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Posts tagged Times News Network
No more maids for us-Anupam Ahuja
01 year ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Anupam, the woman who stood like a rock behind her husband Shiney Ahuja, is hopeful of a beautiful future. Sarita Tanwar chats with her
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (TIMES LIFE; June 19, 2011)
I Last met Shiney Ahuja at Sea Lounge at the Taj, three years ago. Today, I am sitting with his wife Anupam Ahuja at the same location. A lot has happened since. He has been accused of rape by his maid and was jailed. Although he is currently out on bail, the verdict has been delivered by the media as well as the masses: guilty. I too believed he did it. When I tell his wife, she manages a wry smile, “In your place, I would too.” Ask her if she ever believed he did it and she shakes her head, “Not for a second. I never even questioned him. I know he can never do anything like that.” Yesterday she only had her conviction, today she has the proof to back it up. Here she talks about their hellish journey in the last three years, what lies ahead and what keeps her going. Read on for excerpts…
So what’s the current status? The lawyers have to prepare what is known as a Paper Book, based on the evidence that has been presented in the court. When it is ready — it might take six weeks or so — the lawyers will submit it to the court and they will get a date of hearing. Sometimes, it takes five to six years for the hearing to come up. But since our case was fast-tracked by the government, we would like that to apply to the hearing too.
How hopeful are you? I More >
Warrant against Pooja Bhatt for not appearing in court
01 year ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (THE TIMES OF INDIA; June 19, 2011)
Mumbai: The Bandra magistrate’s court on Saturday issued a warrant against actor-producer Pooja Bhatt for not appearing before the court in a case registered against her for the posters of the film Rog, which allegedly carried ‘indecent’ pictures.
Advocate Vijendra Jabra, appearing for social activist Vinod Jain who had filed a case against Bhatt, said, “Bhatt did not appear before the court so the court issued a bailable warrant against her.”
In January, a sessions court set aside a magisterial order quashing an FIR against Bhatt, her company Fish Eye, co-producer Sujit Singh and his company, Shreya Creations. On July 14, 2008, the Bandra court discharged Bhatt, Singh and their companies, saying the evidence against them was insufficient. The case dates back to January 2005, when Bhatt’s film Rog was released. A group of people had objected to the posters of the film, which carried pictures of “scantily-clad” South African model Elina Hamman. The police had then registered a case of obscenity against six persons, including Bhatt and Singh.
When an actor prepares…
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Dilip Kumar took to comedy to fight the demons of his tragedy performances, Shahid Kapoor’s being trained to fly a fighter plane and a ‘pregnant’ Vidya Balan has banned smoking on the sets… Acting is hard work, finds Seema Sinha
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (TIMES LIFE; February 27, 2011)
WHEN Shahid Kapoor decided to play an Indian Air Force pilot in his father Pankaj Kapoor’s directorial debut Mausam, he went through rigorous training to fly the F16, a sophisticated fighter plane, to get into the skin of the character.
Recently, Vidya Balan, who essays the role of a pregnant woman in the upcoming Kahaani, has banned smoking on the sets, besides learning how a sixmonth pregnant woman would walk, at what speed, how she would sit and get up. Says director Sujoy Ghosh, “In her mind, Vidya is a pregnant woman. People around would lift things for her. This way, the crew too started seeing her as the character.”
Not trained as an actor, Vidya approaches a role in her own way. During Paa, Vidya had sessions with a gynaecologist to find out the questions pregnant women came up with. Says Vidya, “My endeavour is to behave like the character. People said my character, a gynaecologist, appeared too matter-offact with her patients. But that’s how it was supposed to be. Before the shoot begins, I discuss the character with my directors, understand the emotional graph and on the sets, I just react to the emotions because by then everything else is More >
I’m like a blank slate-Ranveer Singh
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Debutant Ranveer Singh is a star in the making. Seema Sinha meets the confident performer
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (TIMES LIFE; February 20, 2011)
MEET Ranveer Singh, the star in making, with floppy hair falling on his forehead, the casual college boy looks. The debutant, who made inroads into Bollywood’s big banner Yash raj with his very first film — Band Baaja Baaraat, has emerged winner with the box-office success and several awards already in his kitty. Bollywood’s top honchos Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar have predicted him as the next superstar!
However, his striking resemblance to rising star Ranbir Kapoor is purely incidental, he maintains. “It’s just our names that are similar. I’m an experimental actor and want to carve my own niche,” he says.
Ranveer had celluloid dreams from the time he finished high school. He says, “It all seemed so farfetched then. Given my non-filmi background, I felt like an outsider, who didn’t stand a chance. It was like wanting to belong to an elite, exclusive club.”
The next best thing was to take up copywriting, says Ranveer, who grew up on a steady diet of television. “As a kid, I was fat. When children were playing outside, I spent my time in front of the television, enjoying commercials and wondering how they were made. I was good at writing jingles and one-liners. I interned at O&M, but my love for cinema never died,” he reminisces.
His dream was fulfilled when the casting director at More >
Rahat regrets letting down Indian fans, fined 15 lacs
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (THE TIMES OF INDIA; February 21, 2011)
New Delhi: A repentant Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, the Pakistani singer confined by the DRI for questioning, told his interrogators that he had let down the people of India from whom he had received so much appreciation. “Main sufiana kalam gata hoon, lekin insaan ke kanoon ko tor baitha (I sing sufi music, but still I broke the law),” he told DRI officials before signing an adjudication order. While giving an undertaking that he will appear for further questioning whenever summoned, Rahat said, “Is mulk se itna pyar mila… aur main unke nazar mein gir gaya (I got so much love from India but I let my fans down).”
