Stardust - November 2020

Throwback: Shatrughan Sinha’s take on films & more...

NOVEMBER 2020 India ₹ 75.00 UK/Europe € 3.99 USA/Canada $ 2.99

A MAGNA PUBLICATION

“It’s not like I haven’t tried my best not to be controversial.”

- Sharman Joshi

“I’ve been very lucky to work with Mira Nair.”

– Tanya Maniktala

“If a parent does something for their children, would that be called “nepotism?” Salman Khan

EXPLOSIVE: The Nepotism war hots up yet again!

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COVER STORY

What’s The Big Deal About Nepotism? ..................................................................................................................13

COURT MARTIAL

Sharman Joshi ....................................................................................................................................................... 41 Get Snappy: “The transgender lead character in the film is very powerful and radiant.” - Raghava Lawrence ..... 25 Get Snappy: “The pandemic took care of the insider outsider debate for me. Right now, the

audiences are the ones who are deciding who they like, who they don’t!” – Vijay Varma ...................27 In Conversation: “I started out as an actor at the age of 17 – and I think it was a big mistake!” – Sujoy Mukerji.....47 Close Up: “I’ve been very, very lucky to work with this

incredible team and obviously, Mira Nair.” - Tanya Maniktala ....................................................................... 31 Close Up: “I feel the more I watch, the more I do, the more I learn.” – Sikander Kher .................................................. 37 In Focus: “I had to put in all my savings, sell my wife’s jewellery to pay

interests of the loans and even borrow from friends…” – Ram Kamal Mukherjee ..................................... 53 In Focus: Ajit and Lata Mody | Founders - Rajbhog ............................................................................................................. 20 Blast From The Past: Shatrughan Sinha’s hilarious interview from Stardust October 1988. ......................... 73

FEATURES

Music Room: Virus ................................................................................................................................................. 63 Starry Look: Savio John Pereira ........................................................................................................................... 69

COLUMNS

Neeta’s Natter ....................................................................................................................................................... 03 Wild Encounter: Zuber K Khan ............................................................................................................................. 57 Starry Sashay ........................................................................................................................................................ 67 Stardust On The Go ............................................................................................................................................. 71 STARDUST is published monthly by the proprietors MAGNA PUBLISHING CO. LTD., Magna House, 100/E Old Prabhadevi Road. Mumbai 400025, India. Tel No: 91-22-67091234. Editorial texts and illustrations are the copyright of the publishers of this magazine. No one may reproduce any material before permission is obtained in writing.

All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai (India) only 2020 Copyright Magna Publishing Co Ltd. Volume No 50 (No. 11) Please address all your advertising, subscriptions and trade enquiries for to: Magna Publishing Inc, 125 Central Park North, PH4, New York NY 10026. T: 212-725-7833 F: 212-889-3250 E: stardustmagazine@aol.com

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Akshay Kumar worked really hard to promote his film Laxmi. In fact, everybody had a lot of expectations from this film more so as the original film Kanchana was rocking. No wonder, Laxmi became Akki’s biggest opening ever till date. Unfortunately, the film was a total let-down. The director was absolutely clueless whether he wanted to make the film a horror or a comedy. For the traumatised audience, it was literally a horror comedy.

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Every year we hear of Salman Khan introducing some of the Bigg Boss contestants like Sana Khan, Gautam Gulati and so many others in his projects.

This time, we’ve heard over the grapevine that Salman is planning to introduce the very good-looking and talented Romil Chaudhary too. Though we are yet to get official confirmation, we are keeping our fingers crossed. Way to go Salman…

You’re getting in more talent into Bollywood than all the casting director put together.

During the lockdown most of the stars went underground. Katrina Kaif, however, is one actor who has had a whale of time. She discovered her ‘mermaid’ fantasies and headed off to the oceans to swim with the fishes and surf with waves. And of course, sizzle in sexy bikinis and get all the men across the continents hot and bothered. Kat rocks!

Abhishek Bachchan was touted as the lead actor of the web-series Ludo directed by Anurag Kashyap but unfortunately, his role wasn’t as substantial as we thought it would be.

Rajkummar Rao in fact was the real hero of this happening thriller. Hmm. We think Abby Baby should protest!

He’s too talented to have been wasted.

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Poor Deepika Padukone went MIA after all the NCB brouhaha. Of course, a bunch of meanies were trolling her constantly and though her PR machinery were constantly on their toes deleting rude and nasty comments from her social media platforms, the trollers refused to relent. Thankfully, she is slowly resurfacing once again. We guess she’s not going to ‘Kwan’ any time soon.

Hubby Ranveer Singh however was constantly at Dippy’s side. In fact even on their anniversary, he put a touching post with a romantic picture of the two of them with a caption “souls intertwined. Good to see DP has solid support at the home front.

Taking about love and support, Sanjay Dutt has thanked all his fans, family and well-wishers for getting him through the most trying time of his life. This time ‘round, Sanjay has put a post on the occasion of his kid’s birthday stating that he’s “come out victorious” of his illness.

We are happy too, Sanjay.

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Did you know Siddhant Chaturvedi writes as well as he can act? Well, we were surfing through his insta posts and found to our delight that MC Sher from Gully Boy is an extraordinary rapper and poet even in real life. Come on Bollywood, we want to see more of this talented guy!

Last we saw of Siddharth Malhotra, he was playing dumb charades with his fans. Though we do think Sid is definitely one of the most handsome guys in the film industry, we agree he needs to work on his acting a tad more. Perhaps playing dumb charades will help, what say?

Another talented guy is Randeep Hooda who disappears suddenly from all the excitement as suddenly as he’s back in action. Well, thankfully after a brief hiatus, Randeep is back and we are told he’s shooting somewhere in Karnal for a web-series.

Tiger Shroff has flown off to Maldives to get a bit of sun, sand ‘n’ surf. And guess what we spotted him in flaming red shorts doing some acrobatic somersaults into the azure waters.

He sure looked super hot in the super cool ambience. Definitely Tiger, tiger burning bright… in the middle of the ‘swimming pool’.

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Talking about super-hot, rumoured girlfriend Disha Patani in an itsy-bitsy bikini sizzled at some seaside haunt. Were you holidaying in Maldives too, Disha? Is it a secret romantic getaway with the rumoured boyfriend? Do tell?

Another star made sure he had some ‘me time’ with his loved ones too. Well, we are talking about John Abraham who cutely posed with his little puppies.

He looked as adorable as his four-legged furry pets. This is one actor who stands apart from the milieu.

We did speak about Katrina Kaif a little earlier, so obviously we are going to be talking about Vicky Kaushal.

Why? ‘cause we do think there’s something brewing between the two. Of course, we are just romantic fools, what do we know? So what if Kat and Vicky rush off in a hurry in one car in the middle of a party. It could be a script discussion, right?

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Talking About Vicky Kaushal, well he has also signed his ‘Uri’ director Aditya Dhar’s second film Ashwathama. Well Aditya believes Vicky is his lucky charm and wants to recreate ‘Uri’s resounding success once again. Well, we too think they are a winning combination and can’t wait for the film to go on the floors. Go for it Aditya!

Rumours were abuzz when Taimur was seen smiling from ear to ear holding a little baby, claiming Kareena Kapoor Khan had delivered a baby girl.

Well, hold your horses’ people… the baby was some cousins’ and though Taimur looked as if he was all ready to welcome a new entrant in the family…. Kareena still hasn’t delivered.

Anushka too who is about seven months pregnant is being mollycoddled by her hubby Virat.

In fact, Virat who was playing the IPL in UAE took a break in the middle of a game to call his gorgeous wife to check if she’s been eating properly or not. Awww!

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja has always been rather vocal about touchy topics moreso as she’s one actor who doesn’t believe in taking the middle path.

This time, she was asked about sexism in Bollywood and she readily confessed that ‘Yes it does exist’ instead of being politically correct as many of her contemporaries are. Way to go Sonam!

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Sushant Singh Rajput’s sister Shweta sent a very touching Diwali greeting to SSR’s fans. She urged them to celebrate the festival the way he would. Five months after his death, combating rumours, wrangles and more, it’s nice to see SSR’s family still remaining positive and hopeful.

All’s quiet on the Kangana Ranaut front right? Ya, that’s ‘cos she was busy organising the wedding of her brother Akshit which was indeed a grand affair. So it was nice to see the firebrand take a breather and chill out for a change. She really should do this often, it suits her!

Cat’s Crown

This month goes to...

Shahid Kapoor who dropped in at celebrity stylist Aalim Hakim. But when Aalim’s staff requested the Jersey star to pose with them for the shutterbug, Shahid not only kindly obliged but also posted the same on his insta handle.

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What’s the big deal about nepotism?

Salman Khan recently opened up a can of worms when he spoke out about nepotism.

Sumita Chakraborty finds out why the contentious topic of nepotism has reared its head up again in Bollywood?

COVER STORY “In this industry, it is not possible to survive like that. People only survive with the audiences’ love, talent, and hard work.”

– Salman Khan

…Perhaps the most used or misused into the forefront? The Sultan word in Bollywood today is “nepotism”. himself! Yes, Salman Khan That’s right… and it’s none-other than took the bull by the horns and the Queen Kangana Ranaut who can be brought up the topic right in the thanked for introducing the contentious forefront on the Bigg Boss plat“nepotism” into the Bollywood lexicon form on national TV. plumb in the middle of KJo’s controOf course, it was pre-empted by versial couch, on the ‘Koffee with Karan’ one of the contestants singer Rashow. Agreed, at that point nobody had hul Vaidya who averred during a the guts to call a spade a spade and when task that Jaan Kumar Sanu (singthe firebrand Kangana spoke out, it sure as er Kumar Sanu’s son) had got into hell sparked off a nation-wide vitriolic dethe reality show simply on the bate on “nepotism” that went on and on unbasis of being Kumar Sanu’s son til even the embers refused to die down for a thereby being a product of nepolong time. tism. Salman who hadn’t ever given Her call to take down nepotism hit a chord with his views on the “nepotism” topic a lot of people and there was a movement withbefore, now aired his opinion loud in Bollywood wherein good actors started coming and clear. into the forefront especially on the OTT platforms.

He asked Rahul, “If a parent does The ‘star’ brigade after years of reigning in the film something for their children, industry suddenly found themselves on the back would that be called “nepofoot tism”? Your parents sent you …Then the pandemic struck, and after that peofor singing tuitions… should ple had newer problems and newer norms to worry they have paid for the neighabout the whole “nepotism” brouhaha. So just when bour’s child and encouraged him the world thought that the entire “nepotism” debate to sing instead?” He further citing was done and dusted… who should bring it back many more examples. Salman further asked, “Tell 13

me, Rahul, do you like Sanjay Dutt? His father Dutt Sahab launched him but that film did not work as much as Love Story did. But Sanju Baba continues to rule.” He then asked Rahul Vaidya, “Did Raj Kapoor do wrong by launching Rishi Kapoor? Was Dharmendra wrong in launching Sunny Deol? They launched their own kid and also launched so many other kids.”

Salman Khan then spoke about stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Jackie Shroff and Akshay Kumar, who had no connections in the industry but still managed to make it big. “Mehnat ke dum par ye sab 20-30 saal tike hue hai (They are here for such a long time because of their hard work).” Salman said,

“Jisme woh baat hai, wo chalega, aur jisme baat nahi hai wo ghar ki tijori, maata-pita ki tijori khaali karke jayega (One who possesses talent will sustain in the industry, and one who doesn’t will not.)” Ending with, “In this industry, it is not possible to survive like that. People only survive with the audiences’love, talent, and hard work.”

Simply put, it did make sense. And to be fair to the Sultan, Salman has launched so many outsiders including Katrina Kaif and Jacqueline Fernandes, so he can hardly be pencilled into the category of being a flagbearer of nepotism. However, the troll gangers were in

“Privilege is not to be confused with ‘nepotism’ and the advantage of privilege is a problem across the world and in all industries.” He however insists that “It’s all about talent.”

– Karan Anshuman

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no mood to listen and like bulls charging at the colour red, they too went hammer and tongs hitting out at the Sultan on his take on nepotism.

The debate further heated up as Kangana Ranaut in the meantime, continued her clarion call and said that people like (Arnab) Goswami and herself could have chosen to be silent instead of raising their voices against “nepotism, terrorism, narcotics terrorism etc.” …And so the controversial topic of nepotism continued to scorch the Bollywood horizon. Mirzapur creator, OTT pioneer, author and director Karan Anshuman when asked about this, said,

“Privilege is not to be confused with ‘nepotism’ and the advantage of privilege is a problem across the world and in all industries.” He however insists that “It’s all about talent.”

