Daniel Craig is sick of playing Bond
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‘I HAVE NEVER PRETENDED TO BE SOMEONE I’M NOT’
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ctors Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Kochelin visited Hindustan Times to meet winners of HT City’s Stars In the City contest and promote their film Waiting. They were accompanied by the film’s director Anu Menon and producer Priti Gupta.
Anushka Sharma tells us why she has never shied away from speaking her mind Shalvi Mangaokar n
shalvi.mangaokar@hindustantimes.com
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hat is it that makes actor Anushka Sharma so appealing? To most, she’s a glamorous star with a good body of work. But that alone does not define her. She also happens to be an honest actor, someone who does not shy away from speaking her mind. She talks about being the way she is and working with actor Salman Khan.
You’ve been a brutally honest person. Can being too honest backfire in this industry? I don’t know how to behave in any other way. If I am honest and straightforward as a person, I can’t suddenly become someone else. I’ve never pretended to be
Naseer saab, critics or audience, which of the two matter more? The audience, without a doubt. The opinion of any person who spends the money to buy a ticket has more value than the critics. The critics are paid to express their opinions.
Has that created trouble for you?
someone I’m not, nor have I said things I don’t understand. I’ve not shied away from speaking my mind. That’s the way I’ve been brought up.
For the longest time, people in the industry thought I was snobbish. I’ve always been socially awkward. I wasn’t a very outgoing person, so some people probably took that as me being a snob and aloof. But because I’ve not changed, people have accepted me the way I am. I talk about what my life, but I still require some amount of privacy.
Did you ever feel the need to be different? There was a time when I was less experienced in the ways of the industry. I felt I had to be different. I tried it, but I realised that I just couldn’t be like that. I only know how to be the way I am. It enables me to focus on my work. I can’t be bothered about what to say where, to be too prepared, or think about how I want to appear or what my image should be like. It’s too taxing. Maybe if I could, I would, but I can’t. I have to be this way, I find solace in that. I expect people to be honest, real and upfront with me.
Salman is the same; there’s no difference. He talks to everybody the same way. I think that’s a great thing about him. With him, what you see is what you get. He’s spontaneous and does quirky things.
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ruchika.garg@hindustantimes.com
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ith a career spanning over four decades in Bollywood, actor-producer Anil Kapoor has seen the industry evolving and believes that technology has worked wonders in the world of cinema. “Advancement of technology is one thing which has brought major changes in the world of cinema. We have become smarter and it becomes really easy to catch fake content and anything that plagiarised.” Kapoor, who has earned both critical acclaim and commercial success in films, believes that an actor gets restricted to roles after a
Advancement of technology is one thing which has brought major changes in the world of cinema
Anil Kapoor, actor
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ust like anyone excited about sharing their travel diaries, TV actor Sonarika Bhadoria posted her pictures from Mauritius, where she was shooting for a film. But little did she know that people, who know her better for portraying Goddess Parvati in the serial Devon Ke Dev... Mahadev, would ‘get offended’ and troll her. Although she deleted the pictures, she re-posted them. She makes it clear that she is unapologetic about it. “I thought today’s
“We all know what a hypocritical society we live in, don’t we? Gurmeet (Choudhary) is a dear friend and he played Lord Ram some years ago. Immediately after that he did a show called Geet, in which he was shown with his bare body, girls drooled over him and men looked up to him for fitness. Similarly, with actor Mohit Raina (who plays Shiva) a lot of girls used to call him up and gave him names like hot Shiva and sexy Shiva. Slut shaming a female actor for wearing certain kind of clothes is not acceptable. At least not in today’s day and age.,” she says.
henna.rakheja@hindustantimes.com
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I wore a bikini, so? Sonarika Bhadoria yashika.mathur@hindustantimes.com
Naseeruddin Shah, actor
As an actor nothing puts pressure on me, except for a badly written script which I happen to say yes to. I often make wrong choices and so I feel pretty bad when someone says we saw such and such film because you were in it. So, it is a responsibility I carry but I don’t take it all that seriously. I do whatever work I please and often my instincts are wrong. >>MORE ON PAGE 3
PHOTO: SHIVAM SAXENA/HT
TANMAY IS NOW THE BHAT OF JOKES
PHOTO: FACEBOOK/TANMAY BHAT
generation is mature enough to separate an actor’s personal and professional life. But that did not happen. Just because I am a girl and played a goddess you cannot hide behind your TV screens and write whatever you want to in the name of freedom of expression. They say it is part and parcel of a celebrity’s life but there is a limit. I am not God, I have emotions and I do feel bad,” says Bhadoria, who played the role for a year. The 23-year-old actor also points out the difference of approach towards male and female actors who have played mythological characters.
