Global movie magazine feb 2015

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Deepika Padukone is a colleague who I respect a lot “Sonam Kapoor�

The Dolly Ki Doli actress talks about how it is not important for her to be in the 100 crore club, how she respects Deepika as a colleague and how she has no desire to just work with the Khans The Dolly Ki Doli actress talks about how it is not important for her to be in the 100 crore club, how she respects Deepika as a colleague and how she has no desire to just work with the Khans

Looking pretty as a peach in an off-shoulder dress, Sonam Kapoor is all charged up to take on the world with her upcoming film Dolly Ki Doli. The actress has had a good run at the box office with Raanjhanaa, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Khoobsurat.

Raanjhanaa became the first of her films to reach the `100 crore mark followed by Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Sonam considers Raanjhanaa to be the turning point in her career as people started taking her seriously after that. But no, being a `100 crore heroine is not what the leggy actress is aiming for. She would rather do a small budget film that romps home comfortably. The bottom line, as she says, is the film should make profits.

And having a home production, Sonam can rattle off figures easily to make her point. Over to the spunky actress who tells it like it is…

You’ve worn bridal outfits in a couple of films earlier, but this film revolves around you as a bride. Does it feel surreal?

No, it’s a role. I have changed eight bridal outfits in a day for Dolly Ki Doli! Eventually, they are all costumes and I play a fake bride, a con bride (smiles). It’s not like I am actually getting married! I think it’s only when you are really getting married that you feel stressed.

How much of Sonam is there in Dolly?

I am not from North India and I am not conning people! But the one thing similar to Sonam and Dolly is both of them are unapologetically themselves. They are not afraid of being who they are.

How was it working with Rajkummar Rao and the relative newcomers Pulkit Samrat and Varun Sharma?

Pulkit is the kind who pampers you a lot. He will force you to cheat on your diet chart with this wonderful platter of food laid on his table. He won’t leave you until you try them. He’s got me those chocolate candies which I love. He’s a very chilled out guy. Varun is like a kid. He is my brother’s age. So, I mostly feel like pulling his cheeks. Rajkummar is very intense and a little more serious than these two. But he’s an immensely talented actor.

You have a great sense of humour, would you be a part of AIB’s Roast?

I am sorry, I have never heard of it. I have been working, and not been in town. I have to see it to comment on it. As for being a part of it, it depends on how intelligently it is done.

You are hailed as a fashionista. Does it take away from you as a performer?

I don’t think so. On the contrary, it just adds to my image.

Especially after I give good performances and when people appreciate my work, like after Raanjhanaa, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Khoobsurat.

You were quoted saying that you will never publicise it if you start doing social service. It was reportedly a dig at Deepika Padukone who tweeted that she will be supporting the cause of mental health awareness in 2015..

(Cuts in) I never said that.

What is your equation with Deepika?

Deepika is a colleague who I respect a lot.

Though you have briefly worked with Salman Khan in Saawariya, you are now cast as the romantic lead opposite him in Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. Do you consider working with the Khan trio a benchmark?

For me the benchmark would be doing any film which is made by an amazing director with amazing co-stars. A Sooraj Barjatya film opposite Salman Khan is definitely a high point in my life.

What kind of roles are you looking at?

I have consciously decided to choose roles that do not have me as a pretty face dancing in four songs without any meat in it. I would rather do meaningful roles. The length does not matter.

I had a 25-minute role in Delhi 6, but still Bittoo’s character had a huge impact in the film. I want to try out different genres.

Let’s see how it shapes up.

How important is the `100-crore mark to you?

Raanjhanaa had Dhanush and me in it. The budget of the film was different from Khoobsurat. The number of screens it released was much higher. Khoobsurat released in 900 screens as opposed to 3000 screens. So, even if it went houseful for three weeks, it would only make so much as opposed to if it would have released in 5000 screens. It is mathematics. How much you spend on a film also counts. Raanjhanaa was a `35 crore film, Khoobsurat was a `12 crore film. Ranjhanaa is a multiplex film as well as a single screen film. Khoobsurat is only a multiplex film for youth. Dolly Ki Doli is a little different from Khoobsurat because maybe we are releasing it in 200 more screens. It has got a different audience appeal. So technically, it’s not whether you make `100 crore or `20 crore with your film, the bottom line is whether your film manages to make huge profits. It does not matter to me as long as it’s a hit film.

It is very honest and daring of Deepika Padukone to have talked about her depression “Amitabh Bachchan�

Amitabh Bachchan on his next release, his experience of working with youngsters and why he won’t attempt direction On my way to meet Amitabh Bachchan at his swanky office in Juhu, I passed several billboards of the actor endorsing different products. It struck me how despite an avalanche of new and young faces, Big B is still one of the most sought-after names in the advertising and film industry. When I walk into his office I am told that he’s wrapping up the shoot of yet another product endorsement!

Dressed in his favourite jacket that has the words ‘Russia’ written on it, we soon settle down to talk about his upcoming film, stuff he wants to learn and what he admires in the current lot of the young actors. Excerpts from our chat…

Most actors find film promotions tiring, Do you, too?

It is tiring, but it is now an accepted norm, so we just go along with it. It has become part of every film we do.

Somewhere, they feel that promotions help the final outcome of the film. So here we are!

What’s different about working with Balki from Cheeni Kum to Paa to Shamitabh?

He has a different kind of mind and unique ideas. It is interesting for an actor to interact or work with someone who keeps inventing new ideas. You are always attracted to something that is different as it tests and challenges you. But Shamitabh is no different from any other of his enterprises. It is yet again another unique story and one that Indian cinema has not seen before.

Your name is referenced in a film title…

That’s true. But it’s not just there for the sake of my name, it is there for a certain reason which is there in the script.

The promo for Shamitabh has left people trying to guess it’s plot. Comment!

This is all Balki’s doing. We have a relationship where we discuss almost everything. If there’s something troubling me, I call him up, if there is something he wants to run through me, he calls. It’s a very healthy combination of ideas, but eventually of course, it’s the director’s call.

I mean even if I were to disagree, I would respect his call as the final one.

You have the maximum number of followers on Twitter, have you ever tried to analyse why?

No. I am just happy that it has happened. I keep putting out my blog and there are a few regulars that I keep

talking to. It is very difficult for me to go through everyone’s tweets, but I try as much as I can. All they want is a hi and a hello and to be noticed. It’s the least that we can do.

Blogging’s part of your daily routine?

Yes, I write everyday. I need to. If I don’t write, then I get hit on the head by followerasking, ‘Where are you? Are you okay?Why haven’t you blogged?’. Sometimes I forget to press the ‘post’ button and my phone is filled with mails saying ‘Mr Bachchan, you have forgotten to press the ‘post’ button, the blog is not out.’

What is the one lesson that you have learnt from working with youngsters?

I am in great admiration of the new generation. They are very spontaneous, they are very determined, very aggressive, know exactly what they want and how to get there. They are also very brave and a million times better than what we were at that age. I am so happy and fortunate that I get to work in projects with them despite

the very large age difference. But it’s a great learning for me, I love to be in their company to see how they work, to learn from them. It is a very exciting time for Indian cinema and the amount of talent that comes out every Friday is amazing and it can only bode well for all of us.

There is a director hidden inside every actor. Agree?

I don’t know direction. Sometimes, when you are enacting a sequence you may want to give your own input on how you want to say it, the way you want to move, what you want to do, sit, stand, run, cry, laugh. These are some things that are individual in an actor, but the director is the ultimate authority and he will have to decide and it will become my imperative duty to obey him. I really don’t know how to put together a scene, there enough stuff to do in front of the camera and say your lines, but to be able to direct is tough.

Is there anything you want to learn this year?

I wish I could, but there’s no time. Technology changes every five minutes so one tries to keep up with it and you feel left behind in the race if you are not up-to-date.

There are so many things, if you could learn how to sing or play an instrument, piano or a language perhaps…

What are the reactions you are getting for Shweta’s column in After Hrs? She’s always been a very good writer. She has a lot of hidden talents which she’s never put out to the public. But I am really happy that she does this column. It has a style and is very different. Lot of people say many nice things to her after reading it which is a moment of great pride for the father.

What is your barometer of success? Is it `500 crore, your satisfaction as a performer or the audience feedback on social media?

Somewhere a bit of everything. Primarily, I hope that people like me and if that comes true, it’s great. At the same time, your next job will depend upon box-office success so that is an area of concern. And then of course,

the critics and what they say is all welcome.

Recently Deepika spoke about how she battled depression, have you ever faced that?

I don’t know the extent of what Deepika has said. But I think it’s very honest and daring of Deepikato talk about it not so much to gain from it, but to make people aware of it.

Awareness is a huge factor in most illnesses. I work for diabetes and tuberculosis, and will be working for hepatitis, and they are all very prominent diseases, many of them people are unaware of how to avoid, or at times are even unaware that they are affected by it. If I am going to be talking about a particular disease and know enough about it, I would definitely do it. We did that with polio, worked for eight years and finally India is today polio-free. I am not saying that we don’t go through phases where you are depressed or frustrated. All of us go through it, but we try and find a way out.

Would you consider investing 12 years of your life into making a movie like Richard Linklater did, with Boyhood?

Anybody wanting to do that now with me would be stupid because I probably won’t be alive by then! But it’s a great creative effort and it is very remarkable how somebody can have the patience to wait for a kid to grow for 12 years and continue to make this film. I think it is fantastic.

Ayushmann Khurrana: I’m okay with mild success and mild love!

Unconventional comes easy to actor-singer-composer Ayushmann Khurrana, who plays Shivkar Bapuji Talpade, an Indian scholar who is supposed to have constructed and flown India’s first unmanned flight, in the upcoming Hawaizaada, which co-stars Pallavi Sharda and Mithun Chakraborty. In a candid moment, he shares his thoughts about his character, his own dealings with failure and how he’s content with his own “mild success”.

Excerpts: Hawaizaada comes quite a while after your last film, Bewakoofiyaan (March 2014). Why the long gap ?

Because it is the sort of film that needed this kind of a gap. It needed this sort of a distraction from other regular films to be able to work on such kind of a movie. This is the first time that I am not playing a quintessential urban north Indian Punjabi guy. I have moved out of my comfort zone and am playing a Marathi-speaking guy. I had to learn the language properly. Everything had to be perfect from the costumes to the set design to the music to everything. And this gap was created not just because of Hawaizaada but also because of my other film Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Now both the films are ready at the same time and you will get to see them back-to-back this year.

Why the production delay with Hawaizaada?

We shot extensively for 90 days. But we couldn’t shoot in the summers. The film’s backdrop required us to shoot in cool weather. Thus we had to wait for that a bit and then shoot.

After catching the trailer, many Maharashtrian viewers feel you haven’t been able to mouth the Marathi lines correctly…

This can’t be true. The films co-writer Saurabh Bhave, who has written a lot of Maharashtrian films before, was there throughout. I did workshops to get the accent and the dialect perfect. I gave multiple takes and reshots to make sure the dialogue delivery was perfect. Unless Saurabh okayed the word, I used to keep giving takes again and again.

With biopics being all the rage, was it a conscious decision to do one on Talpade’s life?

See, you can’t call this a biopic. The person is very real and he did make the first flight by a man, but as India was just a British colony that time, there is no record of the same. Thus, everything that we know about him is just hearsay.