Actor Ayushmann Khurana in an interview, however, concurred “Nepotism exists everywhere. An industrialist’s son will push his son to be an industrialist. If my son is talented and he wants to be an actor, then I’d launch him in a film. But ultimately, it’s your talent which counts.” He did add, “Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, and Ranbir Kapoor are talented. They are not getting films just because they are star kids. But yes, they did get opportunities faster. I was 27

“I was 27 when I got Vicky Donor.

Had I been a star kid, I’d have got launched by 22 or 23.”

– Ayushmann Khurana

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when I got Vicky Donor. Had I been a star kid, I’d have got launched by 22 or 23.” …Which may not really be a good thing, according to Sujoy Mukerji, son of the legendary Joy Mukerji. “I got launched by HS Rawail when I was 17. But I think it was a huge mistake because I feel boys should be launched only after the age of 25. But I was not launched by my family… in fact everybody in my family, whether it was Kajol, Rani or Ayan, have been launched by outsiders.” However, Sujoy too had to learn the hard way as his family name did not ensure huge success, he has been working hard on his own steam as a producer and director even today.

Ask the gorgeous Raveena Tandon; and she says proudly that her dad worked as an extra when he joined Bollywood. He stood on his own feet and made a name for himself.

Even when she was being launched, she didn’t insist that her dad should launch her, instead, an outsider launched her. But yes, she did admit that it is difficult for outsiders to work in Bollywood. But it is not like there are no success stories. She cited the names of Shah Rukh Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Sonu Sood, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif who have made it on their own.

Raveena Tandon insists that even when she was being launched, she didn’t insist that her dad should launch her, instead, an outsider launched her.

Sara Ali Khan too agrees that the burden of “unfairness” of 16

nepotism does fall on her shoulders but she insists that she doesn’t feel any pressure on her shoulders to live up to her parent’s legacy though she is aware that she has access to more things in the industry than others.

She also insisted that she has her share of pressure too.

Shahid Kapoor in an interview candidly agrees, “We live in one of the most nepotistic times we’ve ever been in wherein everybody who has anything to do with an actor or a producer or a director tries to become an actor.

And there is a lot less access to people who are not within the fraternity.”

A fact that Tapsee Pannu agrees as she too had once commented that star kids take away all the limelight with their presence and the newcomers who have 17

worked hard to make a name for themselves often get ignored because of star kids.

Saqib Saleem who is currently rather high on the success of his web-series Crackdown, avers, “Well, I understand the struggle one has to go through to make it in Bollywood. It’s not a piece of cake. I have gone through that phase and maybe I still am. But I think it’s not right to take away someone’s hardwork from them because they were born in a star’s house.

We all have to prove our mettle and support can only take us till a point.”

One of the most under-rated but an exemplary powerhouse performer, Amit Sadh, however, puts the entire debate in a proper perspective. He says, “You know people have gone on and on about me being an outsider. It started irri-

“We live in one of the most nepotistic times we’ve ever been in wherein everybody who has anything to do with an actor or a producer or a director tries to become an actor.”

- Shahid Kapoor

tating me so I decided I’ll end the matter by saying I’m an insider. I decided I won’t allow anybody in the world, nor in this industry or elsewhere to make me feel inferior. …To make me feel less. That’s why I made that statement that I’m not an outsider. I have another philosophy of “outsiders” and “insiders” and “nepotism” – I even did a TEDX talk on this. Today, I’m in a good position. But I believe it’s the duty of anybody who is in a good place to help and be kind to people who are behind. So this debate is not about “insiders” and “outsiders” or nepotism, this debate should be about people who are ahead and in a good place, are they big enough to realise there are people behind? Remove this “outsider” tag and realise that are we creating a fair environment especially for people who come from small

towns? They are not readymade actors. Do we have a system here that encourages them rather than chasing them back, feeling inferior? There’s no rocket science in this. These are basic things.

All we need is the will to understand that in this industry we should be equal. We should be fair. And I hope this starts.” …Perhaps it’s time to put nepotism in a proper perspective.

Agreed, star kids have it good – great launches, accessibility to the best directors and producers, best brands backing them, however, if the audience doesn’t like them, all the wealth of the world cannot make them a star. On the other hand, if an outsider strikes a chord with the public, he can be an overnight success and stardom is there for him on a platter. In Bollywood like in all industries, only talent matters nothing else!

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“Remove this “outsider” tag and realise that are we creating a fair environment especially for people who come from small towns?”

– Amit Sadh

X

Celebrating outstanding achievements of successful South Asians Ajit and Lata Mody Founders - Rajbhog

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X X In Focus

(From L to R) Sachin Mody, Late Narender Patel, Ajit Modi, Lata Mody, Varsha Patel, Ranjit Kaur, Sanjiv Mody

The very enterprising Ajit and Lata Mody talk about how they started their very popular mithai brand Rajbhog and more...

Tell us a little about your background. Which city/state of India do you hail from?

Mr Ajit: We hail from the hustling bustling city of Mumbai and had a busy life there before we made the decision of moving base to the USA. I have studied from the prestigious K.C College in Mumbai and did my Bachelors of Engineering from Manipal Engineering College.

At that time, our family had a business of electrical supplies there. We got married there in Mumbai. But then after a few years I planned on pursuing my studies in the USA to eventually settle down. At that time, the trend of migrating to the USA had just begun, people had started planning and thinking of a future in other countries. I had planned to go alone, and then I had called Lata there after I settled in a little. Things were not this easy back in those days, migrating was much difficult.

Mrs. Lata: I am a BSE major in Microbiology and

was working in Mumbai at that time. Looking for opportunities lead us to take a leap of faith and we made the move. It has been a beautiful ride. Little did we know, that we will end up building this big an empire here.

Which year did you come to USA? Mr. Ajit: We came to the USA in January 1968. It was studies first that attracted me and brought me here. I struggled for the first few months, and tried to settle down with the help of my relatives. Lata joined me later when we got her visa. Back in that time, there were F1 visas for students and F2 for spouses.

Tell us about the struggle and the hard work that you put in to be successful.

Mr. Ajit: It was very cold! As we came here, the weather caught us off guard. It was really difficult to adjust to this extreme cold. You could

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just see snow when you look around. Just a white canvas made by nature. It is beautiful, but for a person who came from the tropical temperature of Mumbai, it was really inconvenient.

Another troublesome concern was that I had only $8 when I came here, as the Government at that time just exchanged that much amount.

That’s quite less! Like I said before, at first, I stayed with my relatives who helped me settle in. Then I started my program in Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Lata joined me in October 1968.

Mr. Ajit: And she made her mark there too! She’s familiar with the ‘60s-‘70s music and is an expert in those songs. She loved The Beatles and all those. She still has an LP record that she won’t give away. Haha!

Mrs. Lata: I had my share of struggles. Not just different aspects of it, but our whole lives were changing. I studied Microbiology and after moving to the USA, I had to switch my career path. I studied accounts at the night school and then worked for JP Morgan. Studying after growing up is a tedious task. I can relate to parents that are going to school, working studying and managing the family. But it had to be done! Other than that, there were many other things I was involved in.

Mr. Ajit: At that time, we wanted to invest in a business. It was out of our entrepreneurial spirit and also the passion to get the rest of our family here. I should enlighten you, at that time, if you had ownership in businesses, you would get a visa because of the partnership. I wanted to get my brothers here and that is why we had our eyes and ears open for something to invest in.

Another day-to-day struggle that I faced was that I had no friends around. Most of my husband’s friends were single at that time which meant I could not meet new people with similar likings and interests in our own circle. I had to get out! But we did have a great time. His friends used to come during the weekends, and we used to host them for meals, that was nice. Some memories are still fresh in my mind!

After a few years, I did make quite a few friends.

We used to spend time, share responsibilities, especially in case of children, we used look after each other’s children when the other one is working or is busy.

Whose idea was it to open the first sweet or snack shop in Jackson Heights? Was it Ajit bhai or Lata ben?

Mr. Ajit: The opening of the first Rajbhog store has an interesting story of its own. Back in early 80s, I was already working. I had graduated from Pratt Institute, he was an engineer, and his full-time job was working for the board of education in structural engineering.

Mrs. Lata: Like I said, I was working in J.P Morgan after doing my night classes.

I did a couple of other things too for a few years. I worked at radio stations where I fell in love with ‘70s American music. I still have the records (LP) from those days.

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Mrs. Lata: Yes, I did! So, during the time from India to here to the store, a lot of life changes had happened. We had our jobs, but we always had the entrepreneurial passion in us, I think it’s inherited with us! We kept a look out for entrepreneurial opportunities to start a business of our own, or to invest somewhere.

So, with a few friends in partnership, we invested in a business. We invested and became owners of the news-stand candy stores in the train stations. These were small newsstand candy stores that sold candies, cigarettes, and other such things.

We started with one stand. It was very successful. Fast-moving products, prime locations and other things gave us a great response. Soon, we owned around 40 news-stands that were running successfully. The company was called Maya Cigarette and Candy. With the help of these news-stands, I could call all my brothers her to the US. It was that fruitful! They handled these candy stores, I handled too, but I had still retained by job as an engineer.

Mrs. Lata: All my brothers-in-law had come here and we were helping them settle. It was nice to have family here. Life started changing again, for better!

Mr. Ajit: Then finally, my father came here too! It was great. Business was boosting, job was working fine, family was here, what else does a man need? Moving on! We were all blessed with the entrepreneurial spirit and we wanted to grow and excel. We then decided to take a step forward and started our own distribution center.

So, what we did was, instead of buying from vendors, we decided to supply these products to ourselves and the other news-stand owners in the city. So, we started buying in bulk and supplied it around.

It was all going fine, until we hit a difficult spot.

We faced some challenges with our news-stand business and distribution and we decided to take another leap and change our business. We decided to convert this into Maya Groceries.

We started distributing to a lot of major stores, but eventually, we realized we need a store of our own. Which is when we started our own brands of Dana Bazaar and Anda Bhanda. Gradually, we had more relatives who came here and joined the business. It was a hit, and we had around seven Dana Bazaar stores throughout the North East region located at cities like New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Atlanta (Georgia), Maryland, and more.

Mrs. Lata: One of the turning points in our life was when Ajitji’s friend came here from India to set up a confectionery business. He was sent by the Taj group, and was supposed to start a retail store for Indian mithai and namkeen under the name of Shamiana. This was a very famous, literally world-famous name for them and they were about to start a branch in the US. Mr. Ajit: He stayed with us for a couple of weeks, I introduced him to many people but nothing clicked. Coincidentally, three days before his departure, there was a fire at our store in Jackson Heights and it burned down. Quite a loss for us.

Little did we know that this adversity got along a great opportunity. I told him, here is your store!

We set up the Shamiana store with us in partnership.

Mrs. Lata: So, since its inception 1981 to 1987s, our sweets’ shop was called Shamiana. Eventually, the brand Shamiana dissolved; but from its ashes, rose Rajbhog Foods. The store is the exact one that is our Rajbhog Foods’ flagship store. We converted that store into Rajbhog Foods. The design changed, the look changed, the mithai and the people remained the same.

Please explain the circumstances then that inspired you to start the business.

Mr. Ajit: I had taken a part-time job when I was in college, so I was always on the lookout for something more. Actually, more than anything else, it’s the inherent urge and passion for entrepreneurship that lead us to start our own business.

Mrs. Lata: For me, it started with the need to find Indian products here. It was really, really difficult.

I was a housewife and a mother by that time, and I wanted to provide my family with the best of Indian food. But there were no options which made

it really, really difficult for us to enjoy Indian food.

And of course, like my husband said, the passion for having our own business inspired us to do this.

What was the market demand like for Indian products during that time?

Mr. Ajit: Honestly, the market was not that great at that time. The Indians living here did not earn that well that they could pay for expensive Indian ingredients. They used to be students or young professionals who did not make a lot of money.

But yes, the demand was quite a lot, as there was no one in the market offering Indian products.

Jackson Heights, Queens, was an Indian hotspot filled with North Indians – mostly Gujaratis and Punjabis. People use to settle here as it was close to the airport as well as the train, and was a cost-effective place to live in. The most important part was that it was the real market at that time.

The only one. The only market in New York at that time was Jackson heights, which meant that students and families would travel every weekend, from far or near, to shop for Indian products.

People wanted Indian mithai and namkeen, but no one had that much strength or support from India to set up a business in importing. Most of the business started when people started making in the USA. Mrs. Lata: This is actually why we became very popular and strong. Because our food was typical ‘homestyle’ food. So, there was a huge demand, and when we started, and it picked up, it was very popular.

Mr. Ajit: It was ‘the thing’ like people these days call it. People were lining up and craving to have mithais made by Lata. She is very dynamic, and that lead us to becoming what we are now. The company was on her shoulders, and eventually, she became synonymous with Rajbhog. When we were traveling anywhere, people wouldn’t recognize me, they would recognize Lata Ben from Rajbhog. It started getting distinguished as Lata ben’s Rajbhog. We are all so proud of her!

