Where Bollywood Comes Alive
Posts tagged confidence
Kashmir film kicked off goalpost
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Inshallah Football, a film on how the sport becomes a catalyst for youth in the Valley and suggests a solution to the Kashmir problem, has a limited reach due to its ‘adults only’ tag. Is Indian politics at work here?
Aseem Chhabra (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 17, 2011)
Towards the beginning of Ashvin Kumar’s remarkable documentary Inshallah Football, the film’s protagonist Basharat states his case and that becomes the basis of the film.
Basharat is an 18-year-old high school student in Srinagar, a star footballer who has a chance to go to Brazil to play in the minor leagues. But unfortunately, his passport application has been delayed for one obvious reason his father is a former Kashmiri militant, who travelled to Pakistan for training and was later arrested and tortured by the Indian security forces.
Basharat was only two years old when his father joined the militancy and he rightly feels that he is being unfairly punished for something he had no control over.
The passport application of the protagonist, an 18-year-old star footballer, is delayed as his father is a former militantHis father has since renounced the militancy and now runs a legitimate business in Srinagar. The film follows Basharat’s struggle to get a passport. He eventually succeeds with the assistance of the state’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Inshallah Football is a rare film that provides an alternative solution to the crisis in Kashmir, at a time when nobody seems to More >
Over confident Irrfan gets intro trouble?
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Joginder Tuteja, March 31, 2011 – 16:53 IST
There is something about Irrfan Khan and his various ways with women. After playing a hopeless lover (Yeh Saali Zindagi) and a sadist wife beater (7 Khoon Maaf), Irrfan is donning a new role for his next film Thank You. In this Anees Bazmee directed comedy around infidelity, Irrfan is playing a middle aged womaniser who believes that he knows women in and out and can have a way with them as and when he desires.
“In the film, Irrfan’s takia-kalaam is – ‘Jitna auraton ko main jaanta hoon aur koyi nahi jaanta’ (no one can read women beater than me)”, informs a friend of Irrfan, “He is over confident about this trait of his and this is what eventually leads to trouble in his marital paradise.”
The trouble here is in the form of Rimi Sen who plays his on-screen wife. While Irrfan tries to Mr. Know All, it is Rimi who he can never understand.
“And one fine day when he understands what his wife is all about, uske pairon tale zameen khisak jaati hai (he is totally taken aback)”, laughs the source, “Along with other male leads in the film (Bobby Deol, Suniel Shetty), he too gets into trouble. The difference here being that he was one amongst the trio who never ever thought that he could ever be caught in the act.”
For Irrfan too this is a unique experience because Thank You is the first time ever when he has let his guards down and acted in an out and out commercial comedy. Add to that the fact that he is shown to be More >
Bigger stars are more grounded-Daboo Ratnani
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Priyanka Jain, Hindustan Times Mumbai, March 29, 2011
Dabboo Ratnani, one of the most respected celebrity photographers, came out with his 12th annual calendar this year. Having worked with some of the most glamorous faces, Ratnani says, “In all these years, I have noticed that the bigger the stars, the more grounded they are. They are confident of what they are doing. Once they trust they are in the right hands, they are open to suggestions and do exactly want you want them to.” The key, Ratnani says, is in getting the stars to trust you and “to do your job well.”
Whether it’s Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s beauty, Kajol’s carefree attitude, Amitabh Bachchan’s energy, Shah Rukh Khan’s dynamism or Hrithik Roshan’s charisma, Ratnani has captured it all over the years. He talks about his five favourite pictures from his portfolio:
‘Photographer’s dream’
Before I became a photographer, I felt it would be an achievement if I could shoot Aishwarya once. She’s every photographer’s dream. A stunning model, she has perfect features and looks equally good in a simple sari or an expensive gown. It’s about the attitude she wears.
The light in this picture is coming through the grill. It’s not flat and that explains the composition’s dramatic effect. No matter how many photo shoots she does, she’s always enthusiastic about the next one. She will go to any extent to make a picture work, and is open to suggestions.