What director Vibhu Puri has done, is develop Shivkar Talpade’s character according to his own imagination. Not much is known about the real-life person and therefore, Vibhu had to develop a full story around this one character. All of it came from Vibhu’s imagination and therefore, you can’t call it a biopic in the proper sense of the word.

When your films don’t work, do you feel you’ve failed as an actor?

Any movie is a team effort. You can’t blame the actor if the film didn’t work and neither can I blame the filmmakers saying that their script was faulty. Its a collective affair and all the factors have to work equally well to make a successful film. And you can never predict what audiences would like and won’t like. You can have the best of everything in a film and still end up being a dud. And you may have everything unconventional where the movie might do wonders at the ticket windows.

You started out the same time as Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and others. In terms of films and popularity and success thereof, they’ve left you far behind. Where do you think you failed?

I guess we all debuted the same year, but I got the most Best Newcomer (Male) awards that year. Also, I guess none of them have got an award for singing.

I have. That’s where I stand apart from them. Also, I don’t crave much, am laid back and am content with what I get. That’s not to say that I’m not hungry for popularity.By now, I’ve seen so many rejections in life that I’m just happy being able to act and sing. I’m happy with my mild success. I’m okay with mild love. I just want to live a normal life with the people I love.

You’ve gone solo with this film’s music composition. All well between you and Rochak Kohli.

Yeah, yeah… all’s well between us. This time, I decided to try out something, solo. So did he. It was new experiment for both of us and we hope it works with the audiences. We will definitely be working together in coming months again.

You began the actor-singer trend with Paani Da. Now, every other actor is singing in films. How do you differentiate yourself now?

With no offence to anyone, I sing professionally and it’s not just a hobby for me. I have won awards for singing. I have written songs. I have composed songs.

Also as far as actor-singers go, there’s barely a crowd.

Plus, all my songs have been very popular with the masses. All these things differentiate me from the others.

Karan Johar: Regret is not part of my dictionary!

The filmmaker gets candid about life, relationships and how he is dealing with 40s…

Karan Johar has the warmest hug in the film industry. He opens his arms and envelopes you in his warmth and holds you for a few seconds. Nothing perfunctory about it. He also has the sharpest tongue. I have seen people running away fromKJo at parties lest they are at the receiving end of his biting humour. Especially after two glasses of wine. But no one minds. He is what he is, and he is loved and hated in equal measures for that. He has more friends than enemies in the industry. You might think that is so because he is one of the most sought-after producers and directors, but you would be wrong. He makes the effort. He is a friend to even people he is not friends with. He reaches out to people when they need him, even before they can ask. I believe he gets that from his father, who remains one of the industry’s best loved persons. KJo is the guy who has everything — fame, success, wealth, friends… Yet, when I ask him how often he is happy, he says, “Very rarely.” Over coffee from Costa, we chat about everything from his plans for his production house Dharma to his thoughts on karma. Read on…

You are having more fun in your 40s than in your 30s, or so it seems. True?

The 30s were initially tough for me. I lost my dad when I was 32, so it took me five-six years to find my feet. I had this big dream that I had to make my company go beyond my own name. I wanted Dharma Productions to resonate as a brand and that was definitely happening, but not to the extent I wanted it to.

Was that always the plan? I thought you always just wanted to direct.

When I lost my dad the first thought was, ‘Maybe I should just direct for outside productions and shut our own production company.’ I didn’t know how to handle finance and funds. I had been so mollycoddled and sheltered by dad, who took care of everything. But I think we have the inherent resilience in us that we don’t credit ourselves enough for. I think my upbringing was strong enough. I still remember the moment, four days after dad passed away I was in my office and a man walked in and said, ‘I am your chartered accountant.’ We had not met and I realised how little I knew about the running of this office.

What made you change your mind about shutting shop?

(After a long pause) Let me tell you something… I haven’t said this to anyone before… It’s very strange that you brought it up but there was a gentleman whose name I won’t mention, who was a very dear friend of my father, a very very wellknown man. This respected gentleman called me and said “Can I come and meet you?” He is senior, so I said I would go see him but he said, ‘l need to come.’ He came. He handed over a letter that my dad had left for me. He said “Karan, this is not emotional, this is practical and pragmatic.” It was an emotional letter but had all the details about what I needed to do in terms of monies, the account numbers, people I should trust, people I should not trust. People who I should let go of within the organisation, people who I should get in touch with, etc. That letter became my Bible and eventually Apoorva’s (Mehta, his childhood friend and CEO) Bible and we kind of lived by it for the next few years. That’s something that I didn’t even tell my mother because I knew she would read it and get completely emotional. After reading that letter, I realised that my father actually had a vision for this company and I decided that no matter what, I will fulfil his dream.

And you produced your first film…

Yes, with Kaal, which we had planned when my father was alive. I was all set to shelve it but I told Apoorva, ‘Let’s make it. Let’s learn from our mistakes, it’s a small film, let’s go with it.” We made many mistakes with the production of that film — not putting aside how bad the film was.

Creatively, of course, it was a terrible film. But I went with it, only because I said, ‘Let me make my mistakes in this one and then the ambition grew. I wanted to make this company the production house of this country.

Because the last line of dad’s letter got to me. It said: ‘I am sure you will make Dharma Productions and I am leaving it in the best hands ever’.

And he ended it with ‘I love you more than you know.’ I still have that

letter with me. It’s my only religion, the only religious text I have. It’s my Hanuman Chalisa, it’s my Bhagvad Gita, it’s my father’s blessing, it’s everything. That’s why I stand tall today. No matter what obstacle, he’s the only man I talk to.

You don’t talk to God? There is no God I go to. I stopped everything after dad passed away. I don’t go to any temple anymore because six months before that, (when his dad was unwell) you are so weak and vulnerable that you listen to everyone and do everything from feeding cows to chanting mantras to doing pujas, to visiting every temple, and meeting every possible spiritual consultant in the world. I did everything but nothing worked because the one who has to go, will go.

So what do you believe in?

I believe in this Universe, I believe in energy, and above all I believe in humanity, that is my religion. I am good to my loved ones, great to people who I work with. I am wonderful with the biggest love of my life — my mother — and I feel I do the right and the fair thing and that’s my religion. I don’t oppose your faith. Please don’t impose yours on me either, that’s my principle. I found a great amount of resonance in PK. I was like ‘Well done’ because someone is saying it on a larger scale. I have no problem with people who do it but I don’t do it, puja-paat. Do you know I walked into my new house on April 9, I chose the date on my own. I believe in the astrology of signs. I believe that there is a right time for something. I consult a lady called Lizia for numerology. I asked her which date and time I should enter the house and we moved in that day.

There was no puja. On 18, 2 States released and it was a big hit and that was my sign. It’s a great house, and it has a great vibe. I don’t need to do a havan or a puja to make myself happy in that home. Home is where your heart is and if your heart is pure and clean, there is no environment that will not be clean.

So are sort of an atheist?

I gave up religion a long time ago. But I am not an atheist.

I am somewhere trying to find my feet. I don’t understand spirituality. I don’t know what these words like ‘energy’ and ‘karma’, that are being constantly thrown at us, mean.

When people say I am a spiritual person, they don’t even know what they are talking about. I have nothing against all the human gurus that exist, but dude! Nobody can teach me how to live my life. I have a good mother. I mean, I am really sorry, I have no problem with your faith, but all this seems like a big sham to me.

So coming back to the question.

Are you enjoying your 40s more?

I am not having more fun, I am a lot more liberated now than I was in my 30s. I was carrying the baggage of responsibility. Today, I am living up to the responsibility. When I turned 40, I threw the biggest party. I said: I ain’t getting married, so I will have something like a wedding party. I will have a red carpet and I am going to call the industry that I grew up in, and the industry that has given me so much love, so I threw this big bash. I wore a Tom Ford suit — my favourite designer — and I posed with my mother before that when I went inside and I felt like right out of the Great Gatsby on my head. I was really excited about my own 40th birthday. This is the closest that can be to a wedding reception, so I said to people, ‘Come and give me expensive presents, because I have spent so much money on so many people’s weddings and birthdays. (laughs) Half the money I spent on their weddings has gone into alimony. It’s such a waste, I have stopped giving wedding presents to people. I’ll see if they last otherwise why I should contribute to their alimony?

Any films of 2014 that you wish you had produced/directed?

None. Happy with what I saw. Like I loved, loved, loved Queen. Enjoyed PK thoroughly, big fan of Raju Hirani, loved so much of Haider. But no film that I felt like, I actually don’t get that feeling when I see other people’s films because when I see a great film invariably it’s a film that I can’t make that’s why I find it greater.

Why couldn’t you have produced PK? Oh, I would have loved to produce, of course. I’ll do anything to have Rajkumar Hirani’s name in my repertoire, as a producer. I love him. I think he is possibly the country’s

finest. But I am happy he did it for Vinod Chopra. His loyalty and allegiance to the production house is something I respect tremendously. Also, that’s the one thing I expect from the kids I have launched as directors.

Do you expect people –— actors and directors — who you launched to only work with you?

Sometimes I do, but I realise that expectation is something that I have grown to kind of, what do I say about expectations.. they only lead to disappointments, so I have learned not to expect anything from anyone.

You must have a contract that restricts them to doing their initial few projects with your production, right?

I have a three-film contract with the actors and directors, but if tomorrow somebody doesn’t want to, I’ll never stop them. I don’t have expectations from anyone.

I gave that up. I service all my relationships, but I don’t expect that back. That to me is spirituality. I feel more spiritual because over the years I have mastered the art of expecting nothing from anyone because I think everyone is here for themselves and there is nothing wrong with that. It’s their life… Sometimes if they feel there is a better opportunity elsewhere they take it. Who will stand by me, who will not, time will tell. Right now, I am not cynical or cryptic, I am just a little more real about the level of loyalty in relationships. I am also a little wary. Though I try very hard to protect my emotions — because I realise eventually I am too sensitive, almost hyper sensitive, always fragile and I don’t want to be that because to be 42 years old and fragile is just not the way to be…

You are what you are…

Having said that, the flip side of me is that I am always there for people. I don’t think I am capable of letting down a human being and I say that with a lot of strength and a lot of assurance. The only thing I am adamant about is my character because I think I am capable of standing tall, I am capable of delivering on an emotional level, but I am not sure about people. I am not strategic about relationships. How do you strategise relationships and then those relationships will never last anyway if they are a result of strategy.

In recent years you have become friends with Aamir Khan…

Yes, Aamir is the last person I got close to and we had a chat and I told Aamir, ‘I picked up the vibe that you don’t like me.’ I feel in my life that’s rare because I am more or less liked. You can not know me but not liking me is an

extreme reaction to have about me unless we have had a professional issue. If you don’t like my kind of cinema, I don’t have any problem with that. My thing is: If you don’t like my cinema I can’t hate you, its your opinion and you are a cinegoer and you have the right. I am a filmmaker and I don’t like a lot of my work, dude so it doesn’t matter what others think, I’ll pinpoint my own fault and tell you ‘isme yeh galat thi, isme woh galat hai.’ I remember Rensil (D’Silva) said to me, ‘Anurag is the right choice for dialogue but unfortunately you hate him.’ I was like, ‘I don’t hate him. He had a problem with me, I retaliated back in print. That’s it.’ I said, ‘If you think he is right, please call him.’ Anurag was shocked. He asked me, ‘You want to work with me?’ I said ‘Ya, I have no problem, you are great for the job.’ You don’t like my movies, you can’t really hate me, right? I loved Dev D, I absolutely loved Black Friday, I love Anurag’s work and then he grew to develop an equation with me down to directing me. Then he said, ‘I was wrong about you.’

