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Posts tagged Delhi
Priyanka Chopra fails to attend attend Parineeti’s National Awards ceremony
02 weeks ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; May 6, 2013)
It is a big moment for Parineeti Chopra. Winning a national award at so early on in her career is a big achievement. But unfortunately her favourite cousin Priyanka Chopra couldn’t be part of it, even though she intended to.
Priyanka has said to have earlier promised Parineeti that she will make sure to travel with her to Delhi to attend the national award, she couldn’t manage to do so.
Instead, Priyanka sent her mother, Madhu to accompany Parineeti to Delhi.
Last year Priyanka had thrown a party to celebthe success of Ishaqzaade, for which Parineeti won the national award.
A source says, “Priyanka was excited to go to Delhi. She was all set to attend the ceremony but due to some work commitments, she had to cancel her visit.” The source adds, “Priyanka, however, ensured that her mother went instead to give Parineeti the emotional support.” The event was on last Friday and Parineeti celebrated over the weekend in Delhi with her friends and family.
Talking to us from Delhi, she says, “Not only my aunt (Madhu), about 14 relatives came for the function and were whistling, cheering for me even though it was supposed to be a sombre ceremony. We later had a party for 70 other family members. We were all singing, eating and laughing. Everyone was excited to meet each other after such a long time.” So finally, it turned out to be a big, boisterous Punjabi reunion party, even without Priyanka Chopra.
Nawazuddin air-dashes to Delhi for Nat’l Awards; treats Dekh India Circus team
02 weeks ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; May 6, 2013)
Nawazuddin Siddiqui was shooting for Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa in Kolkata. But that didn’t deter him from wanting to be in Delhi to receive the National Award.
So he made a quick round trip between Kolkata-Delhi-Kolkata. “It’s an honour to receive this award. I feel blessed.” Life’s going to get lot more hectic for the actor, “This one’s a tight schedule and then I am off to Cannes,” he said.
IN THE MEANWHILE…
Post collecting his award, the actor managed to squeeze in an impromptu party for his team of Dekh India Circus who also received awards. A source says, “Dekh India Circus bagged a total of four awards including a special mention for Nawazzudin. So the entire team was in a celebratory mood.
As soon as the function got over, Nawaz suggested that he would take them all out for lunch. It was his way of thanking the team. It came as a surprise for everyone.” Nawaz adds, “It was a great day not just for me but for the entire team. We wanted to celebrate our victory and with little time on hand we decided to go for a quick lunch.”
— Sonali Joshi Pitale
I did things I had never done before-Alia Bhatt
02 weeks ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Newcomer ALIA BHATT traversed many of India’s biggest highways across Himachal, Punjab and Rajasthan while shooting for Imtiaz Ali’s Highway. She tells Dinesh Raheja about gulping down atta soup, climbing a tree, getting hugged by locals and rediscovering India
As told by Alia Bhatt to Dinesh Raheja (MID-DAY; May 5, 2013)
When a film is titled Highway, you know travel is on the cards. We shot all over India, from Delhi to Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and even Rajasthan. The only time I have travelled within India earlier was during a school trip, and this shoot rekindled those memories.
Roughing it out Our stay in Himachal was cosy. I was more than excited about travelling by bus. I would run inside the bus to grab a seat near the window.
Country roads We shot in several locations in Himachal such as Rampur, Kalpa, Reckong Peo, Powari, and Nako, and around Tabo and Kaza in the Spiti Valley. When we were shooting in Kaza, I saw a group of women sitting in a row. I was speaking to my father at that time and he told me to click pictures with these women and send it to him. I ran to them and clicked several pictures. They were so beautifully dressed.
Food paradise Unfortunately, I am perpetually on a diet so I kept away from the dal makhani and tandoori rotis, but the unit freaked out. At a roadside dhaba at Tabo in the Spiti Valley, we had a traditional soup that they made with vegetables and a little ball of atta in it — it was so good I ended up having three bowls.