‘I like his intense mood in pictures’
I have shot with More >
One line of Game caught my fancy-Abhishek Bachchan
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
By Devansh Patel, March 19, 2011 – 10:46 IST
The actor is in an upbeat mood in Filmistan Studios in Goregaon. His film Game, a twisted thriller, is just a few days away from the big screen release. Add to that, this is the same Studio where he shot his first scene with his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan twelve years ago when they were mere acquaintances. That explains why the actor greets me in his vanity van with a special chai ordered for me on the sets of Abbas Mustan’s Players being shot in the same studio. He sits tall and with his brewed coffee arriving just in time in his extremely special ‘Chelsea’ mug, you can make out that Abhishek Bachchan the man likes to hold things close to his heart, be it his first shot with wife at Filmistan, his forthcoming film Game or his ‘Chelsea’ coffee mug. Where’s my ‘Liverpool’ mug? Anyway…he doesn’t talk much but he talks precise. His words are sharp and his answers make absolute sense. He said something that is still engraved in my head, as I write this interview, “Failures shake your confidence, shake your belief but it won’t shake your love and passion for what you do.” But the strange thing about Abhi’s selective reticence is that it’s accompanied by a broad smile, as if to say he knows what game he’s being asked to play, and he’s just not interested. For a change, he has no option today but to play the ‘Game’ with me. UK’s Harrow Observer columnist and Bollywood Hungama‘s London correspondent is all More >
Anupam Kher’s acting school turns 6
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; February 17, 2011)
Actor Anupam Kher’s a happy man, for, he is able to pass on his fine acting prowess to the youth of this country. He says, “I believe that acting can be taught, learned and perfected by everybody, and the continual demand for my students from the industry is very heartening,” Anupam’s Actor Prepares, one of the leading acting schools in the country, has its students today in various commercials, television programmes and movies.
The academy celebrated its sixth anniversary recently, which was attended by students including some prominent alumni like Leander Paes and Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2010, Manasvi Mamgai. Leander, who’s ready to make his Bollywood debut and will be seen in two films, says, “Actor Prepares provided me with the training, and ability, to make a transformation from a sportsman to an actor.”
In the same vein, pretty and tall Miss India Manasvi Mamgai, who’s in the 14th batch says, “This academy has got me out of my cocoon, infused self-belief and confidence. And that was one of the main reasons, I was absolutely at ease on the stage.”
I’m a super boyfriend!-Ranbir Kapoor
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Actor Ranbir Kapoor dips into his own experiences to play love guru and offers tips on matters of the heart. Are you listening, boys?
Namrata Bhawnani (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 26, 2010)
Ranbir is amused at the idea of playing love guru, as he feels he is yet to master the art of relationships. Over the years he has become aware of his flaws. But contrary to popular perception, he says, he’s very shy around women and needs a lot of encouragement to approach them.
He insists, “I need a sign, When I was in college, I liked a girl but didn’t have the courage to make the first move. I was low on confidence. So I got my best friend to call her and I would be on conference. This went on for two months!”
He talks about the secret of a good relationship and getting over heartbreak. Here are tips from the young Kapoor charmer:
Don’t have a checklist
She is a woman in your life, don’t treat her like a menu card. Sure enough, the young actor does not have a 10-point agenda when it comes to a date. He says, “I’m not desperate for a relationship. It will happen when you have a connection and if it grows organically. She just has to be a good person, positive and should respect our parents. But Indian women are like that — family oriented. I hope she has a career or something that belongs solely to her; I don’t expect her to live my life.” Respecting the partner’s individuality lays the foundation for a strong relationship.
True love is rare, respect More >
My cast took the title too seriously-Karan Johar
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Karan Johar’s surprised sparks didn’t fly between Kajol and Kareena on the sets of his new film
Mark Manuel | TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; September 3, 2010)
This is Karan Johar’s big day. His film, We Are Family — the third Dharma Productions release this year after My Name Is Khan and I Hate Luv Storys — opens to an audience whose appetite and curiosity has already been whetted and stirred respectively by its endearing promos. Bollywood hasn’t had a quintessential family film in a long while. And, to my mind, the anticipation of what might happen at the boxoffice to this film directed by Siddharth Malhotra ought to have reduced Karan to a nervous state. Not so. I found him sipping, well, coffee in his Khar office, relaxed and happy one evening earlier this week. “The final marketing of a film is the film itself — word of mouth,” he said, “and I believe in this product, I think it has legs, though few films last beyond their opening weekend nowadays, they don’t have staying power, they lack longevity.”
His confidence is based on his super star cast, led by that great actress Kajol and supported by the lovely Kareena Kapoor and hunky Arjun Rampal. “If Kajol had not done We Are Family, I wouldn’t have made it,” Karan declared. “The mother’s role is the fulcrum in the film — the pillar, she’s got shades of white and grey, there is an undertone of jealousy and envy in her. Only an actress with a high emotional quotient could have played the role without alienating More >