When did you start wholesale distribution of mithai and other products? And how did you develop it?

Mr. Ajit: In 1987, the brand Shamiana started dwindling in their ability to produce and give us products. They were planning to dissolve the brand and get out of the market. At

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that time, we had two choices. Either we close down this store, or we start producing on our own. It was a tough choice; I have to tell you.

Production is another the game altogether.

It’s a very big investment and decision. What about the customers? What if this fails? We could be responsible for a lot of losses. It definitely was a risk.

At that time, we had many grocery stores like Dana Bazaar, and others. We had one in New Jersey too, and during this crisis, I was spending a lot of time helping develop this New Jersey store. Next to it, there was a retail store about 1000 sq. feet that became available. It was an old restaurant and we rented it.

So, we started producing there. When we started this manufacturing, I had only one customer – Lata. It was big client, Rajbhog was doing very well, but to sustain our production business and the unit, we needed more customers who we could distribute to.

We faced a lot of challenges, we struggled for two years like this. We were doing fine but this production business was struggling for sure, as the supply was limited to the Jackson Heights store Rajbhog. But then, the opportunity came in late ‘80s, my oldest brother was looking around for a place and ended up looking at a place in Flushing, New York.

He called me and told me that I should have a look at this kitchen facility. It was huge. I’ll be honest, my mind was blown away. It had a kitchen, all the equipment, and it was 18,000 sq. feet. That’s huge! For someone who was barely holding it together, this looked like a very big investment and risk too. But my brother was confident. He said, ‘Ajit, this is going to be your spot!’

I was shocked, but I did trust his gut and we took the lease. It was more than the rent we were paying at the old space, it was closer to home, so we took the decision and moved our manufacturing to Flushing. And today, after 30 years, it is still home to our sweet manufacturing business.

Mrs. Lata: We were blessed. From that facility, Rajbhog had 45 customers, overnight! In that market, at that time, as Jackson Heights grew and people started outgrowing places, the space was limited. People started moving to Flushing as it was closer to Manhattan, basically four stops away by train to Jackson Heights.

Mrs. Lata: Yes, and expansion normally de-

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pends a lot on travel, especially in our kind of business. So, we had a lot of our customers in a line there. They were literally two minutes away by drive. Like I said, that was an Indian hotspot, Indians everywhere, and all the Indians were our potential customers. The guy selling the peanuts was Indian, the retail Indian stores, someone was selling sarees, someone had music and video stores, some provided money transfer services.

Mr. Ajit: Within a year started suppling to cities like Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte…and of course all of Tri State grocery stores.

Then, years passed by. We grew. Our sons Sanjiv and Sachin join the business in 1996 and 1997 respectively. Since then, till today we have four manufacturing plants and five nationwide distribution centers. We have retail outlets in Atlanta, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

What were the difficulties that you encountered during the time you were building up the business?

Mrs. Lata: It was difficult at first. We had a small staff and I had to be involved in the daily workings at the store. I used to make sweets with my own hands. We handmade our sweets for quite some time before we started the manufacturing units. I used to bring the kids in the store to look over them and manage the store too. They used to do their homework, help me and then Ajit used to come and help us out.

Please tell us about your line of ready to eat products?

Mr. Ajit: We believe in proving fresh flavorful food. So, we manufacture in the USA to ensure our food is fresh, that’s one of our plus points.

Our specialty is Indian food filled with authentic flavors. Our line of products includes all North Indian, Gujarati, South Indian ready to eat food. We have also ventured in the fusion foods with Indian Chinese, Thai, and more flavors. Our specialty is Indian sweets. We also offer ice creams, desserts, beverages like lassis. We are also into catering personal or commercial events.

Are you still involved in the business today? If yes, what is your normal work day like?

Mr. Ajit: Yes, we are actively involved in Rajbhog’s day-to-day happenings. Not Monday to Friday, but it’s more like Monday to Sunday for us.

Mrs. Lata: Yes, we have two hobbies, one is Rajbhog and another is meeting our friends and spending time with them.

Mr. Ajit: Not to boast, but we work more than 9 to 5. Sometimes we are catering an event, and we have to be out and about at 5 am, we’re there. In these times, we were stuck at home, but we did work from our home office. The work must never stop! Rajbhog is our business, our livelihood, recreation and our hobby, all in one.

Mrs. Lata: I would agree. Our sons have taken the responsibility but we actively manage everything. Especially, our first location of Flushing in New York. Because of COVID, we were all under a lockdown for a month or so, and Ajit was desperately waiting to open the manufacturing unit. On the first day of reopening, Ajit and three employees fired up the stoves again. With the best 120 pound mithai produced, we were back in business!

We are both very passionate about Rajbhog, it’s a very integral part of our lives.

What are you plans for 2021?

Mr. Ajit: Retiring! Well, we’re still going to be a part of it no matter what! Our most important plan for 2021 would be introducing new products. My children are growing this business far and wide, and they have already brought in a number of new and fast-running products that are liked by this generation.

Mrs. Lata: We’ve come a long way with a beautiful journey, but like Ajit said, Rajbhog will always have a special place in our hearts. And we will always be actively involved. What’s exciting now is that after our sons, the third generation is gearing up to join our legacy. Yes, our granddaughter is studying business and soon will be a part of the family business. We’re looking forward to that!

How will business shape up post Covid 19? What are the changes you foresee?

Mr. Ajit: The pandemic has changed everyone’s lives, and it is natural that businesses have changed too. The business is slow at this time, that is there. But I am pretty sure it will pick up in the next 4-5 months. It will come back to normal, but people are going to be more conscious about what they eat, where they buy food from, and what are the ingredients. Lucky for us, we produce in the US under the guidelines of the USDA.

Tell us about your family and children?

What are they currently doing?

Mr. Ajit: We have two children, our sons, Sanjiv and Sachin. Sanjiv is an electric engineer from RPI university and Sachin has an accounting degree from NYU. They are both great in their fields but they have taken over the family business and are growing it leaps and bounds.

Mrs. Lata: They are doing great and making their parents proud. I still remember when we used to run the store back in the day with very little staff, I used to get the kids to the shop. They used to help me with work too, sometimes frying samosas, sometimes making sweets. Those are memories I cherish!

Our grandchildren are young but in future God willing will flourish our business.

What is your success mantra?

Mr. Ajit: Sell only what you yourself can eat.

Mrs. Lata: The customer is always right.

Your advice to younger generation to become successful?

Mr. Ajit: No one can stop you from being successful if you do your work with good intention, consistency and put in 100% of our hard work.

What are the things that keep you going every day?

Mr. Ajit: Work, family and some FaceTime calls with friends. I have a group of school and college friends and we FaceTime each other every day!

Mrs. Lata: For me there’s work, my children, and my Indian daily soaps that keep me entertained.

What is your key to happiness?

Mrs. Lata: Our sons!

Mr. Ajit: Yes, she’ll be the happiest if she gets a call from her sons every day!

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Get Snappy

“ The

transgender lead character is powerful and radiant.

Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani starrer film Laxmi is garnering rave reviews especially it’s foot-tapping song ‘Burj Khalifa’.

Here, the director of the film Raghava Lawrence talks about his upcoming film, making a film with a transgender lead, working with Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani and more…

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”

Why did you choose to change the title for the Hindi remake of your Tamil film ‘Kanchana’?

Our Tamil film was named after the main lead character Kanchana. Kanchana means ‘gold’ which is a form of Lakshmi. Earlier I considered going the same way for the Hindi remake but we collectively decided that the name must appeal to the Hindi audience as well and what better than Laxmi. By God’s grace, it was turning out to be a cracker of a film, so we named it Laxmi.

The transgender lead character is powerful and radiant. Hence, the name fits perfectly.

Tell us about your thoughts on the story and the different characters in the film.

The story was created to give the audience a mix of horror and comedy experience and also for the first time I tried to involve an important social message about transgenders into the horror- comedy genre.

The characters are created in such a way that the audience can enjoy different variation of characters on the screen.

What made you choose a story that emphasises on the transgender community?

I run a trust and few transgenders approached my trust for help. When I heard their story, I felt like I wanted to tell their story to everyone through the character called Laxmi in this movie. After watching the film audience will know what I am talking about.

This is the first time that a mainstream Bollywood actor is playing a transgender character, what are your thoughts on this?

After Kanchana released in Tamil, the movie received huge appreciation from transgenders. They directly came to my home and blessed me. So in Hindi when Akshay sir is playing the role, I believe that the message will reach an even wider audience. My special thanks to Akshay sir for accepting and playing this role.

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Get Snappy “I think the pandemic took care of the insideroutsider debate for me… Right now, the audiences are the ones deciding who they like and who they don’t!”

a m r a V y a j i V The multi-talented Vijay Varma gives Sumita Chakraborty his take on nepotism, insiders versus outsiders’ debate, working with Mira Nair and A Suitable Boy.

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Vijay, you’re one of the finest actors in the industry but I think you’ve been “discovered” only after the web series era, were there many challenges you faced? How has the journey been?

Thank you for the compliment. The process of discovery started with Pink and Gully Boy. During the lockdown, a lot of work came about and people were consuming a lot of content and most of my work that was pending came out during this time, and the work reached several people. So in a way, the discovery kind-of became

big in the last few months. Having said that, it has been a long journey and it’s been a slow, steady and a very beautiful journey with ups and down – from being on the periphery to coming in the forefront. It was full of challenges but somewhere when you’ve trained yourself to be an actor, the passion that you have to do what you want to do drives you and you overcome all these obstacles and challenges and make your existence meaningful. It is also a process of self-discovery, it’s been a very enriching experience.

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Tell us about A Suitable Boy? How did you get it?

So A Suitable Boy happened through lots of reading for various parts. I actually read for three different parts and eventually got Rashid. Mira, when she met me, was very happy with what I did in Gully Boy and told me that I want you to be a part of A Suitable Boy but I cannot tell you for which role right now. So, she tried me for various parts and settled down on Rashid. So that is how I got the role. It was a very interesting experience for me because I am a big admirer of her work and to be one of the actors she wanted to work with was a big pat on my back in a way and trying various parts was also an interesting experience.

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Tell us about your character?

The character of Rashid is very full of complexities and at the same time, he is a very simple guy who actually wants to lead a life of freedom and also be a voice for change, for good. But it’s just that the times he was in and the circumstances he was facing were very complex in nature and he wasn’t able to process it, so his mind went into a frenzy and from what I understood from my conversation with Vikram Seth, the author and Mira Nair was that he (we didn’t have the diagnosis back in the day) had schizophrenia. From what we understood that he started to hallucinate and imagine forces which weren’t there so he is basically a troubled man who wants to make a change but feels very incapable of doing any-

thing. A romantic at heart and at the same time, a very strong revolutionary, he has a certain kind of activism in him to change so it had enough for me to play with and it also gave me an experience that I don’t think I had with any other character. It’s very poetic, very romantic and at the same time, a deeply traumatic and tragic part.

There is this constant debate of insiders and outsiders, what do you think of this?

I think the pandemic took care of the insider-outsider debate for me, to be very honest. Right now, the audiences are the ones deciding who they like and who they don’t like so the forces aren’t really coming into the play of deciding who is an insider or an outsider. It is just upto the janta to appreciate somebody or not like somebody.

Does nepotism make a difference?

I haven’t been on the other side, I’ve never had a filmy family so I wouldn’t know if it would make any difference personally. If I speak about this, it

would be a hypothetical analysis of what it could be and I don’t want to go down there. But, I am absolutely thrilled with the kind of experiences I have brought and the hardships that I’ve gone through which helped me in the process of self-discovery, which is actually the actor’s job because it helps when you embody several shapes and characters and moods as an actor. And it is always a bonus to have earned everything on your own.

Lastly, when you look back at your journey, is there anything you want to change?

Oh ya! When I look back at my journey – I think I was very naïve when I came from the film institute, very wide-eyed and innocent and full of ideas and an idea of an idealistic world. I had to take a bit of a hitting for being that naïve but I don’t know if I want to change it though. At film school, they should also teach you how to understand not just your journey as an actor but also crafting your career or being a businessman, with your work.

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CLOSE UP “I’ve been very, very lucky to work with this incredible team and obviously, Mira Nair!

– Tanya Maniktala A Suitable Boy on Netflix is garnering much appreciation.

The very charming Tanya Maniktala who essays the protagonist Lata in this amazing web-series talks to Sumita Chakraborty about working with Mira Nair, her character as Lata and doing a Bollywood masala film.

Tell us about A Suitable Boy and how did you get it?