Hugs all More >
I could only think about how to not be attractive enough-Chitrangda Singh
13 weeks ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Delhi girl Chitrangda Singh recalls her trepidations and precautions she took while staying in the city where a five-year-old got brutally savaged recently
By Chitrangda Singh (DNA; April 25, 2013)
A rape happens every 20 minutes somewhere in the country. And Delhi is known as the rape capital of India. Of all the rapes reported, there’s only 26% conviction. In 2012, of the 600-plus cases reported in Delhi only one conviction was pronounced. Only 5% of the rapes or crimes against women in rural areas get reported. All these facts have been making headlines recently.
I was born in Jodhpur, but I attended college in Delhi. I lived in a hostel. I travelled in buses and autos and sometimes walked around and the city has it’s way of scaring you into submission. It’s subconscious but you stop wearing figure-hugging clothes… or hemlines that get high or necklines that are low… You make a habit of always getting into a bus with your shoulders first to make your way… keeping your arms crossed across the chest… shrink in a corner so someone doesn’t ‘accidentally’ brush past you… You always try and fit your bag in between when you share a seat with a man. You never make eye contact. At some point you realise there is a change in your body language. Inhibition creeps in, and you always look down and walk with your eyes lowered. That’s the submission happens without realising. Even though I’d read books and watched movies of college life full of carelessness and sexual freedom, I More >
Riz Ahmed discovers his Indian shoots during The Reluctant Fundamentalist
03 weeks ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Shakti Shetty (MID-DAY; April 25, 2013)
Actors tend to spend a lot of time travelling away from their families. However, sometimes, it so happens that they chance upon home in an altogether foreign land. At least that’s what happened to Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed during the shoot of Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
While filming for the post- September 11 drama based on Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist in India, the lead actor — who co- stars Kate Hudson in the film — stumbled upon something unexpected. When Riz saw the college in Old Delhi where he was shooting for some pivotal scenes, it reminded him of his childhood memories. Turns out it was the same college his grandfather had attended before the Partition took place! Riz was pleasantly surprised on discovering his Indian roots and he reminisces, “We were filming in an old compound called the Anglo-Arabic Islamic School when I happened to learn my granddad was a student of this college and my granddad’s uncle used to be its president. It was a way for me to unexpectedly reconnect with my own heritage as well. I wasn’t even aware of these connections before visiting the location.”
Mira couldn’t shoot the film in Pakistan due to security reasons, although the script pretty much demanded Lahore. “Improvisation was the only way ahead as we had to recreate the Pakistani city in Old Delhi itself and it was a challenge worth taking up,” adds a unit member.
I don’t need a man in my life right now-Alia Bhatt
04 weeks ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Alia Bhatt offers us a window seat to her world as she wraps up a 42-day road trip
Shubha Shetty (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 22, 2013)
She is back from a gruelling 42-day road trip for Imtiaz Ali’s film, Highway. But for Alia Bhatt, the dust is yet to settle.
From the coccoon of the Bhatt household to the grind of travelling by public transport all over Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, it has been one helluva ride for the 20-year-old. But she insists it has been the adventure of a lifetime.
“I have gone to some of these locations on school trips, but this was something else,” she chirps. “We were actually travelling and exploring places I would have never dreamt of seeing otherwise. It was very, very tiring, but I am happy tired,” she insists, adding, “I am looking forward to more and more such travels.”
!! CHECK OUT THE VERY CUTE ALIA BHATT SHOOTING FOR MAYBELLINE INDIA !!
Like all little girls, Alia would insist on grabbing the window seat while travelling in buses. That is how she saw things that remain etched on her impressionable mind: “There were fields after fields and I was surprised to see that mostly women worked on there. This just shows how hard women work everywhere.”
Alia makes another observation: “Their faces were covered with colourful dupattas, but their clothes were all bold and not conservative at all. That is what made them so attractive.”