Do most people get you wrong?

To be very honest, my projection is sometimes a result of my talk show. You know they think I am this fancy, high society, snooty person, I am none of those things. That’s the talk show. You bring on a certain sense of humour, a certain level of irreverence. Your character is not defined like that. At the end of the day there is lot more that I can offer. There’s a lot more to me than what is being projected on television. Like Karan Malhotra, director of Agneepath, when he came to meet me, he thought that I would reject him. Later on, when we got close he told me, ‘I thought you will reject me because I don’t wear nice clothes.’ And I was like, ‘What kind of a monster do you think I am? I am like not at all. Yes, you don’t dress very well, but that doesn’t mean anything.’

How did that rumour start?

I think it’s because of Nikhil Advani, when he first came to meet me, he was wearing a cotton kurta. I said, ‘You are making a commercial film, you can’t wear a kurta and come, this vibe has to go. You are making Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and not some parallel cinema, so please wear a shirt. I don’t want my first AD to look like he has jhola company vibe.’

At the AIB roast, that you hosted recently there were many jokes on your orientation. Was that your way of coming out?

I am certainly not answering this question, with a validation. See, there is a lot of conjecture about my sexuality and I have no problems about what people conjecture. I will never speak about my personal life. Whether I am heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual or asexual is not something I choose to talk about. Twitter is full of nonsense about my orientation. I get all kinds of hate tweets, love tweets, blasphemous tweets, objectionable, and controversial tweets, and that is what the AIB roast was all about.

Obviously, the tweets come from people’s impression and perception of me, I have no problem with that. I can take a joke on myself. I would never insult somebody else, but if somebody chooses to kind of make a joke, I don’t think it is insulting. It’s the kind of level of humour that the show has. Would I do the same to somebody else? Perhaps not, but I can take it in my stride, I have no problem. I never ever blow up about it. There were so many funny things, so I will laugh, of course…

Anyone else in your position would not have allowed it.

That you did is pretty cool.

I take my relationships seriously, I don’t take my status seriously and that is something I say with conviction. I take my work very seriously. If somebody is insulting to me about my work, my film, I will be horrified. You can make jokes about it, but if someone seriously attacks my work or my achievements, I will not allow it. Someone attacks my family, I will not allow that. Somebody attacks a relationship of mine that is intense, attacks it viciously and vindictively, I will not stand for it. As for your perception of my orientation or my personality, go ahead and do it. I am a public figure, I am open to this kind of chatter.

What was your reaction when Ranveer Singh planted his lips on yours?

I was shocked because I wasn’t expecting it and I was like, ‘Oh My God and I was like did that just happen in front of 4,000 people!’ Then I realised that Ranveer’s reputation precedes him. So, I said to myself this is another mad thing he has done. I had no problem, but I just wish

he had warned me so I probably would not have been as shocked. But to his credit he had mentioned that he was going to kiss me, but I thought he was joking. I thought who is going to go through with it. Later I realised Ranveer Singh is mad enough to go through with it.

That’s true but his madness is real. Not an act.

I think the word for him is unabashed and unapologetic, I’d like to one day meet Ranveer on a calm mode, I wonder how that Ranveer will be.

What was your mom’s reaction, who was sitting in the front row?

Silence. We haven’t discussed it. It’s like the day never happened. It came, it went, it did not conquer.

Do you regret hosting the show in hindsight?

No, I don’t live a life of regret. There is a thought behind everything I do. Impulse is something that comes with my instinct so my instinct is my impulse. I don’t regret a single film I made, or a single relationship — even if it’s broken.

Regret is not part of my dictionary. I don’t regret anything because you could go right and wrong. If you go back in time, would I do it differently? I don’t know. But today I don’t regret it. I have been told a lot of things, there is a flip side to that. Many people had advised me don’t do Koffee With Karan..

Aditya Chopra was one..

I don’t want to mention names, but there were a lot of people who said don’t do that or do this. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t, and it’s life and my instinct and I go with it. I am not somebody who is very opinion based. I don’t ask people for theirs.

Zayed Khan: I would go mad if I get Rs 100 crore!

The Main Hoon Na actor opens up about his deepest secrets. Watch video!

Zayed Khan’s upcoming film Sharafat Gayi Tel Lene is all set to hit the theatres next week and the actor is all out and about promoting this. In a quick video chat, he opened up to his fans about some of the things that he had never spoken of. In just seven questions, he talks about everything from selfies to Rs 100 crore and from his most embarrassing moment in life to joining Twitter of late. Excerpts…

How often do you click selfies?

Of late I have started clicking a lot because I feel that a person expresses his deepest feelings in them.

What was the funniest moment while shooting Sharafat Gayi Tel Lene?

More than funny it was very embarrassing as well. It so happened that in the movie there is a sequence where I have to run with big bags filled with money inside a shopping mall.

We had taken permission for the shoot but the shoot got extended. The guards didn’t know about that and when I was running inside the mall with big bags, the guards came and stopped me thinking that I was carrying some sort of bomb or weaponry. The whole unit had to come out and tell them that it was just a film shoot and that’s when they let me go. It was very embarrassing because I have never had such a moment in any shopping mall ever.

What would you do if you get Rs 100 crore?

OMG! Thats a tough one. I don’t know what I’ll do with that.

I guess I will do a lot of things. Don’t exactly know what all.

I don’t know what to do with that much money, that’s why I don’t get that much money in real life. Now that this thought has been put in my mind, I will constantly keep thinking about it. Maybe I will go mad if I get that much money.

I

n an interview, the Alone actress clears rumours of her camaraderie with KSG, opening up on whether he’s the new man in her life.

Bipasha Basu enjoys the “like-minded” company of actor Karan Singh Grover, who has made his Bollywood debut alongside her in Alone. She says that just because their “togetherness” is being interpreted otherwise, she won’t stop going out with him.

Excerpts: Are you and Karan Singh Grover together, or is it just a marketing strategy?

We are together, because we are promoting our film Alone together. Since our film is coming out we have no choice

but to go for its promotion together.

So it is a marketing strategy?

If you want to call it that, then yes, that is the strategy to it…if you do a film together, you’ve to promote it together.

Having said that, we’ve been bonding really well during the course of the film. Whether it is going out for a movie, or out for dinner with a group of friends.

But the perception being created is that he is the new man in your life?

I won’t stop socialising with him because of that. I’ve a bunch of friends and Karan is one of them. I am not into strategies. Karan and I are like-minded people, and we get along really well. I’ve taken home two friendships from

I won’t stop socialising with Karan Singh Grover “Bipasha Basu”

the sets of Alone, Karan and my director Bhushan Patel.

Karan, Bhushan and I do a lot of nights outs together.

Luckily, we aren’t photographed every time we step out.

Bhushan’s place in my social circle is not talked about.

Alone looks like a very sexy film?

It’s exciting and inviting and enticing. I saw the rough cut of the film without the special effects and it scared the hell out of me. It’s an emotionally intense triangular love story among two women and one man. The twist in the tale is that one of the two women is dead.

Happy with the results?

I must say I got scared seeing myself on screen. And mind you,there were no special effects. I still got scared.

Alone has released along with a bunch of other films. Is that a good strategy?

The buzz about our film is positive. And really, we can’t get a clear window in today’s day and age. So just believe in your film and go right ahead and release it.

You are the hero in your past few films?

No, I am not. In “Creature”, the creature was the hero. In “Alone”, it’s the conjoined twins that is the USP. In fact, I should’ve been paid double for “Alone” because I’ve done two roles.

This is not your first double role?

No, I had fun double roles in “Dhoom” and “All The Best”.

In the latter, I was never supposed to play the African girl at the end. On an impulse, I did the other role. “Alone” is my first real double role.

Was this your toughest role?

No, every film comes with its own challenge.

How are you positioned in your life right now?

Very comfortably. I am very happy, very calm. I am just focusing on my happiness. That won’t stop. I definitely use this platform as an actor that I’ve been gifted with along with the love of happiness, to influence people into physical fitness. And if I don’t follow my own principles of a good life, then you can’t be taken seriously.

So what’s your magic mantra for survival?

It’s very simple, really. When you’re happy you’re always going to look better and your skin will glow.

When you look into the mirror what do you see?

A crazy drama queen. I think I bring a lot of joy in people’s lives.

Vidya Balan: Mohit Suri did not ask me to lose weight for Humari Adhuri Kahaani Vidya on her films, her reasons for doing ‘meaty roles’ and not preferring the Khans over newcomers Vidya Balan is taking it easy for some time. Her last three releases were not hits at the box-office. But the actress, who had a patch of poor health — not pregnancy — to blame for a long absence from films, is looking at a return from that break positively. She’s got one film coming up — Humari Adhuri Kahaani and other scripts she’s looking at (“They’re all relationship stories”, she says). Currently out of the country, she finds time to reply to some of our questions…

Humari Adhuri Kahaani was delayed, while you opted out of Sujoy Ghosh’s film. Was it the only one you opted out of?

Yeah, but I had told Bhattsaab the same. I told him I won’t be able to do the film. But what happened with HAK is because of Emraan’s son’s health, the film got pushed to the end of the year. Bhattsaab said that there was enough time for me to still do the film. If it was getting pushed anyway, then I said I’d do it. But I never wanted them to wait for me and delay the film. We ended up starting in September.

But I would have had to opt out of that film had it started in April.

Mohit had clearly said that he would not have made the film without you…

I didn’t expect that from anyone, as a matter of fact. But Bhattsaab and Mohit were very clear and they had told me this, ‘If you are not doing the film, the film is not happening’. The film got pushed, so I was able to do it. Bhattsaab is someone who I wanted to work with forever. He has been one of those few directors whose work I really enjoy.

But he stopped directing even before I joined films. So this is just another way of me getting to work with him.

You have two heroes in the film – one is a commercial actor, the other an unconventional star. How different was it on the sets?

Not really. Rajkummar and I are working for the first time and he is an extremely exciting actor. All I can say is that he’s an actor who is unafraid to look into his co-star’s eyes while acting and I enjoy that. Very rarely do you come across actors like that.

What is HAK all about?

For me, it is an intense love story. A love story that I have been dying to do ever since Parineeta. It is the story that interested me and I hope people like the film because it is something that people have not seen me doing for the longest time. It has been a revelation for me as well. It is the strength of the role, the story. The fact that it’s been written by Bhatt saab and directed by Mohit made me say yes.

Is HAK a love triangle?

Parineeta too was like a love triangle but not a triangle in that sense. But every love story has a triangle in it. That’s all I will say.

Did you lose weight for the film?

Surprisingly, Mohit never asked me to. We never had any such discussions. I also read it somewhere and I was like, ‘Okay, when did this happen?’ If he had asked me to, I would have not minded it. I like to change my appearance for every film. But he did not ask me. That’s the truth.

Tell us something about your character.

I can’t tell you much now. But yes, I play a florist who works in a five-star hotel and (pauses) the fragrance of love fills up her life!

Has the film wrapped up?

Almost. It releases this June.