Based on the very famous and worldwide acclaimed novel by Vikram Seth, by the same name ‘A Suitable Boy’ is a story set in the 1950s in a newly post independent and post-partition India.

You will see the story largely follows the story of four families and at the center of it is this widowed mother who is trying to find a suitable boy for her daughter.

It is the journey of this young girl - a university student Lata and how she comes of age - its basically her journey about finding what she wants from herself. It’s her transformation from this young university student to a confident, 31

elegant young lady and it basically revolves around her encounters with her suitors - there is Kabir, there is Haresh and there is Amit and along with it, there is a parallel track of Maan Kapoor, the rowdy son of a politician named Mahesh Kapoor and how Maan also falls in love with a courtesan Saeeda Bai and how these two parallel tracks sort of run along is what A Suitable Boy is all about.

How I came across this was - actually a friend of mine was casting for it in Delhi and he showed my picture to a senior he didn’t tell me at that time because I was working as a copywriter and acting wasn’t something that I was considering taking up full time.

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So he just called me and told me if you have the time or if you have a chance, please just come for the audition for something big. He didn’t reveal the details of the project, he just said it’s something big and I am sure you are going to like it. So I went to their office and I met Dilip Shankar sir who was doing the round of auditions for A Suitable Boy in Delhi and after a few readings with him, I had a skype call with Mira di and we talked about the book and the characters at length - and then she flew to Delhi and I auditioned with her in person and after a few more rounds I got a call from her saying, “You are my Lata”.

That’s how it sort of came about.

Have you read the book?

I hadn’t read the book at the time I started auditioning, but as soon as I learnt that it is for A Suitable Boy and since I have a friend who is clearly crazy about the book, it was obvious that I had to read the book, so I started reading. But I couldn’t get through the entire book because it was kind of of a marathon of a novel but apart from that, I started focusing more on the script and I just never had the chance to go back to it. But yeah, I think I got half-way through or more than that but I haven’t finished it yet.

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Tell us about your character…

Lata is this young university student bubbling with passion for life. She is thrilled to experience a world that is beyond her. There’s no façade to her, she is very simple. She is authentically herself and calm, very, very excited to see what the world has to offer. She sort of lives in a bubble which bursts when she actually encounters the real world. But Lata is this very lively girl who is so full of heart and so passionate. She has a mind of her own and she is headstrong about her opinions. You see her confronting her mother about her choices and about her wanting to live her life on her own terms. Lata is not the submissive type, she is not the girl who would give up on her dreams, she fights for her dreams and she makes sure that she sees it through till the end. So that is what Lata is all about and her mind is actually very fascinating to me. It is so compelling, her character, and mind is such a titillating place to be in because she grew up with Literature and made sure she is always surrounded by the world of books and that forms her perspective of the world. It’s really inspiring for me to see that a girl in the 1950s was so headstrong about living life on her own terms because I feel, that even in this day and age, that is something not very prominent. Back in the 1950s, when

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you were expected to act in a certain way, Lata was a rebel. Even then, she is very respectful, she has the touch of tradition and has the old world charm but she also has those aspects of a modern woman and you won’t associate her with a period character at all.

Any more projects in the pipeline?

As of now, I am reading a lot of other projects and I’m hoping something really exciting will materialize soon.

Any plans to do some typical Bollywood madcapers?

If something good comes my way, I’m definitely not going to say no. I don’t have a blueprint for my career now so let’s see where it takes me Lastly, when you look back at your journey – anything you want to change?

No, I don’t think I want to change anything at all. It’s been an incredible experience and you always win some or learn something. For me, it’s been both here – I am winning and learning at the same time so I think I’ve been very, very lucky and I’ve had this incredible team to work with and obviously, Mira Nair so there’s nothing I would want to change.

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CLOSE UP “ I feel the more

I watch, the more I do, the more I learn.”

- Sikandar Kher

He’s going to be seen in another good web-series MumBhai. Meet the understated yet brilliant performer Sikandar Kher who in an interview with Stardust talks about his web-series, life as a learning process and more…

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You’re one of the most underrated actors in the entertainment industry but an amazing performer, why do we see so less of you on screen?

You know something, I think you must ask this question to those who are making a lot of films. Jokes aside, you will get to see a lot more of me in the coming days. I’m really enjoying the work that I’m doing these days, the projects that I’m getting to be a part of. Things are looking very bright for me right now so yeah, I’m looking forward to entertaining you all a lot more.

Tell us about your character in MumBhai?

My character is named Rama Shetty.

He is wonderful, loving, family-oriented, a loyal friend. But at the same time has a very ruthless streak inside him. Being an underworld don, he lives life king size. This larger-than-life character is very gregarious, like a lion if one were to compare. That’s Rama for you.

Are there any more web series that we can look forward to seeing you in the future?

Absolutely. We will be starting the shoot for the second season of Aarya soon. MumBhai is coming out on 12 November on ALTBalaji and ZEE5. As far as any upcoming announcements or projects is concerned, I’ll wait to reveal the news when the time is right.

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When you look back, how has your journey been, as an actor?

You know when you look back at your journey, and even though I’ve just begun and been here just for 12 years, there’s a lot of learning in what I do as an actor - in the craft. There is a different way I observe things. You know, I’m constantly learning - I feel the more I watch, the more I do, the more I learn. So, I think like any journey, there’s a lot of learning involved. So yeah, I think it’s an exciting time. It’s been amazing, my journey has been wonderful. I’ve had opportunities to be in films and act, and I think that in itself is a huge blessing.

What is the one thing you love about the entertainment industry?

I love that the entertainment industry entertains. To be very honest, it’s a place where you can take your dreams and you can paint a picture of them and put them on the screen for other people to enjoy.

You can help them escape from their life, worries, troubles and it provides a joy for

those 3 hours. You know it provides an alternate/dream-kind of a reality where you’re sitting in the theatre or in front of a TV screen, and you’re being told a story.

It’s like those beautiful bedtime stories told to us by our parents when we were little children or like the books that you read that help your imagination. Some of them are good and I think that’s beautiful and that’s what industry is all about.

What is the one thing you don’t like or hate about the entertainment industry?

There’s nothing in particular that I don’t like. Life has different aspects and different things that you go through. For me, honestly, it’s about self-learning. If I’m happy with myself, I’ll be happy with everything else around me. And if there’s something I am unhappy with; I will naturally be away from it. So yes, I don’t really have anything in particular that I would like to say that comes at the top of my mind that I dislike.

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Court Martial Understated and under-rated, SHARMAN JOSHI is definitely the dark horse in Bollywood.

A powerhouse performer, he’s proved his mettle as an actor in all his films including 3 idiots, Hate Story 3, Mission Mangal and more… Here, Sharman spills the beans on his hits ‘n’ flops, films and more to Sanjana Shetty.

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Sharman you became a hot fave with the public after Range De Basanti and 3 idiots, in fact, at that point everybody though that you had reached the pinnacle of success. Do you agree that these two films were the defining point of your career as an actor?

Let’s hope that there is more to come but there is no denying that these two films were the turning point of my career. I became a name that was recognised post these films but in the coming time I hope I can offer more films to the audience that they can remember me for.

But after 3 idiots, your career went into a different tangent? Was it something that you knowingly did – change the direction your career was taking?

Films post 3 idiots, apart from Ferrari ki Sawari were not too successful. There were 3-4 films that didn’t work at the Box office, then I got Hate story 3 that worked.

I wish I were in control of my career which had gone into a different path. But honestly, it’s a collaborative art - a good script doesn’t guarantee a great film on celluloid because many things come into place for translating the thought process on to the screen. Changing the direction of your career does impact you financially but then you hope for the best. The mantra is to be sincere to your work and hang on to it, it will definitely tilt the balance soon.

You’re a phenomenal actor and so why haven’t we seen you in phenomenal films after 3 idiots?

I have been fortunate to have that one film 3 idiots in my life. I’m not being complacent but I want to show some gratitude and understand the value of 3 idiots, a film that happens once in a blue moon - and I happen to be part of this wonderful film which is a big blessing. It makes my entire journey successful. From my end I’m trying my best to make a film that makes a noise at the box office. I am doing what it needs to do for an actor. But there comes a time when your films do not work but you get to learn. Anyway, all the time being successful would be boring I feel.

“

Rohit (Shetty) told me that they were not happy with the negotiations they were trying to have with my manager.

”

You belong to a family with a strong connection to the world of theatre, tell us a little about your family?

Basically, my father was from theatre, he’s been an actor, writer, producer, director. From the past 30 years he’s into theatre. He’s also been a Gujarati film actor, played a villain for almost 20-25 years of his career. So, I have been in that background for quite a long time.

A lot of people don’t know that you’re married to Prem Chopra’s daughter, a little about this side of the family?

Yes, exactly. We were college sweethearts, we met in my 1st year. I had broken up with a girl and was single for a period. Prerna happened to be in my group itself, being in the same group we spent lot of time together and ended up being in a relationship.

It’s now been 25 years of being in love. Fortunately, we never had any difficulties because we both came from film backgrounds, and it’s easy to adjust when you both understand and feel the situation. I am very happy and blessed to have a good relationship with her even after so many years.

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Getting back to your career, you’ve always done not-so- serious, flippant characters, how about going for serious characters as well?

There was a point in my life when I wanted to try out new genres in movies. A lot of directors offered me roles where I had to play serious characters, so I took it since I always believe in trying. My physicality and my looks always supported me in flippant or joyous characters. However, now I have made a physique so I can essay a serious character too and gladly beards grow faster now (laughs).

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“

I am very boring.

It’s not like I haven’t tried my best not to do anything controversial.

”

What made you chose an erotic film like Hate Story 3? What was the experience of working in a film like this?

As an actor, I always wanted to do various kinds of films. I didn’t want to be dictated by perceptions that get created around an actor that he should do something or not do. I don’t like those boundaries. I want to explore. I thought I could pull off various genres. I find each genre interesting and exciting - and the erotic genre is one domain I wanted to explore. There was a lot of noise, people were sceptical and disappointed with my choice that this was something I shouldn’t do. They didn’t want me to be in this kind of

cinema, I understand their view but at the same time I must do what I have to do for myself. I didn’t want to regret not taking the movie later. It’s liberating to have done it, now I know I can do an erotic movie and thankfully, the movie was successful.

Why aren’t you in other Golmal movies after Golmal:Fun Unlimited?

Somehow, things didn’t work out I really don’t know what, I had a manager who was taking care of things that time, and there were so many stories. I had just one conversation with Rohit (Shetty) but by the time they had Shreyas in the cast and it

“

Atul Agnihotri once told me that Salman sir recommended me for Atul’s film Hello.”

”

couldn’t be changed so that was that. Rohit told me that they were not happy with the negotiations they were trying to have with my manager but that was not an issue from my perspective. These things happen, confusions happen but from my end I had done my clarity and my manager was just doing his job. But it’s alright, things happen, what’s done is done.

Would you do a Rohit Shetty film in the future?

Yes, absolutely. He’s one of the best directors in the industry. I would be more than happy to work with him again.

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“

I’m fortunate enough to have Prerna since she understands my work.

glish I’m going to act as well as produce.

For 10 years, theatre wasn’t a part of my life but till Rang de Basanti, I was doing theatre and for the past 4 years I have resumed theatre and I will not stop it, I love it.

I read somewhere that Salman Khan recommended you, what did you mean?

No, not exactly. Atul Agnihotri once told me that Salman sir recommended me for Atul’s film Hello. “How come you are casting me out of all the actors in Bollywood?” I asked Atul. He said, “Bhai suggested me your name, so its done.” I call You have also done the Famous West- Salman as Sir. That’s all. end plays, please tell us something about this?

You’re looking super svelte, how did Yes, I have bought the rights to the you manage to do that? play. I was travelling to London around My weight keeps oscillating, I put on 4 years back and I watched this play, it weight and loose weight. I eat everything, was fascinating. I spoke to them about but I do go on a diet if I must. To make the rights to the play for India. It took a physique, you must be disciplined. I m a year or so and now I am producing it not exactly a foodie so it does make it in English and in Hindi, Marathi, Guja- easier. Being a foodie has become cool rati. In the Gujarati and Marathi plays, nowadays so whatever is cool, I don’t I’m just going to produce, Hindi and En- want to be a part of it (laughs).

”

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How do you balance your professional and personal life?

While I am at shoot, there are times when Prerna accompanies me but at some point, during the shoot you are not in the frame of mind even if you get a day’s break or two. So we plan holidays, special ones which are not associated with work. Work-cum-pleasure trips are not designed for us. As I told you I’m fortunate enough to have her since she understands my work.

After work, we meet up and have the rest of the day chilling together. There are lots of awkward situation on the sets, you spend a lot of time with co-workers so you get closer, which I don’t have to explain to her. We have known each other for so long it makes it easy with faith and trust. There are my parents, my in-laws, Prerna and my cousins living close by so we have a huge extended family and we have get togethers very often.

