Posts tagged Gulshan Grover

Major B-Town stars give Sridevi-Subrata Roy’s bash a miss?

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4 weeks ago
by Fenil Seta in

Boney Kapoor shrugs off Bollywood’s no-show at the party in honour of Sridevi’s Padma award

Soumyadipta Banerjee (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 25, 2013)

 

By Sahara standards, this was possibly one of their quietest parties in a long time. Especially when you consider the recent gala that brought India’s most famous and most powerful together to bless Subrata Roy’s grand-daughter at her naming ceremony in Delhi.

It came as a surprise then that most of the A-listers mentioned in the media invite did not turn up for the bash in honour of Sridevi’s Padmashri award.

The actress however, made the most of the moment. Dressed in a white Manish Malhotra lehnga, Sridevi beamed happily, flanked by her gorgeous daughters and her proud husband. If their host was feeling the weight of controversies and the sound drubbing that his IPL team had received earlier that day, he certainly did not show it.

Notable among those who attended were media baron Subhash Chandra, Jeetendra, Anil Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, Anupam Kher, Madhoo, R Balki and Gauri Shinde. While the event managers insisted Hrithik was expected to arrive, he did not. Neither did any of the Bachchans, who until recently were frontrunners at every Sahara do. Missing in action were all three Khans as well as the younger crop of actors, who have often professed their love and admiration for the veteran actress on social media.

When Mirror quizzed Boney about the disappointing turnout, he shrugged it off. “I would say the success of such More >

The dream is the same, dreamers have changed-Mahesh Bhatt

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1 month ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Mahesh Bhatt (BOMBAY TIMES; April 3, 2013)

 

If my mama and papa had not seen this image on a cassette jacket and gone to see the first day first show in Muzaffarpur, I wouldn’t have been born,” said a young air hostess to me on a flight one day. “While Rahul Roy sang Mein Duniya Bhoola Doonga, dad plucked up the courage to hold mom’s hand and proposed to her,” she said with a sparkle in her eye. ‘Love Makes Life Live’ was the tag line of one of the biggest musical hits of Hindi cinema… Aashiqui. The narrative of this film, which I had pulled of my own life, had resulted in the birth of this beautiful young girl. That really made my day! The plane seemed to soar a little higher just on my feelings alone!

Our journey through movie-making history is defined by certain images which become classics because they play in our memory years after they first appeared. Our hunger for enduring love and beauty is occasionally captured quite by accident in a visual, which reflects this yearning, by us filmmakers.

One such accident happened when we stumbled upon the iconic image of a couple under a coat, presumably kissing. Twenty three years ago, it electrified the landscape of that time, and you can still see the glimmer of its afterglow on the backs of auto rickshaws in Mumbai city today.

But the Gangotri of this gigantic musical hit of all times was Gulshan Kumar. “Your name is Mahesh and I am a devotee of Lord Shiva. My heart tells me that if you and I team up to make a More >

Where have the good old bad villains vanished from Bollywood?

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2 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

As the line between good and bad gets blurred, the villains have disappeared from Hindi films…

Upala KBR (DNA; March 16, 2013)

 

Bollywood has always had heroes and villains. All our stories are about good vs evil. There was Kanhaiyalal and Jeevan in the ’50s, Ajit and Pran in the ’60s, Ranjeet and Prem Chopra in the ’70s, Amrish Puri and Danny Denzongpa in the ’80s Gulshan Grover in the ’90s…and then the baddies vanished.

Now there is a whole breed of filmmakers (Karan Johar, Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Basu, Aditya Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani, etc) who don’t have villains in their films. There was a time when heroes played the good guys and the villains the bad guys. The lines between the good and the bad have blurred and grey characters have emerged. The success of films with leading men as anti-heroes (Khalnayak, Baazigar and Darr) is responsible for the villains being pushed into retirement. The actors who played baddies started playing character roles. When we need a terrifying character now, we import them from the South (Vikram (Raavan), Prakash Raj (Singham and Dabangg 2) or the heroes play baddies.