In its adjudication order, the DRI slapped a penalty of Rs 15 lakh each on Rahat and his nephew and manager Maroof besides confiscating $1,43,000 seized from their possession while they were about to board an Emirates flight from IGI airport on February 13. Additional director general of DRI R K Sharma said the investigation was still not complete. “Rahat and his associate have given an undertaking that they will appear here whenever required,” Sharma said. The DRI has conditionally released the singer but has not yet delivered their travel papers. “Passports will be given to the accused only after the payment of penalty,” Sharma added.
The arrest of the singer was prevented after Pakistan put diplomatic pressure on India to release him. Meanwhile, agency reports from More >
Life in a chawl: Reel & Real
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Chawls have been themes for films and have inspired several creative people. Seema Sinha journeys into the psyche of community living
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (TIMES LIFE; February 6, 2011)
REMEMBER Basu Chatterjee’s Jaya Bhaduri-Anil Dhawan starrer Piya Ka Ghar (1972; picture on the right) in which the marriage-fixing priest creates a dreamscape in the imagination of young Malathy and her parents about the Mumbai chawl? He tells them: “The boy lives near the seashore, in a five-storey building; as kings and emperors have palaces, the people in Mumbai, the city of dreams, have chawls.”
And when the heroine of the film relocates to her screen husband’s house, in ‘Bharat Mahal’, she is shocked to find herself in a shanty room, divided two ways with the kitchen as her bedroom, and a common toilet. The efforts of the newlyweds to find privacy, intimacy and love in the obscure, noisy and cramped space form the film’s storyline.
Perhaps, people living in chawls in Mumbai do feel like kings and emperors with the common verandah, courtyard and street down below all to themselves, so what if they actually own a match-box size apartment! Check out what Nikhil Ghosalkar, a young architect living in Mumbai’s Urankarwadi chawl, Girgaum, has to say, “With the common passage, I actually feel as if I own a 27 bedroom flat! There is no uniqueness in a skyscraper whereas multipurpose space is the unique feature of community living. Chawls are our More >
Turning 30 ads on TV before censor nod
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (THE TIMES OF INDIA; January 16, 2010)
New Delhi: Gul Panag starrer Turning 30 is turning heads. The censor board has complained to the government that the film’s video clips shown on television have not been endorsed by it.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is the authorized agency to clear films and their promos before being screened on TV. Censor board chief Sharmila Tagore said, “Some promos are shown as news clips and these have not been cleared by the censor board. I have brought it to the attention of the government.’’
Tagore, speaking at the Indian Women’s Press Corps, said while she is not for moral policing, there should be reasonable restriction.
“We are, however, not here for moral policing. The Censor Board will work in the same manner as it has been working and it is not going to go back. I have tried to build synergy between civil society, ministry and producers,” she said, refuting claims that the board has become liberal during her tenure.
With a spate of films being released with titles like Kaminey and Yeh Saali Zindagi, the veteran actress said she was not in favour of such names as they cause ‘problem’ with one’s thought process.
“I really had a problem with the title of Sudhir Mishra’s Yeh Saali Zindagi. The trend started with Kaminey, and once it triggers, you can’t stop it. But we try our best to come to a democratic decision and whatever objectionable matter is allowed is only 5% or 2%,” More >
Jaya, Rekha bump into each other
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Rekha sidelined because of Jaya
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; June 20, 2010)
They have never come together on screen after Yash Chopra’s Silsila in 1981. And left to themselves, they avoid each other like the plague. However, the love of lensman Gautam Rajadhyaksha brought Jaya Bachchan and Rekha face to face at the book release function on Friday night.
Aur phir kya? Hell broke loose! It was a packed hall, the dignitaries included theatreliterary stalwart Vijaya Mehta, singing sisters Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, Hema Malini, Padmini Kolhapure and Kajol. But honestly, did anyone care? The media was doing its own number.
The first disappointment for the media was a change in the order. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was to release the book with Lata. However, he was replaced at the nth hour by his eminent wife. And the media, which usually has a field day focussing on Rekha everytime the Big B is in the same vicinity, had an equally charged time capturing the diva’s expressions whenever Jaya spoke.
The evening had all the ingredients for a masala movie. Lata, Hema and Jaya sat on one side, while Rekha maintained a safe distance for most part of the evening seated on the opposite side with her faithful companion Farzana.
When the other dignitaries were invited on the podium, Rekha who has been a very staunch Gautam supporter was left sitting in the audience. The concerned parties may have had their reasons, but it More >
Sachin Tichkule AALA RE!
12 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
COMMON MAN: Akshay Kumar
Punjabi munda Akshay Kumar turns Marathi mulga for Priyadarshan’s ‘cerebral’ comedy
SHARIN WADER BUTANI Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; June 17, 2010)
Akshay Kumar and Priyadarshan have cooked up a hilarious plot once again, but this time, it’s a little Khatta Meetha. The famed director who has made blockbusters like Hera Pheri, Bhagam Bhag and Bhool Bhulaiya with Akshay, is presenting the actor as Sachin Tichkule in the film that’s produced by Cape of Good Films Private Limited and Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd.
Khatta Meetha is about a struggling construction contractor Sachin Tichkule with big dreams who lacks resources to realise them. He is the black sheep of the family unlike his brother, who is hugely successful albeit by using incorrect means. And when a new commissioner takes over the municipal office, Tichkule’s woes further increase.
Presented by Hari Om Entertainment Company in association with Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd, Khatta Meetha is largely a political satire on the municipal and construction dealings in India told through Sachin Tichkule’s life. It aims at highlighting and revealing the various facets and levels of bribing and crooked tricks required for a common man to survive the system. Says Akshay, who’s got himself in Tichkule’s shoes, “Khatta Meetha is a cerebral comedy about a man caught in an uncommon situation. This slice of film, much inspired by RK Laxman, will More >