“

But I have been very ambitious, and I feel there is always more to come.

”

You’ve never ever been embroiled in controversies. Do you steer away from trouble or are you just clever?

Hahaha I am very boring. It’s not like I haven’t tried my best not to do anything controversial, it’s just the way I am maybe. I am very natural with everyone in the industry. It is a place where you should just be yourself and I do exactly that.

What’s on your bucket-list currently in terms of your career and personal life?

I have matured as an actor but my approach towards work is the same. I’m very sincere, my understanding has improved of the script, or how I should approach my character. I’m more in-charge now of what I’m doing, profession wise. I’m happy though people think he’s sad or he’ s going through a lull phase. Of course, at one point, I was since I didn’t have much work. I always knew I wanted to be an actor. God has been really kind in my personal life, I have a great family, wonderful wife, great kids. I am satisfied.

Lastly, who is the real Sharman Joshi? What are you like in real life?

I have always been very earnest, truthful and hard-working… these qualities have always been with me. About negativities I was very aggressive but over the years I have taken control of that. I have generally been a good kind of a guy which makes me boring. But I have been very ambitious, and I feel there is always more to come.

Any message for your Stardust fans?

Keep watching my movies and keep reading Stardust.

Thankyou.

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Filmalaya Studios’ director, actor, producer and director Sujoy Mukerji in a super candid interview talks to Sumita Chakraborty about producing and directing films, getting into films too early, depression and more.

He’s the son of the legendary Joy Mukerji. Not only that he comes from a family of legends - Sashadar Mukherjee, Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Kajol, Rani to so many others – who have made an indelible niche in the Hindi film industry.

Sujoy Mukerji who started out as an actor at the age of 17 but moved to be a producer and director over the years, did everything on his own steam. He went on to produce hit serials like Aye Dil-E Nadan, Apne Paraya and Gustakhi Maaf for Doordarshan. He then directed an award-winning documentary on Shivaji Maharaj. After which Joy Mukerji’s unreleased film featuring his maternal uncle’s Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar ‘Love in Bombay” under Joy Mukerji Productions was released on the great occasion of 100 years Cinema by his brother Monjoy Mukerji and him. After which, Sujoy made a poignant song Humhara Hindustan which he composed and sang - this song was officially selected by the BJP. The icing on the cake was his first short film Ab Mujhe Udnaa Hai which went on to win 40 Awards all over the globe including the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the best Short film of 2019. Furthermore, he showed his prowess as a director in another short film Zindagi Anmol Hai which has won 29 Awards till now.

But the pull of acting brought him back into the spotlight with Bombay 5.

Here Sujoy talks about his father Joy Mukerji, award winning films, how he rues the fact he became an actor too young and more… Read on…

Sujoy, you come from an illustrious Bollywood lineage and you are a third gen film-maker now, but you’ve always done things on your own steam, how has the journey been till date?

My journey has been very nice. In fact, I’ve been doing things on my own with the blessings of my father of course - because my dad is no more with me. But I’ve learned a lot - because when you lose your father, you tend to realize about life a lot more.

He and I were very close and I learned so much of filmmaking through him, and that learning process helped me to stand tall on my own and to do something more in my life.

Yes, I wanted to ask you about the serials that you’ve produced… You have done a lot of good work from producing serials like Aye Dil-E Nadaan, Apne Paraye & Gustakhi Maaf for Doordarshan to directing a critically acclaimed documentary on Shivaji Maharaj… Tell us about these?

There was a mega serial called Aye Dil-ENadaan when I made it for Doordarshan which I even got an award for. They had given me a time slot of 2 p.m. which is not prime slot and which wasn’t working for Doordarshan. But when I made this mega star serial, where I got in Vivek Mushran, Avinash Wadhwan and so many other tal48

ented artistes, it became a big hit. So the time slot of 2 p.m. they gave us went on to become very popular because of our serial.

After that I was into producing and even became a creative director of many projects, and that gave me a confidence boost. After that, I said, Let me try my hand at filmmaking. So that’s how Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara happened. Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara was being directed by my older brother Monjay and I was the Associate producer in this film. I learnt a lot during this time. I had the experience because I also produced a lot of TV serials.

I remember we wanted to shoot at a hill station. So the first thing that came in our minds was Kashmir. Here, I’m talking about 2016-‘17... Kashmir had problems. But we didn’t get scared and took a decision to shoot there. There was another reason because 50% to 60% of my father’s films were shot there. It was a great learning experience shooting that film.

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What are the challenges that you have faced being a star kid?

After making this film as an Associate Producer, I wanted to direct a film, so I wrote this script Ab Mujhe Udana Hain which was totally on women empowerment. I read a lot of incidents about molestation where girls who are molested go into shock and depression.

There have been so many cases, in fact even of cases of public molestation, and when I was studying this subject, I realised that girls in most cases tend to go into depression, and

lose their confidence. So I made this film to give a message that they should fight it out and face the world. The scenario in our country is that most of the times, the parents get the girls married off. My film shows how this girl who gets molested, gets up again on her feet and flies again. Coming back to your question, the challenges that I faced was that a lot of times when I was approaching people for this film, I was told “don’t do it; you want to get into direction… don’t start with this.” Despite the fact that even though I had immense experience because I had directed this show Shivaji Maharaj which was critically acclaimed. In fact, before that, I did a lot of serials where I was a creative director, but of course, I was not a director but I had a lot of experience. But since I felt so strongly about it - I tackled the challenges and the film was made. I was planning to put it in at film festivals, but I was on my own, because I did not have my father with me. But I went ahead and made the film.

Could you tell us any anecdote about the film Ab Mujhe Udna Hain?

I remember I went to Kanwaljeet sir (Kukuda) – he’s such a senior actor. And when I narrated the script to him, he straightaway said, I’m doing this.” He essayed the girl’s fathers’ role. And he stood by me throughout. Then I took Mithun Chakraborty’s son Mahaakshay as a teacher. He came to meet me in Filmalaya, then I did a one-day workshop with him before the shooting because I knew he had a lot of talent in him and as a filmmaker, I wanted to capture and take out the best out

screenplay, and the dialogues of the film.

Once I shot the film, I came out with a footage of nearly 35 minutes. And on the editing table, I made it shorter to be a 24-minutes film. And I released it in all film festivals. And step-by-step the film kept on winning every festival and even bagged the most prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award. It went on to become the best short film of 2019. So as a filmmaker, the challenges were there.

Being Joy Mukerji’s son - there were a lot of pressure to live up to expectations. But that pressure, I never allowed to get to me because I knew his blessings were with me.

So I said no, I want to do everything on my own – I was confident because I had learned a lot from him. Everything I did on my own from creating the whole unit to shooting, fiof him also. And that’s how things started.

I got a lot of support from people, but of course, there was some people who were negative too. But I just put them aside. I said, “No, I’m going to make this film, let’s see, what will happen.” And I introduced this new girl called Jasmine Grover. I needed a girl who was an excellent dancer. And when I saw her dancing, I said yeah, this is the girl. All thanks to Mr. Sunil Kapoor who also wrote the screenplay with me and Ashwini Sidwani, also a very good writer - Sunil Kapoor too is an award winning writer.

I always believed your content is the biggest star. So I was working very hard on the nalizing the locations to everything. So that was the most challenging thing for me. I got great support from my team, the cameraman, the artistes to everybody. So it was a lovely journey.

You started acting at a very early age right?

I started out as an actor at the age of 17 - and I think it was a big mistake. I was launched by HS Rawail and not by my father or my family. I was launched in a film called Mehboob Meri Mehboob opposite Pratibha Sinha, Mala Sinha’s daughter. It was big news at that time.

I was a sportsman and into athletics. I played table tennis, badminton, cricket etc. I always dreamt of becoming an athlete. But with the kind of personality I had, a lot of acting offers started coming to me from outsiders. At that point HS Rawail sir approached me for a film - and it was the decision of my life. My father in fact, asked me, “Boy, are you ready?” But I 50

was so excited that I got carried away with it.

And that was the biggest mistake of my life.

Why? Because it was a mistake. I entered the industry too early and I feel guys should come into films only after the age of 24-25. When I look back, I feel I should have experienced life more. See, I didn’t properly plan things out.

Though the film was received critically well, but it was not a commercial success. After that, I did two more films Pyar Pyar and Hum Hain Kamaal Ke, which was also appreciated by people. You’ll be taken aback to know all my heroines were older than me. I was also very innocent. So what happened was that though my films did well and I was getting offers, - I did not get offers that were suiting me.

Also, the scripts were nothing great. So I was very disappointed. And that’s when it started affecting me and I went into depression.

I stopped picking up work as an actor. I locked myself up - I was at a very low phase then.

And then I started writing in the depression.

My father was there with me all the time, supporting me. And I used to discuss a lot of stories with him. He used to help me put things into perspective and would tell me to go ahead and do it. And that’s how I got into production and then went on to make this very big serial followed by the others. After which I did a lot of corporate ads too.

Was it easy transiting from being an actor to getting into production?

No, it was not easy, because when you’re an actor, you’re there in the news – but in production, you’re behind the camera in the background. So you tend to be at times get very depressed but I’ve fought that out. I think my father and mother supported me and that 51

really helped me. I feel they allowed me to do something I wanted at that point, though my father kept telling me to take up films, act.

He would tell me you are a good-looking boy.

But I don’t know somewhere, filmmaking was waiting for me.

So I got into production and direction, and buried the actor in me. It was somewhere in the corner. But when I started producing and making things, and becoming a creative director - acting didn’t come in my mind. Then I started forgetting about acting.

I started observing and using little nuances of life in my films. For instance, in Ab Mujhe Udana Hain there is a breakdown scene of Kanwaljeet. He’s a strong man who never breaks down in front of people. But things reached a boiling point where he breaks down while writing algebra on the blackboard. This incidence I had picked up seeing my father I’m sharing this with you for the first time, I’ve never shared this with anybody. My father never cried in front of any of us. But one day, I had quietly opened his room’s door, and he had tears rolling down his cheeks. It really shook me.

But film making is what you learn from your real experiences. So I remember projecting this scene and it’s the most amazing scene of the movie.

You’ve won so many awards for this film.

Why hasn’t it been spotlighted?

I tend to not get into the spotlight but yes, I need to come in the forefront. I will be releasing both these films in a very good OTT platform so I thnk the audiences will get to watch it more.

You’re at last starring in Bombay 5 in a very unique ‘dark character-hero’ way. Tell us about it… Why aren’t you directing it?

In Bombay 5, the script is the hero. It is based on real incidents which took place in Bombay.

You know, that’s why it’s called Bombay 5. And it’s about these gangsters who want to get out of this system, but they are not able to do it. I loved the script so agreed to act in it. Ashmit Patel and my characters are really interesting.

I play this man who is totally like a villain but when he later on wants to be positive, it becomes very difficult for him.

The reason I’m not directing is because my

director K Hussain approached me for it. It’s his baby. I am just helping him build the infrastructure because they didn’t have a very high budget for the film. But the script as I said is the real hero and we’re planning to shoot from December. So I’m very excited about it.

I’ve got a very strong feeling that people will love Bombay 5.

What are the projects you plan to do after Bombay 5?

I’m going to be very soon doing a short film, which is going to be about 45 minutes. It can turn into a web series also, because it’s about the Covid 19 warriors - doctors, nurses, civil workers and police - who have given up their lives for us. I think more than 700 people have died for us. So I’m dedicating this film to them.

I’ve also been working on a script for the past year called Gutkha King. It’s about this boy who from five rupees can make 5,000 crores. The screenplay is shaped up so beautifully so this will go on the floors by March.

How difficult is it to run a studio, especially during these days? it’s a blessing to have Filmalaya Studio because all my knowledge as a director and producer I got through this. My father had taught me certain things. But somewhere down the line my elder brother Monjoy Mukherji and my cousin brother Samrat helped me also to learn the ropes. We have all bonded so well and created a good place. Filmalaya has

been doing really well and being in Andheri West, it’s very close to a lot of actors’ homes, cast and crew. So the studio has always been booked and has performed really well. Only during the lockdown, we lost a lot of business.

So during this period, we as directors took a salary cut so that we could give full salaries to our staff. The best part about Filmalaya is that the staff has been working from my father’s time. And that’s why it’s a great team. Now once the lockdown, slowly opened up, business too has started coming in. Film shootings have started again, web series shootings are taking place. A lot of big stars have come in and shot again so Filmalaya is back again into business. Somewhere, I am blessed. The whole Mukherji family supported us - and my brother like Monjoy Mukherji and my cousin Samrat Mukherji and me are immensely blessed. Our staff too have been amazing – you are nothing without your soldiers, and they are my strength.