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certain age. He says, “With age, you get restricted to certain roles. It’s a part of life and you have to face it.” The actor has also marked his presence in Hollywood and is known for essaying a variety of roles. On being asked what was the most difficult role of his career so far, Kapoor says, “There are many. One of the scenes in the movie Nayak in which I am completely naked, was quite physically challenging and sometimes you need to play characters whom you’ve never met before, but then without creating a conflict you have to portray that role.” Kapoor has been part of some of the biggest hit movies of Indian cinema, like Mr India (1987), Tezaab (1988) and Beta (1992), but he credits failure for motivating him to perform better. He says, “What you can learn from your failures, you can’t learn from success. They are as important as success and they make me stronger and hungry for better roles.”
PHOTO: RAAJESSH KASHYAP/HT
Yashika Mathur
There are a lot of expectations when Naseeruddin Shah signs a film. Do you feel pressurised?
I was just telling Naseer that I don’t read reviews. I just find out from Anu (Menon, director) and him what’s going on. I stopped reading reviews just because as an actor its important to have your confidence and I would rather get the criticism from people who know my work and are close to the main industry and can give me positive criticism that I can work on. I’m happy with the film and I’m proud of it, but it is nerve-wracking waiting for
How different is Salman Khan as a person and as a co-star?
Ruchika Garg
audience’s reaction.
I often make wrong choices and so I feel pretty bad when someone says we saw such and such film because you were in it
Kalki, are there still any jitters when you open the newspapers or websites right after people or critics have seen the film?
Plagiarists beware, tech to the rescue: Anil
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Naseeruddin discusses his biggest challenge as an actor
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omedian Tanmay Bhat’s Snapchat video titled Sachin vs Lata Civil War did not tickle many a funny bone and instead drew flak from people who felt offended. Bollywood celebs tweeted strongly against Bhat for mocking Sachin Tendulkar and making comments against Lata Mangeshkar’s old age, like “Jon Snow died, so you should also die” and “Your face looks like someone has kept you in water for eight days (sic).” Actor Anupam Kher tweeted, “I am 9 times winner of #BestComicActor. Have a great sense of humor. But This’s NOT humor. #Disgusting&Disrespectful.” Actor Riteish Deshmukh wrote, “Am absolutely shocked. Disrespect is not cool and neither is it funny.” By the time this paper went
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to press, responses and reactions from everyone, including political parties, have been floating online, the video had received more than 3 lakh views. But some stand-up comics support him and Bhat had tweeted to Snapchat asking for money. Comedian Neeti Palta says, “This isn’t an issue of national security! Bachpan se we have seen people in our society making fun of a mota bachcha. This is Indian humour.” Mention about the Twitter reactions of actors such as Riteish Deshmukh and she replies, “These guys do movies that make lewd jokes on a women’s anatomy… How can they suddenly turn around and say ‘Looks pe joke nahin karna chahiye’?” Some comedians such as Rajneesh Kapoor believe that “Humour has to be politically incorrect. Why can you not criticise them? Just because they are Bharat Ratnas?”
Kapoor adds, “The entire thing started at 3 am at Snapchat – which is used by youngsters – when Tanmay was perhaps getting bored and he made a video which he thought was funny. But who decides that who can be insulted and who can’t?” But to call a spade a spade isn’t that easy. Comedian Maheep Singh says, “For a 20-year-old, Mahatma Gandhi can be a butt of jokes, but for someone who was alive during his political movement, joking about him can be unacceptable. If you are a comedian, you are in a position to express people’s angers and frustrations. If you are against this kind of jokes, do not make them popular by sharing them and talking ill of them, negativity travels faster.”
stoppress PHOTO: YOGEN SHAH
VETERAN ACTOR SURESH CHATWAL DEAD A still from Devon Ke Dev... Mahadev
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Veteran film and TV actor Suresh Chatwal, who was part of the popular TV show FIR, passed away on Saturday, after prolonged illness. He was cremated on Sunday in Mumbai. His co-star from the show, Kavita Kaushik tweeted, “Our beloved commissioner of f.i.r Shri Suresh Chatwal is no more, A man full of high energy and old filmy stories , He Always blessed me..R.I.P.”