start shooting in the Rann of Kutch later this month.
Talking about the sequence, Namish said: “After Ahmedabad and Surat, this is our third outdoor location shoot. I feel very happy for our characters, Satya and Susheel and lucky that we are shooting at an incredible location.”
Ram Kapoor to explore comic side with new show
Mumbai– Actor Ram Kapoor is attempting the comedy genre with a new non-fiction show called “Comedy High School”. He says it’s the toughest genre.
The show, which will be aired on Discovery JEET, will have a light-hearted take on society, culture, education and current affairs through a classroom-based set-up, read a statement.
Ram said: “Comedy is the most difficult art to master. I have never tried it before but have always been open to play a strong role in this genre.
“I gave my consent to ‘Comedy High School’ the moment I heard the plot – it is fundamentally funny and invariably leads to situations which produce laughter. You can watch it all days with your family and laugh your lungs out as fun never ends in our school.”
Theme-based episodes of the show will have celebrities visit the ‘school’ every week in myriad avatars like educational inspectors or parents of students who are seeking admissions.
Besides Ram, the cast has names like Gopal Dutt, Paritosh Tripathi, Krishna Bhatt, Jasmeet Bhatia and Deepak Dutta.
Nikitin Dheer finds negative roles challenging
Mumbai– Actor Nikitin Dheer, best known for playing a negative character in Shah Rukh Khan starrer “Chennai Express”, says such roles have a lot of layers which make them very challenging.
Nikitin is currently seen playing Veer Pratap Chauhan, the main antagonist in “Ishqbaaaz”.
Talking about the Star Plus show, Nikitin said in a statement to IANS: “I am very proud to play this character in ‘Ishqbaaaz’. Veer is fun to play. It is very well written and the dialogues come out very well. My co-stars made me feel like one of their own. That made me very comfortable on the set since the first day.”
On doing a negative role again, he said: “I am here to do good work and with negative roles, one has a lot of varieties to bring to the character. Also, they have a lot of layers which make them very challenging and fun to play.” (IANS)
Regional films should have more representation in IFFI
New Delhi–Advocating greater representation of regional films in the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the Consultative Committee of Information and Broadcasting Ministry has proposed that “socially inclined” festivals like ‘kisan’ (farmer) film festival be organised in the country.
The suggestion came as Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani chaired a meeting of committee to discuss efforts taken in organising IFFI 2017 held in November last year, and steps to be taken to improve the next edition of the festival.
While the members of the committee appreciated the efforts of the ministry, they said that regional films should be given more representation in IFFI, a statement said.
“They also appreciated the choice of films this year and the large participation of the film fraternity. They proposed to organise socially inclined film festivals like kisan film festival,” it added.
During the meeting, Irani apprised the committee about the various steps and initiatives taken by her ministry in IFFI 2017, including restructuring of all committees and “vast expansion” of the steering and preview committees.
“She also emphasised that for the first time, IFFI officially collaborated with Toronto and Venice Film Festivals. She said that in IFFI 2017, nine master classes were organised, 197 films were screened and 493 delegates invited,” the statement said.