There is this raging debate on nepotism.

What do you think of it being an insider who has done everything on his own?

Yes, I was never launched by my family as I said earlier. In fact, none of my family members have been launched by the family – Be it Kajol, Tanisha, Rani, Ayan or any of the others.

So I’m so proud to have sisters like Kajol, Tanisha, Rani and brothers like Ayan and all the rest. They all made it on their own steam.

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) s u c o nI F

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“Calcutta to Cardiff was definitely not a CAKEWALK!” - Ram Kamal Mukherjee

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Passionate about good cinema, director and author Ram Kamal Mukherjee tells Sumita Chakraborty why he continues to make films he believes in despite the many challenges and more…

He’s fanatically passionate about his films. His belief is supreme… for he believes in only good content. And despite the challenges or the many ups and downs in his life, he has always come out with good cinema. No wonder, he’s bagged prestigious awards from all across the world for his films Cakewalk, Seasons Greetings and now Rickshawalla has been honoured at so many international film festivals including the Global Film and Music Festival at Virginia, USA and has even won the top most honour for best film (social message) at Cardiff Film Festival. Meet the multi-faceted and extremely talented Ram Kamal Mukherjee who despite the odds has stuck to his beliefs to come out with good cinema.

Here Ram talks about challenges of being an independent director, his passion for making good cinema and more.

Ram you’ve made several award-winning short films, how has the journey been?

Actually, Cakewalk and Broken Frame are two short films, the rest are pretty much feature film length as per International festivals standards. My film Season’s Greetings was 47 mins, Rickshawala is almost 50 mins, then Shubho Bijoya is 50 minutes. The journey has been tough as I took a much difficult route. It would have been easier if I would have signed a studio or a star, but I chose to work with my own conviction. When you have a star backing you then your work becomes easy. I meet producers who doesn’t care about content, they are concerned about “Kaunsa star aap la sakte ho?” Now the sad part is that stars will only work with their friends. Some are decent enough to meet and politely turn you down, some are too professional and asks their managers to do the needful. So you have a choice - either you wait till a star falls from the milky way on your lap or you make your own film with honesty and let the world smell the coffee. But for the second option, you need to be either filthy rich or have a good investor.

Yes, I did get good investors and even few bad ones. I had to put in my savings, sell my wife’s jewellery to pay interest of the loans and even borrow from friends. It might sound a

“So when my film gets standing ovation, when people like Nandita Puri and Uma DaCuhna talks about Rickshawala, I only thank my team.”

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“Due to the Pandemic, my investors backed out at the last minute. We were all set to roll, but they had cold feet.”

With Producer Aritra Das bit absurd, but I knew that I will be able to sail through this phase. But then, what I didn’t foresee was Covid19. That shook me completely. Suddenly there was a phase when all shoots stopped, studios went dry, people started losing jobs, the investors started hounding as they wanted their money back, I had nothing to fall back on. As I have mentioned earlier also, I try to figure out silver lining in a dark hole. This time, the darkness was a bit long.

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What are the challenges you’ve faced? …That I have reserved for my memoirs. Jokes apart, everything was a challenge. To survive in a city like Mumbai with basic living standard you need to have enough earning. Now someone who is sitting home since March 2020 to November 2020, it’s difficult to survive. Some friends came forward and stood by our trying times, some had their own reasons and survival issues. I didn’t make money from Cakewalk and Season’s Greetings, I made good cinema. I made products that laid a strong foundation of our production house Assorted Motion Pictures. So as we moved ahead, the challenges became tougher. I would approach OTT platform for acquisition deals and they would take their own time to revert. The CEOs and COOs were also losing their jobs, so it would be like snakes and ladder for me. Every time a new boss would join in - that person would have his or her own set of rules and ideas. But we survived, and that’s the silver lining that I am talking about. Frankly speaking, there were days when I didnt know how I would survive the next day. I had to motivate myself to pull myself out of bed, and reinstall faith in what I believe. That’s how I have survived this Pandemic.

After Cakewalk and Season’s Greetings, Rickshawala is travelling from Melbourne to Madrid film festivals, tell us about this?

Rickshawala is yet again a very special film for us. I wanted to make this film at a very reasonable cost.

All I needed was good actors who would believe in me. I had my entire team standing in the middle of sun, rain and hailstorm in Kolkata just to make this happen. We couldn’t provide even vanity vans to our lead actors. I am thankful to my producer Aritra Das and Gaurav Daga who had sacrificed a lot. Then my directorial team Saikat Das, Shonnet and Anirban - they worked relentlessly. My cinematographer Modhura Palit, what a wonderful lady to work with.

She works with passion and soul. There were days when entire unit survived on coke and sandwich as we didn’t have time or the luxury of a lunch break.

And the most important part of Rickshawala was Avinash Dwivedi, my hero, who is a gem of a person.

There were incidents where he had to hold his pee for hours as there was no public washroom. Once my production controller requested a family to let him pee in their toilet. I also remember that Avinash was following a particular diet to look lean, and he wanted a simple Subway sandwich, for which my producers drove 40 mins inside the city and by the time they came back it started raining. I remember Avinash standing under the shade of a garage, half drenched having his sandwich and black coffee. That too with a smile on his face. I can’t

With Celina Jaitly forget what Avinash and my team did for Rickshawala.

Now that the film is getting accolades from international film festivals and critics, and Avinash is getting his due, I am happy that it was worth. But the struggle continues.

We approached studios and OTTs to acquire the film, none of them did. We asked actors to support and tweet, none replied. We asked magazines and print media to support, none came forward. Today, I am glad that Stardust is asking me these questions. It’s very easy to run #nepotism campaigns, but when it comes to actually supporting a new actor or maker, they all go silent.

So when my film gets standing ovation, when people like Nandita Puri and Uma DaCuhna talks about Rickshawala, I only thank my team. It’s their blood and sweat, that our film is getting blessed. And I also know that someone in this world will value our work.

Are short films economically savvy?

Yes and no. It depends. Unlike USA, India is still figuring a way out to monetize short films. I think very soon niche companies will come up with platforms that will only cater to short films. For investors, it is a quick rollout and for makers, its a quick delivery of a product. International Film Festivals give a lot of importance to Short Length feature films. I would request Stardust to also include Short Film categories in their award ceremony.

“I have so many stories to tell, hope I will be able to tell all my stories before the final curtain call! “ for public, we will have to search for new investors.

As far as Hindi feature film is concerned, for that I have been working on two subjects, and hopefully, both will materialize.

As a director, what is now on your bucket list?

I am eagerly waiting to release my films Rickshawala, Broken Frame and Shubho Bijoya. I am also working on Nati Binodini at the same time, utilizing the time on brushing the script. I want to make cinema that talks about human emotions, that’s what excites me the most.

When you look back, how has the journey been? Are you living your dream?

I don’t look back. Every time, I look back, I feel that Are there any plans of doing a full-fledged Bollywood nothing was easy. And that’s how life is. Yes, I am sure film? that whatever I have achieved in the last two decades in Yes of course, in fact I had announced my first full Mumbai, might be an aspirational story for others. But for length Bengali feature film Nati Binodini early this me, I am yet to start my journey. There is so much year, but due to the Pandemic, my investors backed to do, and we are running short of time. I have so many out at the last minute. We were all set to roll, but they stories to tell, hope I will be able to tell all my stories before had cold feet. But now with theatres opening up the final curtain call!

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Wild Encounter

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Either be in a relationship and be committed or else don’t be in one …and have fun being single.” – Zuber K Khan

The smokin’ hot Zuber K Khan tells Sumita Chakraborty why he wanted to be an actor and gives his relationship and love quotient and more….

You became an actor because…

Firstly, because I love being an actor.

Also, it’s remarkable how easily a lie can be given wings of truth to portrait something good (and you get paid for it too).

Secondly, you can be anyone as an actor - I have an Engineers’ degree but as an actor, I can play the role of a doctor or teacher or whatever.

Could you tell us about your journey in the entertainment world?

It all started when I was 16. I used to play cricket and represented on the state level – I even got selected in the nationals too. But I got pressure from my parents to focus more on my studies. But I wanted to do something which would give me name, fame and money

- my first source ended as I left cricket completely. So I had just two options to be an actor or to get into politics. But for politics, I needed experience which I had not as I was just 18 that time. Then I decided to be an actor. So I started doing theatre and plays in school and as I was a very good dancer in school, I got much attention!

Then I stepped into modelling as I’m tall enough to be a ramp model so I walked for the Lakmé Fashion Week etc, than stepped into the world of pageants and won ‘Mr India 2012’ world best model worldwide. After that, I started doing tv commercials, giving auditions and started getting work in TV with initially episodic leads than daily soap and eventually, films. Though I was known 58

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as a model and an actor, I have given so many auditions but that always landed me good work. In fact, even today, if someone calls me and asks my audition, I always say “yes” as because as an actor I feel this is the process and journey which everyone should follow. This gives the producers and the directors faith and satisfaction that the actor can perform according to the character they are looking for the project.

What do you think about the digital platform?

This is a huge boost. This has opened so much of work for actors. But yes, the content should be good, as in the name of web-series, many are just making money which is affecting other good web series content makers. I guess there should be a limit like in films there are certificates, in web-series, there should be something like that which will help give the correct product to the audience where a family can watch any web series on any platform.

The film you absolutely loved working on…

I always work in every film or tv show as if it is my first and last. I always try to give my 100 percent to every film and I always take my films as my personal babies. So it will be partial if I take only one name. I loved working including in my debut ‘Le Kar Hum Dewaana Dil’ in which I did a small role or the recent two films - Dosti Ke Side Effects or Haunted Hills.

Now I’m eagerly waiting for “Dadhke Dil Baarbaar” of Rajeev Walia.

The character you thought suited you to the ‘T’: There’s a huge list. But I guess grey ones are much tougher to perform like Shahrukh sir did in Dar, Baazigar and Anjaam. Sometimes it feels good to be

loved by the audience for doing a hateful role.

The most wonderful thing about being an actor is….

People love you, scream your name and make you feel special, click pictures and make you feel wanted. I guess every actor works for the love of their audience only.

What is the worst possible thing about being an actor?

I don’t think so anything is bad because we work so hard to make our names and when we get what we prayed for there can’t anything bad about it. To be an actor is a blessing from GOD who gives his blessings on special people only!

What are the three most essential things you carry along with you all the time?

My book (what-so-ever I’m reading that time), my Bluetooth speaker and my perfume!

What in a woman turns you on?

Eyes, hair, body language, hygiene, diction and most importantly, her height as I’m tall!

What in a woman turns you off?

Bad odour, dumbness, selfish motives and money minded.

What’s the mantra to impress the opposite sex according to you?

I always trust on the mantra as which I always follow as Be real Be you! Just be what you are because if you pretend to be someone which you are not than trust me, girls are so sharp, they will catch you.

Have you ever been hit on by the same sex? What was your reaction?

Oops! Many times! (Haha) But yes, I re60

spect peoples’ choices. If I get any such vibes from anyone then I politely tell him that I respect your love for me, keep loving me but I’m into girls and only girls!

house from the sets! This is a little scary but I do understand the love of a fan. And no, I haven’t chased anyone this much as yet!

When was the last time a girl chased you? Or you chased someone?

Recently during the shooting of my film - Nyaay The Justice! There was this girl who came to my sets to click a picture but she followed me to my makeup room to get another picture and then again, after pack-up too, she wanted some close pictures as she told me that she wanted to make her fiancé jealous, and after pack-up too, she followed me till I reached my

A situation you felt awkward in?

Uffff! All the time. I’m a very shy and introverted kind of guy who loves to spend time by himself ! I feel awkward in public places where people start chasing me or try to misbehave and disturb the peace.

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Have you ever drunk dialled anyone?

Never ever!!

What’s the most awful situation you faced in Bollywood?

Nothing really… as here everyone treats you like family. I always say that I don’t do films, I make families! It’s all about love, if you give love, you’ll get love back! Here initially when I used to get replaced or things didn’t work out between me and the makers that time I used to feel very bad as I felt people didn’t favour talent.

But when I got films later my thinking changed and I realised that here most are professional and may be that time, I didn’t suit the roles or the script and demands. Now I completely understand that this is called professionalism!

In a relationship, would you be a daunting or chilled out partner?

Both I guess! I behave according to the situation! If I trust someone than I’m 80 percent chilled and if I havw doubts or I don’t trust then, it’s 90 percent daunting!

Bollywood’s dreaded casting couch has reared its ugly face many-a-times.

Have you faced it?

As I have mentioned in the above question that I got hit by same gender many times, so yes it had been offered to me but I politely deny them as I trust my talent more than my looks. So if they want me, they’ll take me without asking any favours and touch wood, with God’s grace, I’m working and I’ll work Insha Allah always on my talent only!