Have you signed anything after HAK? I am still reading scripts. I haven’t decided which ones to say yes to. I’ll decide soon, though.

Previously, you always said that a film with SRK, Salman or Aamir looked difficult because of the length and strength of the role of the heroine. Do you think you can take that risk now?

It is not difficult for me to say yes to a film with them. A script has to have enough meat for me to be a part of the film. I am happy to be cast opposite anyone. The actor can be the icing on the cake but they can’t be the reason I take up a film. If there’s a good script coming my way which stars any of the Khans, then fine. Else maybe not.

John Abraham would give his right arm to work with me “Mahesh Bhatt” Mahesh Bhatt on the importance of introducing newcomers and the need to keep away from established actors Indefatigable in his quest for new talent, Mahesh Bhatt continues to give the industry fresh faces both on screen and behind the camera. His latest offering Khamoshiyaan has relative newcomers Ali Fazal, Sapna Pabbi and TV actor Gurmeet Choudhary making his film debut. The film is directed by yet another debutant Karan Darra. Here, he talks about his upcoming film, the need to work with newcomers, cinema of today and what is missing. Excerpts…

Your film has got an ‘A’ certificate. Are you okay with it?

Actually, I am very happy that we have finally come of age. There was a time when films were given ‘A’ certificate, and mutilated. I used to feel very bad about how disrespectful we are as a nation to adults who we feel are not capable of seeing the kind of content we make in Hindi cinema. In this age of Internet, the content that individuals can access is far more shocking and mindboggling compared to what we can put on screen. In such an age, our cinema is far behind. We have a censor code and we can only go so far, and not beyond the prescribed limit. I appreciate the efforts by CBFC keeping in time with changing values. In the last 10 years, more changes have taken place than 3000 years ago.

Won’t the certificate affect the selling of satellite rights?

No, because there is a separate toned- down version for TV, just like the way airlines have a modified version because all age groups are there. Images and sounds not ideal for universal consumption are deleted and made suitable for wholesome consumption.

Tell us about the casting.

The credit goes to Karan Darra. He saw Sapna Pabbi in 24 when he was recuperating from dengue in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital. He liked her and wanted to cast her. Even Ali (Fazal) was his idea in fact he insisted that we cast him. The youthful look of the film is because of him. Gurmeet (Choudhary) was recommended by Mukesh Bhatt’s wife, who is an avid TV viewer.

Khamoshiyaan is an erotic thriller…

I would like to believe it is the reinvention of the same idiom that we discovered in the 21st century with Raaz.

However, instead of a man in the centre with two women, here there’s a woman with two men. It’s a triangular drama with some sprinkling of the supernatural. Somebody aptly described the film as a supernatural and love story movie side-by-side, a difficult feat for a writer-director to achieve.

The film is essentially the story of an author who goes in search of his next book, stumbles upon a woman with complications and a paranormal relationship.

What is it about newcomers that attracts you?

I prefer to work with newcomers because of their zeal and enthusiasm. We talk about new people and yet work with the old ones. We need to be brave and dare to work with fresher talent. Otherwise, your quest for safety and security makes you repetitive. You are like a frog stuck in a little cesspool.

You rarely work even with the ones you have introduced and are established…

That’s because I am always looking for new people and my commitment to them is absolute. Old people come back to work with us but we don’t lean on them. That can have a crippling impact. You launch a new person, and he/she becomes a star because of the overwhelming support and it can become a dicey situation for your own psychological and economic safety. That’s where your own fire to find people starts diminishing.

You must be proud of the people you’ve introduced…

Yes. Everyone from Anupam Kher, Nadeem Shravan, Mohit Suri, Vikram Bhatt, Anurag Basu, Bipasha Basu, Pooja Bhatt, the list is endless. Besides, there are innumerable technicians like Saeed Qadri, singers Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam. But they become stars because of what they have inherently. My company helps them flower.

Do actors you’ve introduced want to work with you again?

Yes, John (Abraham) keeps sending me messages that he would give his right arm to work with me after Jism. Ajay (Devgn) and I did an exceptional film (Zakhm). He, too, messages me. That is their way of expressing affection, but it doesn’t mean I should land up at their doorstep the next day and say, ‘Let’s do a film!’.

Music’s been a hallmark of your films…

I learnt this from my boss Raj Khosla. An Indian film with great music has more chances of sailing home to safety.

I feel this is a lesson we learnt very early in the 90s with Aashiqui. Ever since then, we have been adhering to this formula, though it’s very difficult. Now, music comes from various sources instead of one person. It’s a collective view of a song. Music is a good precursor for a film. For instance, there is awareness of Khamoshiyaan. It is going to open well and with the kind of mathematics we have, it will romp home by the weekend.

Your take on the new generation of actors?

They have a superior understanding and are more cinemaliterate. Performances are exceptional. They are head and shoulders above the previous generations. But it takes time to groom people and nudge them to their own potential.

Will we ever see you directing a film again?

No, I am doing this job with great excitement. It is com-

forting and fulfilling to create destinies rather than films because movies have a shelf life. Human lives touch other human lives. I am taking a balcony view and playing a far more challenging job than merely directing.

Among the newbies, see anyone with the passion that you had?

I don’t think you should humiliate the present generation by the yardstick of yesterday. We were the by-products of that time. There are young filmmakers who are very passionate and creating their own idioms. I look forward to Mohit Suri’s Hamaari Adhuri Kahaani.

Your thoughts about the subjects being made today, considering you made films that were ahead of their time?

Well, I don’t see that kind of human drama exploring the heart in all its complexities in the times we live in. There is an urgent need to return to that and I am glad I have done that with Hamaari Adhuri Kahaani, which I have written.

Your thoughts on Alia Bhatt…

Alia is in the driving seat. She is self-made and created her own brand. She is a self-sufficient girl of today, a star in her own right. I am proud of what she has achieved without her father’s help. She is really a chip of the old block!

What was your reaction to Pooja Bhatt separating from her husband Manish Makhija?

She is the captain of her fate. It’s her life. She decides I stand by her decision.

Sarika Haasan: Akshara Haasan couldn’t have had a better debut than Amitabh BachchanDhanush’s Shamitabh!

The actress talks about her daughter’s debut film and more…

My first meeting with Sarika at the Taj Lands End turned out to be quite a revelation! From whatever I have heard about her, I expected the veteran actress to duck a few questions. Instead, I was greeted by a down-to-earth, charming and a cheerful lady! She answered all my questions (even the tricky ones). Here the veteran actress talks about why she doesn’t work in films and also about her younger daughter Akshara Haasan’s upcoming debut. Read on…

Akshara is making her big debut this year with R Balki’s Shamitabh. What are you expecting from this film as her mother?

I think it’s bad to have expectations. I believe expectations come with a lot of pressure and that’s not cool. On the other hand, with R Balki at the top of this project, I am assured that everything in this film will be good, and great quality cinema-wise. People may or may not like the film, that will be their personal choice, but I am assured that Akshara couldn’t have had a better debut.

Go on…

You have seen Balki. He is not one of those run-of-the-mill filmmakers who will make just about anything. He makes quality cinema and that’s why stalwarts agree to be a part of his projects. That’s also why all his films have been superhit in the past and been loved by critics as well.

So you believe that he is the best launch pad for your daughter….

Not just for Akshara. For any actor, Balki is the director for any actor. Period! Also when it’s your launch pad, it doubly increases your security as an actor. You know that you are in safe hands.

The films stars Amitabh Bachchan and Dhanush in the lead roles. Don’t you think Akshara would have to stand very tall in order to match their acting talent? Won’t it be something too big to aim for in her debut film?

Balki, Bachchan, Dhanush, Ilayaraja and many such stalwarts are in this project. It was like Akshara going to a college. I can’t put it in any other way. They are all teachers and you can’t ask for better teachers. Now that the courses have finished, the results will be out soon and everyone will get to know how well she has fared in the exam.

You have worked with Amitabh Bachchan in the past and also recently in Yudh. How was your experience with him?

To be very honest, Mr Bachchan is very rocky. The reason I say this is because of his filmography. Look at his work.

He has done practically everything in a lifetime. I don’t know which other actor would have done roles as varied as Mr Bachchan has done. I would really like to do the kind of work that he is doing, when I am his age.

You have shifted to being a character artist these days.

As an actor does that change happen naturally?

My last release was Club 60, and I had a perfectly leading lady angle in that film. I had a romantic angle with Farooque Sheikh. So you can’t say that was a character role.

What basically has to be understood is that the role should be good. Else, I wouldn’t want to waste my time working in projects that I know may not see the light of the day.

So you are saying you have not become choosy in picking up roles?

I believe filmmakers need to start writing more and more roles for actors and less for characters. In a general scenario we have roles written for hero, heroine, villain, item girl, etc. But ideally it should be written for the actors. If you have seen Rajat Kapoor’s last film Ankhon Dekhi, that was a film written for actors. Even Club 60 was written for actors and that’s why I chose to be a part of it. When this happens in our film industry, the actors start flourishing and that helps them better the quality of acting that they do.

Do you think your daughters are also getting victimised by this? Because most of the roles that they pick up are character-driven and not actor-driven?

Let’s not jump the gun with Akshara right now. You will have to see Shamitabh to know what has been written for her as an actor. I can’t say that in future she wouldn’t give

in to the craze of character driven roles, but we can’t say that now.

And what about Shruti Haasan?

Shruti has taken her decisions and those seem to have worked for her brilliantly. As long as it works for her there is no harm. She has already proved her mettle as she is an established actor. Let’s get all our focus towards Akshara now.

You have been part of TV. Do you think it’s not as good a medium as films? Would you suggest TV to your daughters?

See as an actor my basic need is to perform. If the role that I have been offered, I feel that the actor in me can do well, then I would definitely do it. Now whether that is shown on TV or on the big screen doesn’t really matter.

However it is imperative to check fully before you sign any project as many a time a project starts with great intentions but doesn’t see the light of the day. That hurts an actor. That’s why it is very important to see if the producers are good and if the director is capable enough of steering the film in the right direction. At the end, more than the money, it’s the recognition that an actor gets is what matters to him/her. The medium is just secondary.

You reportedly hold Akshara back from going out and having boyfriends and make sure that she spends most of her time shooting and working for her film. How true is that?

No. Never have I done anything of that sort.

What other future projects are you working on?

I am reading a lot of scripts these days. Whenever there is something I find interesting to do, I will sign it then and there.

“I am in a complicated relationship” Kushal Punjabi

The actor has progressed from acting to script writing, choreographing and more for his upcoming film Crazy Cukkad Family

Kushal comes across as a positive actor, who knows how to take rejection in his stride. He is someone who is extremely restless and needs to do several things at a time. The actor claims that he is okay not being a master at one trade as long as he gets to be a jack of several. BollywoodLife caught up with Kushal Punjabi to find out more about his new film, his journey on television and Bollywood, camps in telly town, the lowest point in his career, his previous break up, the new found love and more. Read excerpts from the interview…

Your last film came out in 2007, what took you so long to come back to the movies?

I don’t have a Godfather in the Bollywood industry. I came in at a very early age and didn’t know how the industry really works. I hold myself responsible for making certain mistakes in my film career. It’s not so much as the films but the roles that I did. I have worked with UTV, Dharma Productions and Excel Entertainment – which are some of the dream production houses to work with. I always thought the better actor you are the better roles you get and one day you will land up in a leading role. I loved my role in Lakshya – it was a cameo, I loved my role in Goal although it was chopped, but none of it was ever a lead. I was never approached for a parallel lead or negative leads. And the ones I got the offers for were just not good enough.

