Posts tagged scion

I fit into cross-genre cinema-Abhishek Bachchan

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

MAKE A WISH: Abhishek Bachchan poses for BT at Jalsa, his home in Juh

Abhishek Bachchan, who turns 34 today, is on a roll this year…

MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; February 5, 2010)

When you’re Abhishek Bachchan, the scion of the most prestigious film family, then there is very little you can ask for on your birthday. With Mani Ratnam’s Guru, the actor came into his own, getting even Bollywood’s biggest legend Amitabh Bachchan to endorse his talent. And though some films in between put him on a see-saw, R Balki’s Paa once again brought to light the fact that despite sharing screen space with his father, in what is an award-winning performance for the Big B, AB Junior can very well hold his own.

This year could be the culmination of all these years of ups and downs for the actor. He gets into the most eventful phase of his career. Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar’s Crooked, Karan Johar’s Dostana-2, Abbas Mustan’s The Italian Job (Hindi remake), Anurag Basu’s next, and, Rohan Sippy’s untitled venture are five of the films that go on the floor this year with Abhishek in the lead. And on June 18, Raavana — Mani Ratnam’s most ambitious venture so far, with AB Jr as the protagonist, will open to a global audience.

When asked how he had suddenly become so prolific, Abhishek who has a great sense of humour says, “I haven’t mastered the art of doing one film at a time.’’ The actor feels he is blessed (yes he couldn’t ask for a more rocking birthday gift) because More >

Ranbir will win National Award for Raajneeti-Prakash Jha

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Subhash K. Jha, January 25, 2010 – 13:23 IST

Though he hasn’t received any National award this year, Prakash Jha just can’t stop preening over the fact that his Raajneeti features the maximum number of National award winners in its cast, Arjun Rampal being the latest.

Says Prakash, “When I heard Arjun had won the National award for Rock On, I was ecstatic. He is fantastic in my film. But it’s Ranbir I’m most hopeful about. I hope, in fact I’m pretty certain, he’ll win the National award for his performance.”

Ranbir plays an US-educated scion of a political dynasty who has to reluctantly return home to shoulder his family’s duties.

Says Prakash, “This film will take Ranbir to another level. In fact everyone is outstanding in the film. And why not? I’ve a line-up of National award winners in the cast, from Naseeruddin Shah and Nana Patekar to Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgan.”

Incidentally, Prakash can’t stop preening over the fact that his Raajneeti is the biggest multi-starrer since Sholay. “I think it’d be impossible to get so many stars under one roof for any other director.”

As for Katrina Kaif, Raajneeti in many ways is her film. “The girl has breathed fire and passion into her role. From the way she metamorphoses from a young vivacious girl to the way she walks to give her public speeches as a politician. Audiences won’t be able to believe the transformation of Katrina Kaif. I won’t be surprised if both Ranbir and Katrina win National awards,” says Prakash More >

Kyunki his name is Ajay Devgn

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

KISKA NUMBER AAYEGA: Will the figures add up for Ajay?

Bharati Dubey | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; October 13, 2009)

Mumbai: No, that’s not a typo. Nearly 18 years after he came into the film industry, Ajay Devgan has dropped the ‘a’ from his surname. Ajay’s brand new surname comes before the release of his home production All The Best. Last week the film ran into minor trouble with a copyright infringement lawsuit but its makers say they’re all set to release on Friday. Celebrity numerologist Sanjay B Jumaani maintains that professional advice needs to be sought if one decides to follow any ‘science’. “Minus an ‘a’ the change in Ajay’s fortunes will be moderate. If he had added an ‘n’ to his surname, his number would add up to six—Shah Rukh’s number—and that would’ve been better for him,’’ explains Jumaani. He does believe, though, that Ajay should have worked on the title of his film. “The title remains untouched and adds up to number 8. This is a karmic number and can go either way,’’ Jumaani says. Talking of titles, Jumaani predicts the new season of Bigg Boss will be a smash hit because the letters total up to 6—also Amitabh Bachchan’s number and a lucky number by itself. The K-brigade seems to have run its course on the small screen. Explains numerologist Suniiel Naik, “The alphabet ‘k’ comes under the influence of the moon but that’s just one part of the story. Beginning the title with ‘k’ won’t help. The entire set of words need to be looked into until a More >

I don’t know what Deepika will surprise me with-Ranbir Kapoor

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

BIRTHDAY BOY: Ranbir Kapoor… looking forward to much this week, especially turning 27 and his new film Ranbir Kapoor, who turns 27 today, has just flown in from Bhopal for a birthday celebration

MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; September 28, 2009)

The scion of the Kapoor family turns 27 today. Ranbir Kapoor, hailed as the brightest light in Bollywood, flew in from Bhopal where he was stationed for Prakash Jha’s Rajniti just hours before his birthday. Asked whether he had special plans for his big day, Ranbir said, “I will be having a quiet dinner with my parents. My sister Riddhima and my brother-in-law Bharat are travelling this year. I’m a shy guy and I normally like having an intimate celebration rather than something ostentatious.” The actor admits he has a special wish this year, though. His film, Karan Johar’s Wake Up Sid, is due in his birthday week, and Ranbir says, “The best gift I can ask for this year is that everyone goes to see my film.” Smiling he adds, “I don’t know how to hardsell myself or my film but I can surely request people to see it.” While the actor intends to ring in his birthday with his father Rishi Kapoor and mother Neetu Singh, he also has plans for another little “quiet” bash with girlfriend Deepika Padukone and a couple of dear friends. “I’m not one of those guys for surprise parties,” he says. “I feel awkward. I have no idea what Deepika has planned for me. I haven’t seen her for a few days because I have been in More >

Chunkey Pandey offered 5 lakh to attend a funeral!

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in
Family pays Rs five lakh for guest appearance at the crematorium to create a charade to fool the dead man’s creditors By Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 19, 2009)

Chunky Pandey who organised the star appearance

Stars have danced at shaadis, inaugurated showrooms, and even attended mundans for a fee, but this one still remains a first: When the thirty-something scion of a Mulund business family suddenly died, they hired a well-known Bollywood star to attend his funeral. He was paid Rs five lakh for the appearance.

According to actor Chunky Pandey whose wife Bhavna runs an event management company, Aim, he received a call early morning last fortnight from the family requesting him to attend the funeral at Mulund. “I was puzzled for a while thinking the guy must be related to me in some way, which was why I was being called for the funeral but then they told me they wanted me to do a rudaali, and were ready to pay Rs five lakh. I nearly fainted at the offer.”

The unusual invite came with an urgent reason. The deceased had run up substantial debts and the creditors had been knocking at his door. They wanted a star to be at the funeral to convey to the creditors that the dead man had been putting together a film and had spent all the money on that. “They wanted me to do a bit of rona-dhona and stand in a corner very quietly during the entire funeral. They said: ‘That would help us convince them (the creditors) that he’d been putting together a film More >

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