What is the first thing you notice in the opposite sex?

Her eyes.

As an actor, what are your most valuable strengths…

As a person, I’m very strong from inside.

I feel after so many rejections and failures I turned myself into gold. Other than that I trust God so much that I feel I’m his special child and he’ll take care of me and he did.

As a person, what are your biggest weaknesses?

I’m very emotional I can’t see anyone crying - either a guy or a girl and I’m a big foody. (Hahaha) Lastly, I trust people easily.

If marooned on an island, which female actor would you want to be with?

Ayesha Takia. She was my childhood favourite.

Have you ever been cheated on by anybody? What was your reaction?

Yes! Many times and that too I also got to know many things later on! And it was a pathetic feeling. It shatters you and you start doubting yourself and feel negative about yourself.

What’s your take on open relations?

No! I’m not that kind of guy. I’m a very black and white personality - either be in a relationship and be committed, and give your hundred percent or else don’t be in one …and have fun being single.

Which is the strangest place you’ve made out in?

In a jungle, where being caught is not the criteria but being eaten by some wild animal could be a possibility! Hahaha!

A film you saw only for the sex in it?

Many (hahaha)! I’ll name one and that is my fave too Fifty shades.

What’s your perfect date like?

I feel imperfection makes us all perfect so I love to hang-out at home only - make food, eat food, good music and enjoy the companionship.

If you had to describe yourself, what would it be?

A Lion who roars

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Music Room “Doing a song for the biggest superstar of Bollywood Mr. Akshay Kumar - as a debutant is a dream come true!”

– Viruss

Singer and rapper Viruss’ debut song Bam Bhole for the film Laxmi starring Akshay Kumar is causing quite a stir in Bollywood. Here he tells Sumita Chakraborty more about his musical journey, fave artiste, Akshay Kumar and more.

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Though the original song ‘Bam Bhole’ was already a hit with more than 350 million+ views, Viruss’ debut in Laxmi with Bam Bhole has been appreciated for it’s pulsating energy and amazing vibe by none-other than Akshay Kumar himself. So it’s no wonder, Viruss is on cloud nine.

In an exclusive interview, Viruss’ talks about his journey, Akshay Kumar, the film Laxmi and of course his energetic Bam Bhole. Read on…

How did your musical journey begin?

I have always been passionate about music, but it was in 2014 when I chose it as a profession.

Then I went to Mumbai to try my luck and fortunately, I was able to work with some good people from the industry. During that period, I met Mr. Anup Kumar (CEO Acme Muzic) and shifted to Chandigarh and started working.

Tell us about your first break in Bollywood and how it all happened?

My first break in Bollywood couldn’t have been better than this. Doing a song for the biggest superstar of Bollywood - Mr. Akshay Kumar, as a debutant is a dream come true. ‘Bam Bhole’ was already a hit before it was added to the film ‘Laxmi’. It was Mr. Akshay Kumar who heard the original song and loved it and wanted to add the song to the movie. That is where Mr. Anup Kumar came in talks with the makers of the film and the song happened. This is my first Bollywood song and the first one is always special. Moreover, this song has always been special to me as it has given me

positive energy and blessings of Bholenath. This is definitely the best thing that has happened to me in my career and I’m looking forward to doing many other Bollywood songs in near future Akshay Kumar and Kiara have praised the song a lot, how did you get this break?

The entire Team of Laxmi, Akshay Pahji, Kiara and other members everyone just loved the song - and were really excited about it. The entire team was super energetic on the sets of Bam Bholle. There are many other Bollywood songs in the pipeline which will be releasing in 2021.

How is your rapport with other singers in the industry?

As this is my Bollywood debut, so I have good but very few friends in Bollywood and the music industry. But if you talk about the Punjabi music Industry from where I come - definitely I have best friends like Millind Gaba, Stylish Singh, King Kaazi, Ayush Talniya, Fazilpuria to name a few and some of them support me as their younger Brother like Gippy Grewal Pahji. So I have got amazing people around me.

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Have there been times when you didn’t connect to any of the songs you sang?

I guess that never happened to me.

I believe that getting connected to the song is the most important thing for an artist. I feel that whatever you create should give you a positive vibe before people listen to it. That is what I felt when I created Bam Bholle.

What do you think about digital platform? Do you wish to work on the digital platform any time soon?

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I think it’s a very vast platform and it has created its own space in the industry. Especially in recent years, the OTT has formed a strong base of its own audience. I have songs coming up on various OTT platforms soon.

How do you define Indian music?

What do you think about platforms like coke studio – what does it bring to Indian Music?

Indian music has multiple genres.

I think every song has its own audience and there is space for every

kind of music. With commercial music holding its space in the entertainment industry, Coke Studio delivers a different kind of vibe to the audience.

Which are the actors from the Bollywood industry you would want to playback for?

I’m a typical Bollywood movie lover and I really love watching Bollywood movies more than Hollywood movies. I would definitely want to sing for Akshay Pahji again. There are many other actors I would love to work with like Ajay Devgn, Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Kartik Aryan, Vicky Kaushal to name a few.

Is there any actor you think your voice suits her best?

Akshay Kumar is the name that comes to my mind because I have seen him performing on my song Bam Bholle.

Given that there is a rise of actorsingers in Bollywood, who would you love to compose for and whose voice do you like the most?

I would definitely like to compose for Ayushmann Khurana. I think he has a fabulous voice and is an amazing artist. I would love to work with him.

When you compose a song, how do you visualize the tunes to match the feel of the films you are composing for?

Like you said, it’s all about the feel. If you can feel it, you can create it.

Which is favorite genre and why do you prefer that genre?

EDM, Trance, House are few genres which are my favourite. I always try to create something that can make people dance.

Your all-time favorite songs and your favorite artists?

When it’s about creating, I have a different feel. But when it comes to listening my taste differs. If I talk about my favourite songs Hawayein, Qaafirana, Namo Namo to name a few. My fave artistes are A.R Rehman, Amit Trivedi, Pritam and Arijeet Singh.

Any artiste with whom you would want to collaborate in the near future?

I would love to collaborate with Arijeet Singh.

What are your upcoming projects?

There are many projects - some big collaborations for singles as well as Bollywood songs that will be released soon.

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STARRY SASHAY Sensuous. Sassy. Stunning. That’s right, shorts look so cool yet sexy.

In the Fall Winter 2020 phase, stylish shorts have scaled the trend ladder… And, how! We pick some gorgeous Bollywood divas who raise the temp in their hip ‘n’ hot shorts.

So what are you waiting for…? Get your rating grades and mark these actresses according to who flaunted the hot shorts look best.

Prachi Desai

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Disha Patani

Kangana Ranaut

Yami Gautam

Sara Ali Khan

Jacqueline Fernandez

Malaika Arora

Anushka Sharma

Priyanka Chopra

Deepika Padukone

Janhvi Kapoor

Ameesha Patel

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k o o L y r

Star l

Th e k i eL

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ars t S e

Sumita Chakraborty picks up the trendiest makeup and hair look of the festive season. Illustrious stylist Savio John Periera is a hot fave of the stars. Here he gives the hair look of the season.

Mane Attraction Savio avers, “This season is extremely special as it’s been an extremely unpredictable year. Fashion, makeup and even hair trends are going to be different from what usually is around this time of the year with Diwali, Christmas and New Year just ‘round the corner. People are finally getting out after the lockdown with a reason to look and feel good. But since the new norm is “be at home” so mostly everyone at home are trying more low maintenance styles.”

What’s In • Hair colours are more subtle yet low maintenance.

• Subtle highlights are “in” rather than boring globals that need to be touched up every month.

• Balayage is something that has been trending even now as its low maintenance.

• A lot of braids are trending as they are easy to do and look great plus braids are fuss free and fun.

Stylish Stars: Jennifer Lawrence has experimented a lot with her looks. She’s always quite the head-turner. My Favourites in Bollywood are Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra.

Savio Says: Style is a way of self-expression therefore it needs to be individualistic. So keep it simple with attention to detail. Again, my fave Jacqueline Fernández rules this.

Face Ace: The look is again subtle. A lot of pinks in lip hues, slate and black in eye liner and subtle browns in foundation work. Since ‘tis the festive season, you can add a touch of illuminator to your face to get that lovely glow.

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Stardust on the go Sonam Kapoor twinning with brother Harshwardhan

Are actors outside their shooting world as glamorous as they look on the silver screen? Can female actors in Tinsel Town be good friends?

Who are the new lovebirds in B-town? Team Stardust brings you a bird eye’s view into the private lives of Tinsel Town eye candies.

Priyanka Chopra showcases her ‘We Are The Heroes’ look

John Abraham shows off his fitness goals

Tiger Shroff is too hot to handle

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Ranveer Singh dances to his Gully Boy tune

Katrina Kaif sizzles

Amitabh Bachchan posts a throwback

Deepika Padukone posts her Om Shanti Om throwback picture

Varun Dhawan with Kiara Advani and Anil Kapoor goes jetsetting

Ayushmann Khurana plays a tune on his racquet

Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan pose for the shutterbugs

Arjun Kapoor shows off a bare chested look

Shahid Kapoor poses on candid camera

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Blast from the past STARDUST OCTOBER 1988

When I am with Shatrughan Sinha I find myself on the brink – of word bankruptcy.

The man has an enormous capacity to talk, talk and talk.

But no complaints. For he makes up for the extra quantity by his extra sense of humour – and that typical touch of arrogance and fearlessness which makes his copy daringly delightful.

-Nishi Prem

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You have been constantly making digs at Rekha. There has not been an interview from you in the past few months in which you have not made nasty cracks about her.

Why are you badgering her? What have you against her when according to her she’s got nothing to do with you? No wonder when asked about you in a recent interview she said, ‘Who Shatrughan Sinha?’ Her resentment is justified and so is her refusal to work with you – weren’t you forced to leave Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Bhrashtachar’ because Rekha refused to co-star with you?

She refused! You mean Rekha has at last learnt to refuse? I thought her problem was only that she could never say ‘no’ to anyone. Well I am glad for her. This will do her a world of good both physically and emotionally. And hygienically also. And now to put the record straight.

I had agreed to do ‘Bhrashtachar’ inspite of Rekha only because of Ramesh Sippy. I think he is a great director. But unfortunately, we couldn’t agree on other matters like dates and price. That’s how Mithun stepped in – and I am happy for him. And by the way if Rekha said, ‘Who Shatrughan Sinha?’ It’s hardly surprising.

She also said, ‘Who Raj Babbar?’ Only I wish she would not behave so childishly at thirty-nine. It doesn’t suit her personality and image – that is if she has any. And if she says she’s got nothing to do with me she’s right. I do happen to fall under that lucky but poor minority of those who have nothing to do with her. At one time it was a status symbol if you had something to do with Rekha but today it is the other way around – it is a symbol of status if you have nothing to do with her.

It’s rather petty of you to bear a grudge against Kimi Katkar for naming her dogs Luv and Kush only because they also happen to be the names of your sons. Worse was you getting a bitch to your house and naming her Kimi in retaliation.

I hold nothing against Kimi. In fact, it is because I am so fond of her that I was scared that some Hindu organization or some fanatics might take offense and attack Kimi for keeping religious names for her dogs. It was my children (who were also very fond of her) who were very hurt when they got to know of it. And it was their suggestion in retaliation that we get a female-dog (see how courteous I’m being, I’m 75

still not calling it a bitch) and name her Kimi.

If you ask me I have already forgiven Kimi, for when I asked her about it she got very panicky and very nervously she explained how since her dogs were twins (I was enlightened. For the first time I was hearing about dogs being twins) she thought of naming them Luv and Kush.

How can I hold a grudge against someone with such a low IQ level? In fact I forgave her then and there. I have also changed the name of my bitch from Kimi to Shiny. Though it’s another story that she still reacts to only Kimi.

It’s common knowledge that you spend most of your nights away from home, at some flat in Bandra. Looks like your marriage is on the rocks finally.

Changing location doesn’t necessarily mean changing the situation. You make my flat sound like it’s some kind of a Ramsay horror joint. It’s an old apartment of mine where I’ve spent some very beautiful moments with or without… I feel very comfortable there. If not in any other way then just talking (if not anything else) to people of my choice. Talking to them over the phone or calling them over etc, etc. But if you are also thinking what I am then I must say you have a dirty mind. As for my marriage being on the rocks, that’s all crap. At best you can say that the sailing is not all that smooth. But as I’ve said earlier once my wife apologises for the mistakes I have committed in the recent months – which should be very soon as per her regular practice – things will be normal and rosy again. That is till I bring a new twist to the story once again. In a way I’m grateful to you for promoting the idea of my marriage being on the rocks. It makes me more eligible to women – an eligible married bachelor.