So how did Crazy Cukkad Family happen?

Well I have written the story. I am a very restless soul; I just couldn’t sit at home. That’s when I began writing this story about a crazy family. I never imagined it to be a film. I have a friend, who is a music composer, Suhash Shetty, who loved it. He said the story had potential. But both of us couldn’t do much with it because no one would take us seriously. Then we met Ritesh Menon, who was the assistant director to Santosh Sivan. He said the story is really nice and said that we could make it. So we wrote the script, characters and showed it to two producers. They loved

the script but asked for a little time. Then I went to France for a shoot and I got this call from Ritesh saying that Prakash Jha has loved it and has agreed to produce. The movie was first calledParivaar Times and then finally Crazy Cukkad Family.

So how long did this whole process take?

Actually, ever since Prakashji came on board it went very fast. The story idea, however, was eight years old. We worked on a few more drafts to fit the commercial aspect of the film.

This is the first time I got to work behind the camera. I was assisting in direction, productions, story and scripting – I got to learn a lot.

Someone asked me at that time; why I did not cast myself in a hero-heroine film? Now that I know the dynamics of what goes into making movies, I would not cast me as a hero because it is not economically viable. When I say me, I mean anyone with a non-filmy background. Maybe the next film I’ll cast myself.

What are your expectations with the film?

It’s going to do very well with the family crowd; fortunately India has a lot of those. It’s a comedy film with very emotional shades.

Don’t you think by releasing your film this week, you openly challenged films like Aloneand I?

Of course there will be competition. But I think we will go very well with word of mouth. Alone will keep the children and older generation away from the screens. We cater to almost every one. Comedy is a drastic feature unlike horror, the audiences for horror are fixed, and I will be seeing it. Crazy Cukkad Family is a film you will not go alone to watch.

Now that you’ve got the taste of being behind the camera, will you ever consider switching from acting completely?

I have done lots of jobs in my life but acting completes me. Acting will always be around, I love writing and ideating it is a part of me that I wish to keep exploring.

Will you ever consider going back to doing just television?

I think I’ve had my fill of daily soaps and TV. For now I wish to focus on either miniseries or weekend shows, if available. It is easy for me to do daily soaps and tell myself that I should join the bandwagon for the sake of money and exposure. In the past as well, I have never over exposed myself. I never let the character overtake my real name. Everything is in moderation. I also teach adventure sports and scuba diving. I do a lot of things because you get only one life.

However, I have great respect for TV and the work I have done.

It’s a very mixed bag of actors in Crazy Cukkad Family. How was it shooting with such a dysfunctional family?

When we started the casting process, we thought a lot. We decided to go the unconventional way, but didn’t have a big budget to play around with. It started with Rs 2 crore and went up to Rs 3 crore. Eventually everyone who came on board just created magic. We didn’t know how it would turn out, but it was great.

Bollywood has camps; does television follow the same norm?

I do not know if there is a camp per say, but when you work with a production house and team you automatically bond with them depending on how the TRP goes. It is relationship based; they like to work with you again and again. How

ever, I have never been a part of any camp, although I have worked with Ekta Kapoor on one or two shows and even though she has been a friend before she started her career, it was never a camp and Ekta has never favoured me.

Who are your closest friends in the industry?

Chetan Hansraj is a very dear friend. I am great friends with Nivedita Basu, Karan V Grover, Simran Mundi etc…

What next after Crazy Cukkad Family?

I am doing an Indo-French movie; the shoot will start in a few months. It is called Love is Everywhere. I am playing the lead and it is being shot in New York, Paris, Genève, Dubai, Abu Dhabi. This just happened; I didn’t even audition for it.

If not an actor, what would you be?

I think I would have been a pilot or anyone in uniform.

Who according to you is the reigning star in Television?

In Television I would say Ronit Roy among the men and Sakshi Tanwar among the women. I do not know much about the others.

That I have a lot of attitude and starry attitude. I am nothing like that.

What was the highest point of your career?

I had heard once that I was apparently gay.

I think I am yet to achieve that feat.

What was the lowest point in your career?

One rumour about you that made you laugh?

Describe your perfect date.

I think it was me realising the mistakes I made in the first run. It was a low point and then it gave me the energy to pick myself up again and try.

My perfect date would be a bike ride just across Amby Valley where they serve great breakfast. And then go for a swim. My ideas of dates are also adventurous. On my first anniversary, I had thought we’d go on a Himalayan trek

What are you obsessed about?

So did you do it?

I am obsessed about travel, adventure sports and dancing.

What turns you on and off in women?

I get turned off by overly feminist behaviour in women.

Someone who misuses women empowerment to their benefit really puts me off. I like girls who are intelligent, who love to explore, who can dance and are opinionated.

Tell us one thing you will never do onscreen.

I will never harm animals onscreen even if the script demands it. I do not want to endorse it.

One criticism about you that you couldn’t digest.

We never lasted for a year.

Are you seeing anyone right now?

I am in a complicated relationship. So I can’t say yes or no. I am seeing someone; she doesn’t live here. She is not Indian.

One secret about you that no one knows.

I am spiritual but I’m not religious at all.

One movie genre you like and your favourite movie.

I like horror movies – Exorcist and The Ring are a two of my favourites.

Ranveer Singh Body Workout and Diet for Ramleela

While watching a movie, have you ever imagined yourself in place of lead characters? Have you ever noticed celebrity’s well shaped body? Do you feel ashamed of your shabby figure publicly? Have you ever wished to drastically change the way you look? Moreover, have you ever put single effort to achieve fitness? There are countless questions, which pop up into mind regarding fitness.

Compromising with calories intake is not sufficient to ensure muscle preservation and losing fat. It is only half of the total effort. In fact, fitness demands workout and continuous hard practice and sweltering. Not even the high net worth celebrities were born with those wizards of magical world, who would shape their body as they desired with their wands. Achieving the fitness and toned bodylike top celebrities has never been that easy. It is like a long bumpy road that is difficult to wander.

Ranveer Singh, the new sensation of B-town, has walked those extra miles for his upcoming movie Ramleela. Although Ranveer is known as the bad boy of Bollywood, girls are dying for this bad boy who has now turned into a killer boy. This is all due to his steel avatar that he has achieved by burning the midnight oil. A big bevy of beauties wants to feel Ranveer’s ripped muscular body, his biceps and six pack abs.

Men’s health – India’s largest selling men’s magazine has introduced Ranveer as a steel man. In the magazine’s December issue, you can enjoy a glimpse of his hot body at the cover page itself. The magazine has shown his whole journey from a beach boy body of Band-Baja-Barat to a muscular six abs man of Ram-

leela. After the blue-eyes Bollywood sensation, Hrithik Roshan, the magazine has now broken the story of this young and most recent B-town sensation.

Do you think that was easy for this Maverick Bollywood star?

Transforming a beach body into a toned hottie? To achieve a body like this, Ranveer made numerous changes to his diet and lifestyle. Undoubtedly, anyone can achieve the same level of fitness as Ranveer has achieved. All you need is determination, hard-work and thick skinned. Want to know the whole story of Ranveer’s body transformation? Let’s read further.

Ranveer Singh Workout Routine

It is extremely difficult to acquire a six-pack. You need to put together weeks beforehand as well as two or three days, before the shoot, you’ve to considerably command the intake of meals and water. Ranveer had to undergo 3 months of functional training, which generally involves lots of free-hand exercises to strengthen the core.

The actual duration connected with his training was around 45 minutes which included a 10-minute warm-up process as well as a 20-minute workout using a break in between.

The important thing lies in doing everything at a rapid speed, High Intensity Training (HIT). The actual pattern bundled dips, thrusters, pushups, pull-ups as well as burpees. You should supply all your body strength in those 20 minutes. The training had been so physically demanding that he perhaps puked sometimes as well as following the regimen, he had to be able to sit upon his back for 5-10 minutes to be able to recoup from fatigue and pain.

Ranveer Singh Diet Plan

Every role demands different requirements regarding the character’s physique and appearance. The dieting plan plays an important role to cultivate that role. Hence, it can never ever be predetermined, although Ranveer had grilled eggs which had a minor salt and pepper.

Count of eggs depends on the demand of the role and body. Together with eggs, he had fresh fruits and some dry fruits too, specifically almonds. As per his meat consumption concerns, he opted either turkey or even poultry pieces. When he has to eat a lot more calories, he bakes a toast, a lot more walnuts, fresh fruits and also vegetable juice and many poultry pieces. Ranveer used to had fresh fruits which has a lower Glycemic Listing (GI), thus no watermelon and bananas. So, he ate apples, pears and also oranges. He tried hard to avoid carbohydrates and sugar.

Singh completely avoided eating grain, roti, loaf of bread, noodles and even pasta. Ranveer’s lunch and dinner included approximately 90 gm of lean meat, a bowl of vegetables and sprouts.

Lastly, I would like to wish good luck to Ranveer for his upcoming movies. Further, I would also suggest the readers that anyone can achieve that same fitness as Ranveer achieved. All you need is just passion, hard work and determination.

Please spread the words, if you enjoyed reading them.

7 Things You’re Doing Wrong To Your Skin.

Looking good is no child’s play, especially in today’s day and age where looks are of utmost importance. Sure, your genes play a huge role in your appearance, but a part of looking good comes with having a great skin. Now, there are a few daily habits that men practise, which might seem harmless, but can actually sabotage your skin. We take it on us to tell you what they’re so that all you get in the end is a skin that’s healthy and flawless.

1) Not using sunscreen

Believe it or not but research has shown that the number of men dying from skin cancer is more than women. Moreover, sun can also prematurely age you which is why it’s time you start using sunscreen rather diligently. Apply sunscreen daily with minimum SPF 15. If you’re an outdoor person, it’s recommended to apply sunscreen twice in a day.

2) Using high-end products for namesake

Contrary to the popular belief, high-end skincare products are not synonymous to great quality. A healthy skin comes from better habits and not better products. You must invest in a brand which you trustbasically something that you’ve tried and tested, of course accompanied with a lifestyle that’s healthy. There are a lot of mass-market brands like Garnier, Ponds, Dove and Clinique to reckon with.

3) Not paying attention to your skin type

Many of you might not be knowing this but there are 4-5 different kinds of skin types that you should be aware of.

It’s important especially in regards to which products you must or mustn’t use. It also makes sense because there are certain ingredients that will suit one skin type and not others. For example, salicylic acid suits oily skin and not dry skin. Know all about your skin type, here.

4) Avoiding oil for oily skin

Sebum is that agent that is secreted from your skin and is important for its natural lubrication. However, an over-production of Sebum causes oily skin. So, it may seem counterproductive to use oil/moisturizer on an already oily skin, but it is necessary. A moisturizer helps in keeping the surface of the skin supple and hydrated. In fact, more than hydrating your skin, the purpose of using a moisturiser for oily skin is about balancing and regulating the skin’s natural moisture.

5) Touching your face more often than not Constant touching and resting of your hands on cheeks during the course of the day will allow dirt, gunk and grime to settle on your skin. This further escalates to adult acne. Keeping your hands clean might help, but the truth is that your skin is always dirtier than it seems. It’s best that you avid touching your face altogether.