A quick survery of recent hits reveal that the concept of villain doesn’t exist anymore. 3 Idiots, the biggest hit in recent years didn’t have a khalnayak. Neither did Zindagi Na Mile Dobara, Barfi!, Rockstar, Cocktail, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Student Of The Year. Kiran Rao says “Baddies will always be there in mainstream films for as long as there are stories to tell. But perhaps the More >

Manisha Koirala is done with ‘crazy, fun-time’ friends

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2 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

None of her colleagues, except Deepti Naval, stayed in touch with her during her illness, laments the actress

Soumyadipta Banerjee (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 25, 2013)

 

The film fraternity is notorious for its share if fair-weather friends. And Manisha Koirala is learning it the hard way.

The actress, who is preparing to return to India in July, post her treatment for cancer, poured her heart out on a social networking site on Saturday, on how lonely the journey has been.

Even though Manisha has received ample support from her family friend Subrata Roy Sahara, who ensured she received the best of medical treatment in New York, the actress seemed anguished over the no-show from her peers.

“How slowly, shadows of my past friendships are becoming distant dream… did I have bunch of friends with whom there were promises of life time? Disappointed, yes I m…but then life fills you with new hope, new friends…hoping this time round it would be rooted in deep values rather then just crazy, fun times!!” wrote the depressed actress wrote.

When Mumbai Mirror got in touch with Manisha’s manager Subrata Ghosh, he couldn’t recall any Bollywood stars visiting her or even enquiring about her well-being while she was going through chemotherapies in New York. Except, Deepti Naval.

Manisha had worked in Deepti’s directorial debut Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish. Although the film was never commercially released, the two bonded. And it was Deepti, who has been Manisha’s constant More >

They thought Asian actors were troublemakers-Gulshan Grover

1
5 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

As told to Mehul S Thakkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 7, 2012)

 

When I started off, actors who wanted to work in Hollywood, packed their bags and left the country, settled there. None of the successful actors with an impressive body of work here, thought of venturing into Hollywood without wanting to settle there. And I wanted to be an exception. It was in the 90s. There was no clarity on how to get an agent, get films. I had gone for a show with Aamir and Shah Rukh to Los Angeles. I figured Hollywood had no idea of how we work here, who were our biggest stars. What’s more, the agents there wanted aspirants to stay there, not come back. Communication was a problem. This was in the pre-email days, when everything was faxed. It was very difficult to convince them that we were professionals who could be trusted.

They had heard horror stories about us that we don’t come on time, we get drunk, get into brawls and all that. Sometimes they offered me contracts that said my passport will be confiscated. It took time for them to understand us.

I got an agent, but roles offered were that of Asian cabbies with a few lines. When I refused them, they asked me to get lost. Then Jungle Book happened in 1997, where I played the main villain.

Duncan McLachlan, the director met me and said I had a ‘strong face and amazing eyes.’ I waited for the final call for three months, but then I was told the distributors did not want an Indian actor for such an important part. I was disappointed. But More >

Friends, family rally around ailing Manisha Koirala

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5 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Soumyadipta Banerjee (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 30, 2012)

 

One of the most keenly followed stars in her hey days, Manisha Koirala’s bond with the film fraternity may have grown tenuous in recent times, but the news of her sudden illness saw her old friends and family rally around the feisty star.

Manisha, who is recovering from a failed marriage, was admitted to Jaslok Hospital on Wednesday after she fell unconscious. Even as concerned friends and well-wishers kept waiting for an update on her condition, the spokesperson refused to divulge much on the exact nature of her ailment. However, according to sources at the hospital, Koirala is being treated by onco-surgeon Dr Suresh Advani.

“Manisha is responding well to the treatment and she has been referred for a few tests today. Unless we review the results, the exact nature of her illness cannot be known. And commenting about it till then will be mere speculation,” said Krishnakant Dasyam, head of marketing and spokesperson for Jaslok hospital.

Dasyam said that Manisha has requested the details of her ailment to be kept confidential. “So, even if the test results arrive, we will have to seek her permission before we can communicate the nature of her ailment to the public,” Dasyam added.

The secrecy around her ailment fuelled intense speculation about what is exactly wrong with the 42-year-old actress, who was once the favourite of A-list filmmakers and was one of the first heroines to work with all the three Khans.

Always More >

Gulshan Grover in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Bullet Raja

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8 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Mehul S Thakkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 1, 2012)

 

Last seen in Saif Ali Khan’s home production Agent Vinod, ‘bad man’ Gulshan Grover has now landed a meaty role in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s next titled Bullet Raja that stars Saif in the lead.

The film is based in Lucknow and sees Gulshan playing a wealthy businessman well connected with politicians and the underworld.