You certainly made a fool of yourself by accepting a subordinate role to Sridevi’s in ‘Sherni’. No wonder the industrywallas are calling you the heroine of the film and Sridevi the hero. How could you allow an actress to steal the show away from you.?

Why the industrywallas, when the film was still in progress, I used to call Sridevi the ‘Sherni’ and myself the ‘bakri’ of the film. I knew what I was getting into right in the beginning but I agreed to be the sacrificial bakri only because of my secretary Pawan Kumar who is also the producer of ‘Sherni’. After the disaster of ‘Mati Maange Khoon’ Pawanji was going through a bad phase. So when he approached me with ‘Sherni’ I couldn’t refuse. Pawanji and I have shared a very long association. He insisted that my signing the film would make the project more appealing to the distributors and I couldn’t have refused him. You could say it was a voluntary sacrifice. Otherwise it is not so easy to steal even a scene (forget the film) away from under the nose of Shatrughan Sinha. People have tried and failed miserably.

You must have noticed that it is the other actors who are scared to be pitted against me; I don’t refuse to work with anybody.

“When ‘Sherni’ was still in progress, I used to call Sridevi the sherni and myself the bakri of the film.

I was a willing sacrificial goat.”

a shrine or a girl’s virginity that a man would be frightened to enter. What’s so great about politics? From a flyer to a hijacker, a murderer to a rapist, anybody and everybody can get into politics today. I think this is the only occupation which doesn’t require any qualifications. In fact it is disqualifications that are considered qualifications in politics. Yesterday, people went to jail and then became leaders. Today they become leaders and then go to jail. Bachchan entered into politics not so serve his country or his people but to help a friend. His intentions were different. But I do not believe in doing things in You have been talking politics for years. But josh, I do things in hosh. My case will be different. looks like you can only talk. You do not seem If I enter politics it will be to serve the people, the to have the guts to plunge into it. What is it masses, the nation. It will be to lead the causes.

– the fear that you too might end up like Am- And things are in my favour. My age is in my faitabh Bachchan? vour. I assure you that I’ll strike at the right time Whether I’m scared or not that is beside the point with the right kind of people with the right apbut don’t make politics sound so sacred. It’s not proach to create the right atmosphere.

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“There is no question of me giving trouble to the producer of ‘Mahaveera’ since Raaj Kumar was already there in the film.”

Considering your ties with the late Pakistani President Zia-Ul-Haq, his sudden and tragic death must have caused more pain to you than our late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s had. It’s really surprising that you still haven’t gone to Pakistan to pay your condolences to the bereaved family?

Yes, you must understand the difference. Indira Gandhi’s death was a national loss. I was fortunate to have met Mrs. Gandhi a few times in a very cordial atmosphere. I was very hypnotised by her personality. I wish she was still there for I really feel the difference between her time and now. In those days India was public limited, today it’s private limited. Still I can’t say I was close to her. Barring those

You have been instigating Sunil Dutt to leave the ruling party and join yours. Is that why you also cast him in your ‘Dharam Yudh’?

Firstly, I don’t have a party of my own, so the question of inviting him to join my party doesn’t arise. But all said and done I do think it’s time a self-respecting and well-meaning a man like Dutt Saab broke away and joined another well-meaning, progressive party / people. If and when I have a party of my own or I join a party I’ll definitely request and insist that Dutt saab join me. Because he’s gem of a man and he’ll always be an asset to any party.

What if Rajesh Khanna were to join you?

I’m sure Mr. Khanna will also prove to be great asset if we ever decide to divide, defeat, break or split our party a la Bahuguna.

You proudly claim to be the Bihar Ratna. But may I ask you what have you done for your Bihar after the disastrous earthquake? In fact your brothers in Bihar have lost faith in you since you have not bothered to visit your native land after the calamity?

By the time you are reading this I would have come back from Patna after meeting the Chief Minister and handing over to him the few couple of lakhs that I have collected from the industry – which includes Dharmendra, Raj Kumar Kohli and hold your breath Amitabh Bachchan. I have been doing the best to my capacity. But I feel miserable at times that inspite of Bihar being the richest state in terms of minerals it still remains one of the most poor states. The leaders in Bihar have very efficiently mismanaged the state.

They don’t see beyond themselves. But I am the true son of the Bihar soil. I have always and will few meetings I hardly knew her personally. But with always do my duty sincerely. If Maharashtra is my Gen. Zia I shared a very personal relationship. Our karam-bhoomi, Bihar is my janma-bhoomi. These love and admiration was mutual. My feelings for Zia two will always be my prime priority. had nothing to do with his country’s internal affairs, policies or politics. By the time this issue is out I will You have been recommending Shekhar Sube in Islamabad to pay my condolences in person man to each and every producer of yours. on the fortieth day. My family will be with me. And Your preference for this newcomer from Biit’s not that our families have not been a in touch af- har reeks of a biased and a communal attiter the tragedy befell. My wife spoke to Zia’s family, tude? their son called us up. It’s only that I thought it would Since I’ve got no star-sons and no relatives to be better to go when I could spend some time with promote and since Shekhar falls under the mithe family. Had I gone immediately after the mis- nority – the second specimen from Bihar besides hap I would have had to come back the same day. me – so what’s the harm if I try to do something In a nutshell I would say Madame Gandhi’s loss was for him. And moreover I think he’s deserving. He a national loss. Zia’s death is a personal loss. is better than most of our newcomers. I am also 77

very fond of him. Should I discard him only because he happens to be from Bihar? I would never promote anybody if he was not deserving even if he was from my home, leave alone home town.

the market rumours are to be believed – the less said about his performance the better. I treat my women with utmost respect, care and concern.

Leave alone the fifth or the sixth party I would never discuss my personal affairs with even a third party. Whatever happens between two people must remain between those two people only. A man-woman relationship is pious, beautiful and personal. And to me the base of any relationship is not love but respect. I’ve always respected my women and in turn I’ve got respect from them.

That’s the reason perhaps why the tribe is increasing day by day. And in spite of the increasing tribe the loyalties of the existing ones are still intact.

God help me!

Chunky Pandey insists that you have a been taking undue credit for his success and that you have not contributed to his career in any way.

Nothing new, even Subhash Ghai says the same thing. In fact, it’s not surprising at all. What is surprising is that there are still people like Mithun Chakraborty in this industry who have not changed inspite of seeing so much success. Instead of pulling them like the others, they still touch the feet of their seniors. But regardless of whether Chunky Pandey likes me or not the question is if I like him Your other producers are very upset with or not. Which I do. A lot in fact since he’s my fami- you, because you have been cancelling their ly’s cute liability. dates to make adjustments for Rajan Sippy’s ‘Shehzaade’. And they insist that you have been You love to think of yourself as a great bed-hop- showering favours on Rajan only because he per and flaunt your sexual exploits. Don’t you does your chamchagiri while they don’t? know it is not only ungentlemanly but cheap I hope after reading this Rajan doesn’t take offence to talk about the women you have gone to bed and desert me, he’s the last of the loyalists left. And with? if he does I fear I might have to do chamchagiri to It’s very few nights that I go to bed, most nights I go win him back. He’s the only friend accepted and home. As for me flaunting my affairs are you sure trusted by both the parties – my wife and my you are not referring to the playboy Pakistani crick- girlfriends. Not only a friend he’s also proved to eter who is known for flaunting his women, who be my saviour many times. Losing a person like is these days known more for his sexual exploits him will not only mean inconvenience but great than cricket. In fact if you ask me the poor fellow disadvantage. So I reciprocate his faith and trust only flaunts, the real report is very bad. Most of by giving him extra love, affection and warmth. I his conquest stories are concocted and fabricated have been concentrating on his film ‘Shehzaade’ to suit his so-called self-created virile image. For if firstly because it’s a good film and then it has my

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“Working with Subhash Ghai is not going to add any feathers to my cap.

It might add one to his cap through.”

see the film you don’t see any money spent. There was no good set erected, no crowd scene, no nothing. Just a few known stars dumped together.

It was as if the producer was not bothered about the film at all (considering he had made his money). We are supposed to be brothers in the film still Dharamji and I had no combined shots. He died in the hands of my duplicate. Raaj Kumar refused to be killed by me in the climax so another Raaj Kumar was created – a double role. What I killed was favourite co-star Dharmendra and my favourite Raaj Kumar’s duplicate. What I am giving you is the actress Dimple and now the producer Rajan Sippy narration of the story of the film for I’m sure you’ll is also my favourite. And if I have to go a little out of have not seen the film. Everybody dies in the film. my way in helping the project of a friend, producer Dharmendra dies, Dimple dies and last but not the least Shatrughan Sinha dies. Saved are only those and saviour it is justified, is it not? who didn’t see the film.

First of all you shouldn’t have accepted a film like ‘Mahaveera’ but since you did agree to do it Haven’t you carried your differences with your voluntarily it was your duty to co-operate with old friend Subhash Ghai a bit too far? Why do producer Ratan Mohan. It is believed that you you, after so many years, still refuse to work gave a lot of trouble to him during the mak- with him? Or is it the vice-versa? ing of the film only because you lost interest I don’t know about yesterday but today working in the project when you saw that your co-star with Subhash Ghai is not going to add any feathers Raaj Kumar was getting more prominence in to my cap. It might add one to his cap though. I look up to him in a very different manner today. the film.

If I were to name the two worst pictures of my ca- We don’t meet that often but I still respect him reer, they would be ‘Raaton Ka Raja’ and ‘Bheema’. and regard him as a family friend. Specially as my But one film which would beat them hollow and gharwalli ka bhai. He is entitled to his own say. surpass all previous records of my worst films is Create, promote and propagate his own stories.

‘Mahaveera’. This film will remain to be a milestone I’m too busy to react and answer them all. I’m in my career. But there is no question of me giving above all these things. I know if two of us ever get together again (the last time was ‘Kalicharan’ and ‘Vishwanath’ which were super hits) we’ll come out with dynamic results. But I can never approach him. At the same time if he approaches me I don’t think I can say no to him. For to me old is still gold.

trouble to the producers since Raaj Kumar was already there in the film. To be very frank, to me it seems like Ratan Mohan’s intentions were only to collect big faces (Dhram, Dimple, Raaj Kumar and Shatrughan Sinha), take a big price from the distributors, make a huge profit on the table and switch over to another profession. That’s why when you 79

Reena Roy’s husband insists that the relationship you shared with her before their marriage is a figment of your imagination. He insists that you misunderstood Reena’s feelings for you for according to him she always treated you like a brother. Your comment.

Yes, today I realize it’s all my fault. I am truly to be blamed. Poor Reena, she must have really treated me like a real brother. No more controversies please.

It’s amazing how even after so many years in the industry you still haven’t managed to get into the habit of reaching your sets on time. There are other stars who come late but you certainly take the cake. Reporting at two o’ clock for a nine o’ clock shift is certainly the limit.

I’ve improved a lot. Most of our heroes today are busy by the hour and I am no exception. I’m working three shifts a day. And the extra burden is certainly taking its toll. I am not able to give attention to personal, social or political life. It’s work, work, work throughout the day. That is why in the mornings I try not to rush. I must repair and prepare myself for another day. So I do yoga, meditation and certain exercises. I don’t miss these even if it means reaching a few hours late on the sets. For once I reach the sets I make up for the lost time.

I work with extra vigour. And most important, because of meditation I am cool and composed.

Most of the time I finish my work much ahead of schedule. That is why also all my producers like to repeat me. I must be the most repeated star in the industry. But yet, despite my improvements, with folded hands I plead guilty without any justification and I deserve any kind of punishment that any producer may want to give. But I also assure that only my producers or heroes must

have complained about my habit of coming late, certainly not my heroines. Like one actress once told me, ‘Shatru you are the most sexy star around because you always come late.’ If that is the case, Rekha should be the sexiest since most times she doesn’t come at all.

--Nishi Prem

FAST FORWARD He is undoubtedly one of the wittiest actors in the industry. Of course, in the days of yore when being “politically correct” was considered boring, Shatrughan Sinha’s interviews were a revelation. And, how!

He didn’t pull any punches or duck to any googlies, instead his sharp retorts were on point, smart and rib-ticklingly funny.

Today, Shatrughan Sinha is one of the most respected actors in the industry.

He has also stepped into the domain of politics and has done some very good work. Of course as the current trend is to play safe, Mr Sinha has mellowed down a tad bit… perhaps because he has entered the hallowed arena of politics where being “politically correct” is the rule of the game.

However, his answers, debates and retorts are as colourful and witty as before. This man’s interviews – then and now – are a delight to read. So go ahead and say Khamoshhhh…!

- Sumita Chakraborty 80

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