Self-treating your acne

For breakouts that are far and few in between, using over-the-counter products like Clindac-A Gel might help. But if you’re prone to zits, these medicines or gels won’t do any good. Skin is the largest organ of your body, and acne is a chronic skin disease. It, therefore, warrants a doctor or a dermatologist.

7) Over-exfoliation

Exfoliation is an important process of keeping your skin healthy. It can enhance the texture and complexion of your skin to a large extent by removing the dead skin cells, gunk and grime off your face. However, exfoliating more than twice a week or too much at a time can irritate and upset the balance of your skin. Your skin will dry out and in-turn will compensate by over-producing oil; which is a signal for acne and blemishes.

9 Best Foods to Eat for Healthy Eyes With many millions of people suffering from macular degeneration and cataracts, it’s well worth incorporating some of the foods that are good for your eyes into your daily diet. Since the eyes are vascular, it’s vital to stick to a healthy diet that is low in saturated and trans fat to maintain your eyes’ blood vessels healthy. Numerous studies show that protecting the eyes begins with the foods on a plate. Foods rich in lutein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and antioxidants help ward off most age-related vision problems including cataracts and macular degeneration. A few years ago I had problems with my eyes and I was unable to work in front of a computer screen or watch TV more than 20 minutes since my eyes became red and sore. My doctor helped me, and then he advised me to include these foods for healthy eyes in my everyday diet so that I could keep my eyes healthy on a daily basis. One of the best things about these foods is that they also improve digestion, boost my mood and energy, keep my skin healthy, and improve overall health. Enjoy learning about 9 best foods to eat to keep your eyes healthy and feel free to add to this list your favorite foods after reading through.

1. Carrots Sure, carrots top this list of the best foods to eat for healthy eyes. Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A and beta-carotene that promote overall eye health.

Vitamin A is crucial for the surface of the eyes and lids and beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant that helps protect the cells of the eyes from free radical damage.

Carrots don’t give you night vision, of course, but the beta-carotene will help lower your risk of both cataracts and macular degeneration.

Rich in fiber and potassium, carrots are also great for your overall health. Potassium helps to maintain a proper fluid balance in the body and fiber helps keep your digestive system functioning efficiently. Carrots are also high in falcarinol, a substance that can slow the cancer cell growth.

If you are trying to lose weight, load up your diet with carrots since they are extremely low in calories and they are almost fat-free. Plus, they are high in fiber that will keep you full longer and can even prevent you from overeating.

Munch on carrots when you are hungry. Serve carrot sticks with hummus or a low-calorie vegetable dip. I always add carrots to my healthy smoothies, salads, soups, stir-fry, and I make healthy carrots chips that my family, especially kids, enjoys eating instead of potato chips.

2. Salmon

Like any other oily fish, such as sardines, herring, mackerel and halibut, salmon is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for a good eye health. Eating salmon regularly reduces the risk of macular degeneration by 38% and helps treat dry eye disease. Salmon is also one of the best sources of vitamin D that helps improve your eye health, cardiovascular health and it plays a vital role in healthy bone growth. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a higher risk of cancer, heart disease, type-1 diabetes, sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Incorporate salmon into your eating plan to improve your vision as well as to prevent vitamin D deficiency. A can of salmon contains your day’s worth of this essential vitamin.

Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon also help reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol and slow and prevent the Alzheimer’s disease. It’s recommended to eat salmon at least twice a week. You can bake salmon for dinner, add salmon chunks to your salads, grill salmon, use raw salmon for sushi and sashimi, or eat smoked salmon with crackers. If you have trouble falling asleep, try eating salmon for dinner. Salmon is high in tryptophan, a natural sedative that will help you sleep better.

3. Leafy greens

Kale, spinach, chard, collards, and other dark leafy greens are packed with two potent antioxidants, zeaxanthin and lutein, which are stored in the macula. The macula is a small part of the retina that acts as an absolutely natural sunblock, protecting your eyes from harmful light. The antioxidants found in leafy greens absorb blue light that is

especially dangerous to the retina.

Moreover, they can help you get better contrast detection and improve your eyesight.

Many researches have found that zeaxanthin and lutein lower the risk of chronic eye diseases, such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

In fact, leafy greens are good for your overall health and they boast a plethora of amazing benefits. For instance, spinach is high in potassium, magnesium, folate, vitamins E and K, and antioxidants that protect your brain cells and may help prevent dementia.

Kale is a wonderful source of vitamins A, C and K, magnesium, and calcium. Eating kale regularly promotes healthy eyes and skin, helps reduce the bad cholesterol levels, and improves liver and kidney functions. Add your favorite leafy greens to your green smoothies, use them in your salads, or make homemade kale chips. If you are brave enough to eat leafy greens raw, it’s even better.

4. Corn

One of the most delicious and versatile vegetables, a yellow corn is rich in zeaxanthin and lutein, powerful antioxidants that are good for your eyes. ½ cup of cooked corn provides you with 1,8 grams of these pigments.

Consuming corn on a regular basis lowers the risks of cataracts and helps prevent the loss of yellow pigments in the eyes.

Corn is also fortified with Vitamin C, Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), Vitamin B1 (thiamin) and folate.

Moreover, it’s a fantastic source of magnesium, phosphorus, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, and antioxidants that help your body combat cancer-causing free radicals. Due to its high fiber content, corn helps prevent hemorrhoids, lower the risk of colon cancer,

diabetes and heart problems, as well as aids weight loss.

You can add corn to your salads and soups, grill or boil fresh corn on the cob, use it in your pizza, salsa and risotto.

I also love adding corn to my vegetable smoothie. If you don’t like the taste of the corn, a healthy vegetable smoothie is a great option for you. You will enjoy a tasty drink while reaping all its health benefits. To increase the absorption of the eye-friendly pigments found in a yellow corn, consider eating corn with some dietary fat such as salmon, olive oil, or walnuts

5. Ostrich

Perhaps, you have never even considered eating ostrich for healthy eyes, but it’s rich in zinc that helps the eyes stay healthy and lowers the risk of macular degeneration.Ostrich is a great substitute for red meat. It contains less than a third of the amount of fat in a lean beef, and it’s much lower in cholesterol than chicken and other red meats. Ostrich meat is rich in zinc that plays an important role in maintaining eye health. Zinc is also vital for many enzyme systems and proper

functioning of your digestion and immune system. Moreover, it helps reduce stress levels, boost metabolism and fight acne. People who suffer from macular degeneration should definitely incorporate ostrich meat into their eating plan.

During macular degeneration, the low zinc levels in the retina can be leveled up by eating ostrich meat on a regular basis.

Apart from improving your eye health, ostrich meat boasts numerous benefits. If you want to build or maintain muscle, add some ostrich meat to your daily diet. This meat is an awesome source of potassium, protein, iron, phosphorous, and natural creatine.

Thanks to its ideal pH balance, ostrich meat doesn’t attract or harbor harmful bacteria such as salmonella and E-coli, unlike chicken and some other meats. This makes ostrich meat perfect for carpaccio and sushi.

6. Olive oil

The major reason why olive oil is so beneficial to your eyes is that it helps your body absorb nutrients from the other foods that can help keep your eyes healthy. So, drizzle olive oil over your mixed salad to absorb all of the nutrients from the tomatoes and leafy greens, and cook your sweet potatoes and meat in olive oil to get the most nutrients.

Studies show that a diet that’s low in saturated and trans fat can help prevent retina diseases.

Olive oil is low in saturated fat and contains no trans fats. When purchasing olive oil, opt for extra virgin olive oil that provides a great antioxidant boost to protect your eyes. Olive oil is naturally free of cholesterol, carbohydrate and sodium, but it’s high in vitamin E – 100 gram of fresh extra virgin olive oil provides approximately 96% of recommended daily amount of alpha-tocopherol. Moreover, olive oil is rich in vitamin K – 100 gram of extra virgin olive oil provides around 50% of recommended daily intake. Vitamin K is crucial for preventing heart disease, building strong bones, and keeping your eyes healthy. Due to its high antioxidant content, olive oil helps prevent cancer, coronary artery disease, inflammation, diabetes, and degenerative nerve diseases.

7. Turkey

One of the best and tasty foods to eat for healthy eyes is turkey. It is rich in both the B-vitamin niacin and zinc and it is incredibly versatile. You can use it as a substitute for both beef and chicken. Plus, turkey is often more reasonably priced. Eating turkey regularly keeps the eyes healthy and can even ward off cataract.

Apart from being rich in zinc, turkey is also fortified with B vitamins, tryptophan, phosphorus, protein and selenium. It’s low in cholesterol and saturated fat, and can be a part of a healthy diet due to its high protein content. A serving of turkey has 65 percent of recommended daily protein intake. Have a turkey sandwich with your favorite veggies for lunch and you will almost cover your daily

protein intake.

Turkey is believed to help prevent cancer and boost mood thanks to its incredibly high tryptophan content. It’s a great source of selenium, which is crucial for the healthy function of the immune system and thyroid and which plays a vital role in the antioxidant defense system, helping to prevent the growth of cancer-friendly free radicals in your body. Since turkey is lower in cholesterol and fat than beef, pork and chicken, consuming it also helps to reduce cholesterol levels. If you can’t afford eating ostrich meat, turkey may be the best choice for you.

8. Tomatoes

Tomatoes are an excellent source of carotenoids, including lycopene, a great antioxidant compound that gives tomatoes their perfect red color. A study shows that the lycopene helps protect the retina and other areas of the eye from the light-induced damage.

Lycopene may also help protect your cells from damage and it helps prevent prostate, stomach, and lung cancers. Tomatoes are also plentiful in vitamin C that helps protect your eyes and vision. Moreover, vitamin C promotes wound healing, protects your body from free radical damage, and improves the absorption of iron from most plant foods.

Fresh or cooked tomatoes consumed with a little bit of olive oil will help improve lycopene absorption. Not only do tomatoes help protect your eyes, they can also improve your skin health and boost your brain power and immune system. You can add tomatoes to your morning smoothies, vegetable salads, soups, omelets, or better, eat them raw.

Consider grilling tomatoes and drinking tomato juice that is packed with essential vitamins and minerals. Slice a few tomatoes for your homemade pizza or make your own tomato pasta sauce. Many researchers say that consuming foods high in powerful antioxidants is much better than taking a supplement. Tomatoes are rich in antioxidants, so why not eat them more?

9. Sweet potatoes

Finally, the last great food to eat for healthy eyes is sweet potatoes. It’s the beta-carotene you have to thank for helping to keep your eyes healthy when you eat sweet potatoes. Just like carrots, sweet potatoes are plentiful in beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, manganese and potassium, which are all good for eye health. A medium sweet potato provides over 200 percent of recommended daily intake of beta carotene, 28 percent of recommended daily manganese intake, and 40 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin C. Sweet potatoes are also a good source of vitamin D that is crucial for your immune system, energy levels, eye health and bone growth. Not only are sweet potatoes great for your eye health, they are also good for your heart health. Due to its high content of potassium and vitamin B6, sweet potatoes help to prevent high blood pressure and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

I like sweet potatoes since they are very versatile. You can mash them, roast them, or even make them into chips and fries. You can also serve baked sweet potatoes with extra virgin olive oil to boost your eye health. Sweet potatoes also blend well with nuts and onions.

