‘I do roles that suit my age’

Raveena Tandon on the Padma Shri honour

For actor Raveena Tandon winning the Padma Shri was like a cherry on the top. She considers herself to be one of those lucky ones who has a huge body of commercial hits and has done realistic cinema at the same time whether it was Satta, Ghulam- E- Mustafa, or Shool. She is thankful that cinema is changing and there is room for experimentation for the craftsmen. On a lighter note, Raveena is happy that SRK’s Pathaan could bring people back to the theatres.

Excerpts from the interview:

Your first reaction to the Padma Shri honour…

The first person who informed me was actually the press. They said that the list is out and your name is there. This year for me was full of awards for KGF and Aranyak and each and every award that I have won for these two films from Filmfare to Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Award, I thank God for it. And winning the Padma Shri was like a cherry on the top.

Woman’s roles changing and now actresses are getting to play their age and yet do an important role. What do you have to say about that?

What happened in the nineties was that everyone would stereotype you. I was one of those lucky ones who had a huge body of commercial hits and I did realistic cinema at the same time whether it was Satta, Ghulam- E- Mustafa, or Shool. Even Shool won the national award. Daman too won the National award. I have done a lot of films which were message oriented and plus my commercial films were also a big hit. I think some where I was able to strike a balance with both commercial and realistic cinemas. And I am eternally thankful to my audiences to accept me in both forms of cinema.

Another thing that I have noticed is that songs from films are

Kartik Aaryan turns producer with Shehzada

Adityanath says UP safe for investors, interacts with Bollywood members in Mumbai

Bollywood star Kartik Aaryan is set to make his production debut with his upcoming film Shehzada, the makers announced on Monday.

Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Allu Arvind and Aman Gill, the movie is the official Hindi adaptation of the 2020 Telugu action drama Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo starring Allu Arjun. The makers welcomed Aaryan, who also headlines the family action entertainer Shehzada, on board as producer.

“It’s been quite a joyride making this film with Kartik as an actor, but now it’s become even more exciting having Kartik on board as one of the producers of the film.

“Like us Kartik too believes in wide reaching films that appeal to the youngsters, families and masses, and Shehzada is meant for all of them, hence it made natural sense for him to pick this film for his debut as producer,” they said in a media statement.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday pitched his state as a safe investment destination and also interacted with prominent Bollywood personalities during his visit to Mumbai, where Maharashtra’s Opposition parties targeted him over his roadshow.

Adityanath assured industrialists of a strong law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, devoid of fear and free of land mafia.

“You must have seen that before 2017, there used to be riots every other day, now the law and situation in the state is very strong. We formed an anti-land mafia task force and vacated over 64,000-hectare land from their clutches,” the chief minister said. The chief minister told investors that today no goon can collect tax from any businessman or contractor or harass them in Uttar Pradesh. “Even political donations cannot be taken forcibly,” he added. The chief minister is on an eight-city roadshow to promote the 3-day ‘UP Global Investor Summit 2023’ to be held in Lucknow from February 10-12 eternal. The songs became great hit. I am happy that my contribution to realistic cinema has been recognised and commercially I think I did well too.

Making a shift from commercial to realistic film… How did it happen?

It was a conscious effort. Unfortunately, in the nineties when you wanted to do realistic cinema and prove yourself as a craftsman people just remembered you for your songs. Finally, in 2000, I stopped signing those kinds of films and started concentrating on films that challenged me as an actor. It started with started with Shool, then there was Ghulam- E- Mustafa and the journey just continued. I told that I will do roles that suit my age and I simply started rejecting roles that didn’t challenge me. And thankfully cinema is changing and the web has brought about this change where people are actually looking at actors and the craft is not just dependent on a commercial box office outcome.

With Pathaan bringing back Bollywood its old glory, what do you have to say about that?

I am so happy that Pathaan could bring people back to the theatres. In fact, I tweeted ‘Hamara Karan Arjun aa Gaya’ (Our Karan and Arjun is back). I went for the 10 am show. It was a reason for the industry to rejoice again. And for SRK it was well deserved. He is such a wonderful person.

Last year we felt that Bollywood is losing its swag to South films… What is your take on that?

As far as South films are concerned we only get to know about the biggest hits. I am sure there must be at least five films that release every Friday, and it’s only the super hit films come to us and we celebrate them. We don’t get to know about the South films that didn’t do well. So, I think it is a little unfair to categorise it like that. Honestly, if you ask me cinema is one. I hate these names like Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood, Mollywood, Lollywood. I think it’s ridiculous.

Hollywood producer Jason Blum bets on RRR to win best film Oscar

Hollywood producer Jason Blum is confident that SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus RRR will bag the best picture trophy at the Oscars this year.

Blum, the founder of Hollywood studio Blumhouse that bankrolled Oscar-winning movies such as Get Out and BlacKkKlansman, predicted the film’s win in a Twitter post on Monday. “I’m going with RRR winning best pic. You heard it here first. Mark it down, please. If I’m right, I am awarding myself my own Oscar,” the producer wrote.

Samantha-Dev stun as Dushyant-Shakuntala

For the first time, a grand representation of Dushyant-Shakuntala’s love story will be seen on the big screen. The official trailer for the much awaited classic mythological drama Shaakuntalam is finally out. In the trailer, Samantha Ruth Prabhu can be seen clad in all-white as she portrays Shakuntala. From her elegance as the mythological character to delivery of powerful dialogues, Samantha nails her role. Dev Mohan, on the other hand does a spectacular job in his role as Dushyant.

The trailer starts with the birth of Shakuntala, a lovechild of Menaka and Vishwamitra. She is described as ‘an orphan despite being the daughter of an apsara.’ The trailer then details how history is about to be written. as Shakuntala grows. The film is directed by Gunasekhar.