Sheena Chohan read up fascinating texts, did acrobatic training to play Lilith in ‘Bhayaavah’
Mumbai– Actress Sheena Chohan, who is set to play Lilith – a she-demon in the upcoming Hindi mythological thriller series ‘Bhayaavah’ – shared that she read a lot of fascinating ancient texts for her role.
Lillith is a biblical character — Adam’s first wife, who was banished from the Garden of Eden for not obeying him. She also appears as an evil reflection of the feminine aspect of God. Upon her assertion of equality, she was reclaimed as a symbol of independence.
Talking about her character, Sheena said: “After I wrapped my historical biopic ‘Sant Tukaram’, a 15th-century film where I play Avali Bai, I was offered the role of Lillith — so I went from one minute playing the wife of a saint, to the next the daughter of a devil. I had to read a lot of fascinating ancient texts — the story is said to have been removed from the Bible, which added so much mystery I was hooked.”
“And then, after all the reading and researching character references, the next thing I knew I was in six hours of make-up, and then acrobatic training to be hoisted up 15 feet in the air like an evil superwoman,” she shared.
Sheena further added: “I’m so impressed with the producers of this web series — they have gone to great lengths with the makeup and special effects. I was attached to a high wire which sprung me out of a car in a highly detailed prosthetic mask, in front of a 30-meter green screen.”
On the work front, she has also recently wrapped her Hollywood film ‘Nomad’.
Sheena began her acting journey as the female lead opposite megastar Mammootty in a Malayalam film ‘The Train’, directed by National Award Winner, Jayaraj.
She has then featured in movies like ‘Mukti ‘, ‘Patralekha’, ‘Ant Story’; web series ‘City of Dreams’, ‘The Trial’, and ‘The Fame Game’.
Emraan Hashmi agrees ‘trolling is a reality’; his advice: ‘take it with a bit of salt’
Mumbai– Actor Emraan Hashmi opened up about the harsh realities of social media, acknowledging that trolling is a reality and advising people to take it with a bit of salt and not too seriously.
Emraan, who plays the role of Raghu Khanna in the web series ‘Showtime’, shared: “I think there are two schools of thought, some actors want to put everything up in the public domain, to make their lives seem interesting, and some actors like to keep a certain compartmentalised way of viewing things, and they like their private lives to be private, and I come from that school of thought. However, none of them is right or wrong.”
Emraan feels that while social media can sometimes be intrusive, he doesn’t see it as a big issue.
“I’ve never had a situation where things have become intrusive, it never reached that point. I think even the press has been extremely courteous. Through the 20 years of my career, I’ve never had a fact of that nature where they’ve been very intrusive about my privacy. But I’m sure some actors have had that, and as far as trolling goes, thankfully I have not been trolled to that point, but you have one of the instances when, first of all, I do check comments sometimes, but I’m not insistently on social media checking who’s saying what about me,” he said.
Emraan added: “But yes, trolling is a reality. I think it’s just people who probably like criticising and they have some bone to pick with the world, and sometimes they’re having something bad happen in their own life. And that echoes in what they say about actors, and we become a soft target. So I think you have to take it with a bit of salt and not take it too seriously.”
Created by Sumit Roy, with Mihir Desai as the showrunner, and directed by Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar, ‘Showtime’ features Emraan Hashmi, Mahima Makwana, Mouni Roy, Rajeev Khandelwal, Shriya Saran, Vishal Vashishtha, Neeraj Madhav, and Vijay Raaz.
All episodes of ‘Showtime’ are set to stream from July 12 on Disney+ Hotstar.
Anurag Kashyap got palpitations before shooting for throat-slitting scene in ‘Bad Cop’
Mumbai– Director-actor Anurag Kashyap, who is receiving a lot of positive responses for his work in the recently released streaming series ‘Bad Cop’, had a tough time shooting a gory scene in the show.
Scenes involving violence are often challenging and require a lot of courage to shoot, both for the actors and the crew. One might assume that Anurag Kashyap, who is known for his graphic violence scenes in films, would handle it easily. However, the truth is far from this.
The show’s director, Aditya Datt, said: “During one of the intense scenes, when I was telling Kashyap to cut the throat, he just could not. I was trying to tell him that he has shot this so many times, like there’s been major gore in his films than any other movies, but he kept saying, shooting is a different thing, but doing it is a different thing.”
Aditya further elaborated, “He used to get palpitations before doing it, and I should sit him down and tell him that’s a, and I went with the presumption he’ll do it so easy because he’s done it so much in the, be it Raman Raghav or the Gangs of Wasseypur or any of the movies that he’s made, which is hardcore into the gangland, killing each other, shooting, cutting everything. But when you actually put a knife in Anurag’s hand and say, act it out and cut this guy’s throat or cut a thing, he kind of does get vulnerable on set.”
‘Bad Cop’ is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Ananya Pandey becomes ‘mausi’, says beautiful nephew is here
Mumbai– Actress Ananya Panday is a proud aunt, as her sister Alanna Panday has welcomed her firstborn, a son.
Alanna, a social media personality, is the daughter of Chikki Panday, who is the brother of Ananya’s father, Chunky Panday, and Deanne Panday.
The actress took to Instagram to announce the arrival of her newborn with her husband, Ivor McCray V.
Sharing a reel on Instagram, Alanna and her husband, twinned in ice blue hues, share a kiss as she cradles her baby in her arms.
“Our little angel is here,” Alanna captioned.
Ananya reposted the clip on her Instagram stories, writing: “My beautiful baby boy nephew is here.”
Alanna married McCray in 2023 after dating for several years.
The wedding was attended by notable names such as Shah Rukh Khan, Gauri Khan, Kanika Kapoor, Nandita Mahtani, and Vidyut Jammwal.
Talking about Ananya, whose last screen outing was in Arjun Varain Singh’s ‘Kho Gaye Hum Kahan’, will next be seen in ‘Call Me Bae’, which traces the story of a billionaire fashionista, Bae, who is disowned by her ultra-rich family due to a salacious scandal.
‘Call Me Bae’, directed by Collin D’Cunha, will soon be streaming on Prime Video.
Nishant Malkaani highlights rich history, cultural significance of audio storytelling in India
Mumbai– Actor Nishant Malkaani, who is receiving a lot of positive responses to his audio streaming series ‘Insta Empire’, has said that audio storytelling has a rich history and important cultural significance in India.
Audio storytelling is ingrained in the subconscious of Indians since we have been hearing lullabies or stories from our grandmothers since we were children.
The actor said: “Yes, certainly. Audio storytelling has a rich history and important cultural significance in India. From lullabies sung by mothers to bedtime stories told by grandmothers, these traditions have been a key part of growing up in India. Because of this, modern audio storytelling feels very familiar and could be very successful in the Indian market.”
He said that unlike movies or TV shows, which need full time and attention, audio series can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere, offering unmatched flexibility and accessibility.
When asked about the experience of working on the audio series, he said: “Working on an audio series is definitely a very different experience, and I believe that, just like any other medium, audio storytelling is carving out its own unique category among other content avenues.”
“In audio, since it’s without visual elements, the entire narrative must be conveyed through sound alone, which places a greater emphasis on dialogue, sound effects, and music to create a vivid and immersive experience for the listener. This requires a different set of skills and creativity from the team to ensure that the story is engaging and that the audience can easily follow along and visualise the scenes in their minds,” he added.
‘Insta Empire’ streams on Pocket FM. (IANS)