These amazing and tasty foods are good for your eyes since they all contain antioxidants, fats or minerals that are so good for your eyes. Add foods rich in lutein, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, vitamin E, vitamin C, omega-3 fats and zinc to your everyday diet to improve your eye health and prevent eye diseases. Do you eat these foods for healthy eyes? Please comment below.

10 Bollywood Actors Who Have Aged Gracefully Over The Years

Age is just a number – and nobody proves this right more than these 10 Bollywood actors who have been in the industry for more than three decades, and still look amazing. While their contemporaries have gone on to gain belly fat, sallow skin and an aura of oldness – these actors have, like fine wine, got better and more distinguished-looking. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Amitabh Bachchan

When it comes to aging gracefully, Big B has shown us that he is everyone’s baap. If he rocked the 70s in wide collars and bell-bottoms, he is making new fashion statements even now from the other side of 70. Š BCCL

2.Kamal Haasan

The fresh-faced South Indian actor is still a sweetheart when it comes to his adoring fans – and given his fine aging and fierce acting roles (Vishwaroopam 2, for instance), there is no doubt why this is so. Š Facebook and BCCL

3.Mithun Chakraborty

When Dada entered Bollywood in 1976, he was one of the fittest actors in Bollywood.

And nearly 40 years later, it’s great to see him outrunning ‘old age’ so suavely. © B.Subhash Movie Unit and BCCL

4.Anil Kapoor

He might be one of the more recent actors on this list – but he too has been around since late 1970s. For all the quips about his hairy chest, this Kapoor certainly has maintained himself impeccably well. Š Yash Raj Films and BCCL

5. Naseeruddin Shah

If there is one man in Bollywood who rocks the grey curls, it is Naseeruddin Shah. And then you see his old photos – and you realize that this man must have caused some serious heartbreaks during his time. Š topsearches (dot) us and BCCL

6.Danny Denzongpa

Breathing in some diversity in Bollywood, Danny Denzongpa looked every bit of a Sikkimese stud when he was young. And the man’s still fit as a fiddle, looking sharp. Š Kainth Music India Music Bank and BCCL

7.Anupam Kher So what if this guy is a baldie now? He’s way more distinguished-looking than many of his contemporaries today – and none of that aging fat either. © Mukta Arts and BCCL

8.Kabir Bedi Without a doubt, Kabir Bedi is one of the most handsome men in the industry – and advancing age has not been able to take even a whit away from the glorious charm of this actor. Š BCCL

9.Raj Babbar Another actor who has managed to stave off the ill effects of age is Raj Babbar.

He was a looker then – and has not gone bad with age at all. Š Ramayana Chitra and BCCL

10.Aditya Pancholi

The last man on this list is Aditya Pancholi, who was quite the dreamy hunk when he made his entry into Bollywood in the mid-80s – and it’s amazing how fine he still looks today, and with no plastic surgery! © Shree Bahubali Pictures and BCCL

Fitness secrets of Bollywood stars These are the men who fuel the muscle-building dreams of the Indian guy. Find out the secrets of sculpting your body to perfection by using the workouts of Bollywood stars.

The original muscleman: Salman Khan Even at a time when being a hero didn’t come with the ancillary requirements of a well-built body, there was one man who was flaunting his ripped core. Who? Salman Khan, of course. The muscleman of Bollywood, who inarguably has had the most consistent best body in B-Town, realised the importance of a good physique long before the six-pack/eight-pack wave hit tinsel town. it didn’t come easy though-he worked out hard to get it with his former trainer (he trains on his own now) Manish Advilkar. Here we look at how to broaden the shoulders like Salman. “Broader shoulder instantly gives you that attractive V-shaped torso,” says Advilkar.

Get shoulders like Salman Khan Do these exercises twice a week to work all your shoulder muscles. For all exercises, do 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps with 10kg and 15kg dumbbells/weight plates.

Seated barbell press: Sit upright on a flat bench, keeping your back straight. Rest at barbell on the back of your shoulders. Press the weight up until your arms are straight but not locked. Lower the bar slowly to your shoulders and repeat.

Dumbbell lateral raise: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and hold two medium weight dumbbells by your side.

Raise the dumbbells away from the body until your arms are parallel to the ground. Pause for a second and lower the dumbbells back to the starting position and repeat till all the reps are completed.

Scaption: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and hold a pair of dumbbells at arm’s length by your sides, your palms facing each other. Raise your arms until they’re parallel to the ground while keeping them at a 30-degree angle to your body. Pause, and then lower your arms back to the starting position.

Cable face pull: Attach a rope to the high pulley of a cable station and grab each end so your palms face each other.

Step away till your arms are straight in front of you. Now pull the middle of the rope towards your eyes by bending your elbows, squeezing your shoulder blades together.

Now, slowly straighten your arms.

The man of the moment: John Abraham Ever since his Dostana days where he showed some (butt) cheek, John Abraham has become the butt boy of Bollywood. But given his latest bulking up phase, his arms are clearly the talk of the town. The fitness enthusiast in Abraham always makes him push the frontiers of fitness making him inarguably, the best body in B-Town currently! Here’s how you can benefit from his good example.

For arms like John Abraham For big guns like John, do this workout three days a week, advises his trainer Vinod.

Barbell curl: Stand straight and hold a barbell with an underhand grip. Let your arms hang straight down from your shoulders. Curl the barbell as high as you can in good form. Pause for a second and slowly lower the barbell and repeat. Do 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Dumbbell curl: Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms extended and palms facing your body. Keeping your back straight and chest up slowly raise both your arms till the dumbbells are next to the chest level. Pause, and then slowly return to the starting position. Do 3 sets of 12 reps.

Hammer curl: Sit on a fl at bench holding two dumbbell with your palms facing each other. Raise both the dumbbells until your forearms are vertical and your thumbs face the shoulder. Lower to original position and repeat. Do 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Rekha

Rekha Ganesan (born 10 October 1954), better known by her stage name Rekha, is an Indian film actress who has mainly appeared in Hindi films. Noted for her versatility and acknowledged as one of the finest actresses in Hindi cinema, Rekha started her career in 1966 as a child actress in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam, though her film debut as a lead happened four years later with Sawan Bhadon. Despite the success of several of her early films, she was often panned for her looks and it was not until the mid-to-late 1970s that she got recognition as an actress.

Rekha has acted in over 180 films in a career spanning over 40 years. Throughout her career, she has often played strong female characters and, apart from mainstream cinema, appeared in arthouse films, known in India as parallel cinema. She has won three Filmfare Awards, two for Best Actress and one for Best Supporting Actress, for her roles inKhubsoorat (1980), Khoon Bhari Maang (1988) and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), respectively. Her portrayal of a classical courtesan in Umrao Jaan (1981) won her the National Film Award for Best Actress. Though her career has gone through certain periods of decline, she has reinvented herself numerous times and has been credited for her ability to sustain her status. In 2010, she was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India

Early life

Rekha was born in Chennai (then Madras) to Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan and Telugu actress Pushpavalli. Her father enjoyed considerable success as an actor and Rekha was to follow in his footsteps. She is an alumnus of the popular Church Park Convent in Chennai. Although she is half-Tamil and half-Telugu, she considers Telugu her mother tongue as she was brought up speaking only Telugu at her home. She also speaks Hindi, Tamil and English fluently.

Her parents were not married at the time of her birth, and her father did not acknowledge his paternity during her childhood. It was in early 1970s, when she was looking for a footing in Bollywood, that she revealed her origins. Later, at the peak of her career, Rekha told a magazine interviewer that father’s neglect still rankled and that she had ignored his efforts at reconciliation. Rekha quit school to start a career in acting. She did not have any personal aspirations in this direction, but the troubled financial state of her family compelled her to do so.

Film career 1970

Rekha appeared as a child (credited as Baby Bhanurekha) in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam (1966). Rekha made her debut as heroine in the successful Kannadafilm Operation Jackpot Nalli C.I.D 999 with Rajkumar in 1969. In that same year, she starred in her first Hindi film, Anjana Safar. She later claimed that she was tricked into a kissing scene with the leading actor Biswajit for the overseas market, and the kiss made it to the Asian edition of Life magazine. The film ran into censorship problems, and would not be released until almost a decade later in 1979 (retitled as Do Shikaari).

She had no interest in acting and was basically forced to work to sustain her family financially, this was a difficult period in her life. Still a teenager, acclimatising herself to her new surroundings was an uneasy process. Coming from the South, she did not speak Hindi and struggled to communicate with co-workers, and was constantly missing her mother, who was critically ill. Moreover, she was required to follow a strict diet. Recalling this phase, Rekha was later quoted as saying (Reacting to it, many years later, she said, “I’m healed, I am not bitter anymore, I don’t think I ever was.”),

“

Bombay was like a jungle, and I had walked in unarmed. It was one of the most frightening phases of my life... I was totally ignorant of the ways of this new world. Guys did try and take advantage of my vulnerability. I did feel,”What am I doing? I should be in school, having an ice-cream, fun with my friends, why am I even forced to work, deprived of normal things that a child should be doing at my age?” Every single day I cried, because I had to eat what I didn’t like, wear crazy clothes with sequins and stuff poking into my body. Costume, jewelery would give me an absolute terrible allergy. Hair spray wouldn’t go off for days even despite all my washing. I was pushed, literally dragged from one studio to another. A terrible thing to do to a 13-year-old child.

“

She had two films released in 1970: the Telugu film Amma Kosam and the Hindi film Sawan Bhadon, which was considered her acting debut in Bollywood. She had to learn Hindi, as that was not her naturally spoken language. Sawan Bhadon became a hit, and Rekha – a star overnight. Despite the success of the film, she was often scorned for her looks. She subsequently got several offers but nothing of substance, as her roles were mostly just of a glamour girl. She appeared in several commercially successful films at the time, including Raampur Ka Lakshman (1972), Kahani Kismat Ki (1973), and Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (1974), yet she was not regarded for her acting abilities and—according to Tejaswini Ganti—”the industry was surprised by her success as her dark complexion, plump figure, and garish clothing contradicted the norms of beauty prevalent in the film industry and in society.” Rekha recalls that the way she was perceived at that time motivated her to change her appearance and improve her choice of roles: “I was called the ‘Ugly

Duckling’ of Hindi films because of my dark complexion and South Indian features. I used to feel deeply hurt when people compared me with the leading heroines of the time and said I was no match for them. I was determined to make it big on sheer merit.”

This period marked the beginning of Rekha’s physical transformation. She started paying attention to her make-up, dress sense, and worked to improve her acting technique and perfect her Hindi-language skills. To lose weight, she followed a nutritious diet, led a regular, disciplined life, and practised yoga, later recording albums to promote physical fitness. According to Khalid Mohamed, “The audience was floored when there was a swift change in her screen personality, as well as her style of acting.” She began choosing her film roles with more care; her first performance-oriented role came in 1976 when she played Amitabh Bachchan’s ambitious and greedy wife in Do Anjaane. An adaptation of Nihar Ranjan Gupta’s Bengali novel Ratrir Yatri, the film was directed by Dulal Guha and became a reasonable success with audiences and critics.