The window to a different world apart, there was another important ‘growing up’ lesson for More >
Alia Bhatt experiences culture shock on sets of Highway
01 month ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Shubha Shetty (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 6, 2013)
Alia Bhatt’s first film Student of the Year had her tread on familiar ground. The teen romance was tailor-made for the 20-year-old debutante, who looked at ease in her trendy togs. A far cry from Highway, in which director-writer Imtiaz Ali has literally plucked the hothouse bloom from her designer universe and flung her on the dirt track.
The film stars Alia with Randeep Hooda and the gruelling 42-day first schedule started on March 1. The team has been on the road since then, exploring the country from Delhi and Gurgaon to Faridabad, Jaipur, Bikaner, Faridkot and parts of Punjab, before heading to Himachal Pradesh, where they are stationed right now. Incidentally, the crew is predominantly male, and Alia has just two other girls for company as she takes public transport, shoots at real locations, and gets a taste of the ‘other India’. A source close to Alia told Mirror, “The crew has been extremely protective of the girls, especially Alia, who was in for a bit of a culture shock at the kind of things she witnessed first-hand.” Added her friend: “It has been a rough and exhausting schedule, but Alia is all wide-eyed at the world that has been opening up for her.” Time to grow up?
Ranbir Kapoor, Yo Yo Honey Singh bond over songs, cars & women
01 month ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Subhash K Jha (DNA; April 1, 2013)
Ranbir Kapoor doesn’t make friends easily. But the young star was recently seen bonding with singer-rapper yo yo Honey Singh. The two met in Delhi during the shooting of Abhinav Kashyap’s Besharam last week to discuss the song that Honey would be singing for Ranbir in the film. And within a few minutes, the two were the talk of the entire crew. A member of the unit says, “Ranbir is very friendly with everyone, but he and Honey became friends very quickly. We could make out from snatches of their conversation that a lot of automobiles and ladies were being discussed.”
Apparently, Honey and Ranbir spent close to four hours chatting away and parted only when Honey had to leave to catch a flight to Dubai. But that isn’t all. Ranbir, we hear, will be collaborating with him for a series of songs since he feels Honey’s voice and attitude suit him. Honey says, “Yes, I’ve formed the most incredible friendship with Ranbir. I had gone to discuss our song for Abhinav’s film. Kaam ki baat toh 15 minute mein kahatam go gayi. We discovered many common interests. I found Ranbir to be as chilled out as me. I’ve been working closely with other Bollywood stars, but I find Bollywood actors to be extremely cagey. With Ranbir within minutes we were sharing confidential secrets.”
Honey did let out that they both love fast cars. “Ranbir and I own cars of a similar make and number. We share a lot of common interests. In fact, I’m taking him partying in Delhi More >
Gippi: A small film with a large heart
01 month ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Karan Johar talks about his next movie
Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; April 1, 2013)
Unlike the regular romantic films and family entertainers that he usually makes, Karan Johar’s Gippi is a simple movie about a 14-year-old girl (played by 13-year-old Riya Vij), who falls in love with a hunk (played by Taaha Shah) in her school. The film, one of the least expensive projects by Dharma Productions, is directed by Sonam Nair. It also has a maximum number of newcomers, all from Delhi. They shot during their summer vacations last year.
Calling Gippi a small film with a large heart, KJo feels that the story of Gurpreet Kaur, aka Gippi, is one that many will relate to. He says, “Gippi is a new kind of film and it is unusual for us to venture into that space. I hope it gets all the love it deserves. The script took me back to my growing-up years. Everyone has a Gippi in them and I’m sure people will connect with the character. Small films need large strategies. And we’ll be going all out for this one. It has been translated very sensibly.”
About Sonam, who was an assistant director in Ayan Mukerji’s Wake Up Sid, KJo says, “Ayan told me about this script being lively. When I started reading it, I found it was a page-turner. And the next morning, I wanted to make the movie. Sonam, who is the first woman director on board a Dharma project, is vibrant and fun herself. She has the spark to make great fun films.” About the music composed by Vishal-Shekhar, he says, “They have come up More >