A source close to the project told Mirror, “When the script was completed, Gulshan was the makers’ first choice. They have decided not to experiment with his looks, unlike the actor’s earlier get-ups in many movies. His character, albeit negative, adds a lot of value to the film.”

Explaining how he was roped in, the source said, “The filmmakers invited him for lunch without telling him what he had been called for. When they broke the news to him, he was very happy and hugged both Tigmanshu and producer Rahul Mittra. He is very kicked about his role and will soon have a session on the development of the character.”

When contacted, Rahul Mittra of Brand Smith Motion Pictures, confirmed the news and said, “Gulshan is a fantastic actor and we go back a long way. Audiences are going to love him in this villainous avatar.”

Gulshan Grover to play M F Husain

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9 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; August 18, 2012)

 

The legendary artist M F Husain is said to be the inspiration for an upcoming film. It’s not a biopic, but the film, directed by adman Shashank Shekhar, is about an artist who gives back to society through his art. Gulshan Grover, we hear, will be playing the character. He will sport long hair coupled with the trademark stubble, and move around barefoot in the movie.

To make his part look as authentic as possible, the actor is borrowing from his interactions with the celebrated artist. Gulshan declined to share too many details saying, “I’m in an interesting phase of my career with filmmakers putting greater faith in me as an actor. When I was offered the role, inspired by the legendary artist and woven in a touching story, I loved it and took it up,” he says.

Interestingly, Gulshan also practised painting before he started shooting. “Art was a subject during my academic years. But for the role, I too lessons from my painter friends to get some nuances right for authenticity in my performance. Besides, of course, putting in from my experience of interacting with Husainsaab.”

Abhishek Bachchan to star in Bhojpuri film

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1 year ago
by Fenil Seta in

By PTI (DNA; May 4, 2012)

Abhishek Bachchan DNA

After his father Amitabh Bachchan acted in three Bhojpuri films, son Abhishek is set to follow suit.

The junior Bachchan is most likely to appear in the upcoming film of the megastar’s make-up man Deepak Sawant.

“One fine day, Abhishek had asked me as to why I am not casting him in my film. The offer to work in Bhojpuri cinema came from Abhishek himself. All I can say is Abhishek will be part of our upcoming Bhojpuri film,” Deepak Sawant, the film producer told PTI, last evening.

“We have a film in place titled, Ganga Ramji…it is a political movie. It is about how a third person, say politician gets benefit from the fight between two politicians. All I can say is that he (Abhishek) would be there in the film,” he said without elaborating further.

Amitabh has already worked with Sawant in three Bhojpuri films — Ganga, Gangotri and Ganga Devi.

Ganga Devi a political thriller about women reservation, stars Amitabh Bachchan, wife Jaya, Bhojpuri actors Dinesh Lal Yadav and Pakhee Hegde besides Gulshan Grover in lead roles. The film is set to release post IPL.

“We intend to release the film after IPL. We do not want to incur any losses with this film. Also, fans are crazy about IPL,” Sawant said.

Bollywood celebs’ phone numbers leaked

0
1 year ago
by Fenil Seta in

A website has listed out personal numbers of B’wood celebs, resulting in an alarming rise in the number of crank callers

Amrapali Sharma (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 28, 2012)

 

Nobody likes crank callers. Our very own busy Bollywood celebrities, less so. But despite call blocking services and repeated attempts to change numbers, many tinsel townies have been getting random phone calls over the past four to six months. The reason, Mumbai Mirror has found out is a webpage that lists out personal mobile numbers of most celebrities. Surprisingly, the phone numbers are mostly accurate. And those, who have changed their numbers recently, have their old numbers listed on the webpage.

This list published on the Internet might be a dream come true for most fans but has become a nightmare for most celebrities. “It’s a boiling issue for most of us. I get random calls from different cities from people who just want to chat. Fans did call once in a while but over the last four months or so, the number has gone up drastically. I have missed important calls due to this. I had that number for the last 15 years. But due to these crank calls, I had to change it. I had been trying to find out who had leaked my number. Thanks to you, I know now,” Sonali Kulkarni told Mirror.

And the callers can’t always be categorized as ‘crank’. Filmmaker Vashu Bhagnani, for instance, had been getting calls from people trying to find work in the industry. “I can’t explain how troublesome it is. Strugglers call up More >

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