Her most significant turning point, however, came in 1978, with her portrayal of a rape victim in the movie Ghar. She played the role of Aarti, a newly married woman who gets gravely traumatised after being gang-raped. The film follows her character’s struggle and recuperation with the help of her loving husband, played by Vinod Mehra. The film was considered her first notable milestone, and her performance was applauded by both critics and audiences. Dinesh Raheja fromRediff, in an article discussing her career, remarked, “Ghar heralded the arrival of a mature Rekha. Her archetypal jubilance was replaced by her very realistic portrayal...” She received her first nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards In that same year, she attained fame with Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, in which she costarred once again with Amitabh Bachchan.

The movie was the biggest hit of that year, as well as one of the biggest hits of the decade, and Rekha was set as one of the most successful actresses of these times. The film opened to a positive critical reception, and Rekha’s performance as a courtesan named

Zohra, noted for a “smouldering intensity”, earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Filmfare.

1980

In 1980, Rekha appeared in the comedy Khubsoorat, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, with whom she had developed a strong fatherdaughter bond during their previous collaborations. In a role written specially for her, she played Manju Dayal, a young vivacious woman who visits her recently married sister at her in-law’s house and tries to bring joy to the wide family, much to the displeasure of the matriarch of the household. Rekha said she easily identified with the bubbly nature of her character, calling it “quite a bit me”.Khubsoorat was a success and Rekha was appreciated for her comic timing. It won the Filmfare Award for Best Filmand Rekha won her first Best Actress award. The Tribune described the film as “a lively comedy,” noting that “Rekha’s spunky performance gives the film its natural zing.”

Film World magazine reported in that same year, “Rekha’s done it.

Smoothly, successfully. From a plump, pelvis-jerking, cleavage-flashing temptress, she has metamorphosed into a sleek, accomplished actress. Gone are most of the inane mannerisms, pouts, wiggles and giggles.” It further noted that her career prospects had begun to improve significantly, as leading filmmakers had started taking more notice of her and become more keen to cast her in their films.

Rekha went on to star opposite Bachchan in a number of films, most of which were hits. She also had an alleged off-screen relationship with him, which was widely reported on in the media, as well as sharply criticised, as he was a married man. This relationship ended in 1981, when they starred in Yash Chopra’s dramaSilsila. The film was the most scandalous of their films together; Rekha played Bachchan’s love interest, while Bachchan’s real-life wife, Jaya Bhaduri, played his wife. This was their last film together.

Critics noted Rekha for having worked hard to perfect her Hindi and acting, and media reporters often discussed how she had transformed herself from a “plump” duckling to a “swan” in the early 1970s.

Rekha’s credits to this transformation were yoga, a nutritious diet, and a regular, disciplined life. In 1983, her diet and yoga practice were published in a book called “Rekha’s Mind and Body Temple”.

In 1981, she starred in Umrao Jaan, a film adaptation of the Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada (1905), written by Mirza Hadi Ruswa. Rekha played the title role of acourtesan and poetess from 19th century Lucknow. The film follows Umrao’s life story right from her days as a young girl named Amiran when she is kidnapped and sold in a brothel. Rekha once confessed, “After reading the script, I had a strange feeling that I had Umrao in me.” In preparation for the role, Rekha, who at the beginning of her career did not speak Hindi, took the task of learning the finer nuances of the Urdu language. Director Muzaffar Ali later noted that “Rekha has given more than my conception of the role.” The response to her work was universally positive. Her por-

trayal is considered to be one of her career-best performances, and she was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actress for it. She played a courtesan with a heart of gold in several of her films;Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and Umrao Jaan were followed by a number of films which had her playing similar roles.

In that same year, Rekha starred in Ramesh Talwar’s family drama Baseraa, which saw her playing a woman who marries her sister’s husband, after the latter loses her mental balance. She appeared as Sadhna in the commercially successful Ek Hi Bhool (1981), opposite Jeetendra, playing the role of a betrayed wife who leaves her husband. In 1982, she received another Filmfare nomination for Jeevan Dhaara, in which she played a young unmarried woman who is the sole breadwinner of her extended family. In 1983, she took the supporting role of a lawyer in Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye, garnering another Filmfare nomination in the Supporting Actress category.

During this period, Rekha was willing to expand her range beyond what she was given in mainstream films. She started working in arthouse pictures with independent directors, mostly under Shashi Kapoor’s production, in what was used to be referred to as parallel cinema, an Indian New Wave movement known for its serious content and neo-realism. Her venture into this particular genre started off with Umrao Jaan, and was followed by other such films as Shyam Benegal’s award-winning drama, Kalyug (1981), Govind Nihalani’s Vijeta (1982), Girish Karnad’s Utsav (1984) and Gulzar’s Ijaazat (1987), among others. Benegal’s Kalyug is a modern-day adaptation of the Indian mythological epic Mahabharat, depicted as an archetypal-conflict between rival business houses. Rekha’s role was that of Supriya, a character based on Draupadi. Benegal said he decided to cast her in the role after seeing her work in Khubsoorat, besides noticing that she was “very keen, very serious about her profession”. Critic and author Vijay Nair described her performance as “a masterful interpretation of the modern Draupadi”. InVijeta she played a woman who struggles through her marital problems and tries to support her adolescent son, who, undecided about his future plans, eventually decides to join the Indian Air Force. She described her performance in the film as one of her favourite from her own repertoire. For her portrayal of Vasantsena inUtsav, an erotic comedy based on the fourth-century Sanskrit play Mrichhakatika (The Little Clay Cart), she was acknowledged as the Best Actress (Hindi) of the year by the Bengal Film Journalists’ Association. Maithili Rao wrote for “Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema”, “Rekha – forever the first choice for the courtesan’s role, be it ancient Hindu India or 19th-century Muslim Lucknow – is all statuesque sensuality...” In Gulzar’s drama Ijaazat, Rekha and Naseeruddin Shah star as a divorced couple who meet unexpectedly for the first time after years of separation at a railway station, and recall together their life as a married couple and the conflicts which brought to their ultimate split.

Apart from parallel cinema, Rekha took on other increasingly serious, even adventurous roles; she was among the early

actresses to play lead roles in heroine-oriented films, one such film being Khoon Bhari Maang in 1988. She won her second Filmfare Award for her performance in the film.

Rekha went on to describeKhoon Bhari Maang as “the first and only film I concentrated and understood all throughout.” One critic wrote about her performance in the film, “Rekha as Aarti is just flawless and this is one of her best performances ever! In the first half as the shy and not so sexy Aarti she is excellent and after the plastic surgery as the model and femme fatale she is excellent too. Some scenes show that we are watching an actress of a very high calibre here.” M.L. Dhawan from The Tribune, while documenting the famous Hindi films of 1988, remarked that Khoon Bhari Maang was “a crowning glory for Rekha, who rose like a phoenix ... and bedazzled the audience with her daredevilry.”[ Encyclopædia Britannica’s Encyclopædia of Hindi Cinema listed her role in the film as one of Hindi cinema’s memorable female characters, noting it for changing “the perception of the ever-forgiving wife, turning her into an avenging angel.” In a similar list by Screen magazine, the role was included as one of “ten memorable roles that made the Hindi film heroine proud.”

In later interviews, Rekha often described the moment she received the Filmfare Award for this role as a turning point, explaining that only then did she start genuinely enjoying her work and seeing it as more than “just a job”: “... when I went up on the stage, and received my award for Khoon Bhari Maang... Boom, it hit me! That’s the first time I realised the value of being an actor and how much this profession meant to me.” In 2011 she further stated, “I felt even more charged to give my best and knew right then, that this was my calling, what I was born to do, to make a difference in people’s lives, through my performances.”

1990

The 1990s saw a drop in Rekha’s success. She was part of several commercially and critically unsuccessful films, in spite of doing even more challenging roles. Critics, however, noted that unlike most of the actresses of her generation, like Hema Malini and Raakhee, who began playing character parts of mothers and aunts, Rekha was still playing leading roles at the time when heroines such as Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit rose to fame.

Some of her most notable films during the decade include Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996). Kama Sutra, a foreign production directed by Mira Nair, was an erotic drama and many felt it would damage Rekha’s career, as Rekha played a Kama Sutra teacher in the film. Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi, an action film directed

by Umesh Mehra, was a major financial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Indian films of the year. It featured Rekha in her first negative role as Madam Maya, a vicious gangster woman running a secret business of illegal wrestling matches in the US, who, during the course of the film, romances the much younger Akshay Kumar.

Her portrayal earned her several awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Star Screen Award for Best Villain. In spite of the positive response to her performance from both fans and critics, she often maintains she did not like herself in the film, noting that her work was not up to her own, personal standards.

Another controversial film at that time was Aastha: In the Prison of Spring (1997), where Basu Bhattacharya, making the last film of his career, cast her as a housewife who moonlights as a prostitute. While her performance earned her positive notices and a Star Screen Award nomination, she was criticised by the audience for the nature of the part, to which she later replied, “...people had a lot to say about my role... I don’t have problems playing anything.

I’ve reached a stage where I could do justice to any role that came my way. It could be role of a mother, a sisterin-law; negative, positive, sensational or anything.”

2000

In the 2000s, Rekha appeared in relatively few movies, usually in supporting mother roles. She started the decade with Bulandi, directed by Rama Rao Tatineni.

In 2001, Rekha appeared in Rajkumar Santoshi’s feminist drama Lajja, an ensemble piece inspired by a true incident of a woman being raped in Bawanipur two years before.

The film follows the journey of a runaway wife (Manisha Koirala) and unfolds her story in three main chapters, each one presenting the story of a woman at whose place she stops. Rekha was the protagonist of the final chapter,

around which the film’s inspiration revolves, playing Ramdulari, an oppressed Dalitvillage woman and social activist who becomes a victim of gangrape. Speaking of the film, Rekha commented, “I am Lajja and Lajja is me”. Highly praised for her portrayal, she received several nominations for her work, including a Best Supporting Actress nomination at Filmfare. Taran Adarsh wrote that “it is Rekha who walks away with the glory, delivering one of the finest performances the Indian screen has seen in the recent times.”

In Rakesh Roshan’s science-fiction film Koi... Mil Gaya, Rekha played Sonia Mehra, a single mother to a developmentally disabled young man, played by Hrithik Roshan.

The movie was a financial and critical success and became the most popular film of the year; it won the Filmfare Award for Best Film, among others.[43]Rekha received another Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Filmfare for her performance, which Khalid Mohamed described as “astutely restrained”.

In 2005, Rekha guest starred in an item number in connection with the song “Kaisi Paheli Zindagani”, in Pradeep Sarkar’s “Parineeta”. In Bachke Rehna Re Baba(2005), Rekha played a con woman who, along with her niece, uses one scheme to rob men of their property. The film was a major critical failure.[45] Mid Dayremarked, “why Rekha chose to sign this film is a wonder,” noting that she is “riddled with bad dialogue, terrible cakey makeup and tawdry styling”.This was followed in 2006 by Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamana, a poorly received sex comedy about four female friends and their personal troubles. In a scathing

review, Indu Mirani noted that “Rekha hams like she was never going to do another film.” In a 2007 article by Daily News and Analysis, critic Deepa Gahlot directed an advice to Rekha: “Please pick movies with care, one more like Bach Ke Rehna Re Baba and Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamana and the diva status is under serious threat.” In 2006, she reprised the role of Sonia Mehra in Krrish, Rakesh Roshan’s sequel to Koi... Mil Gaya. In this superhero feature, the story moves 20 years forward and focuses on the character of Sonia’s grandson Krishna (played again by Hrithik Roshan), whom she has brought up single-handedly after the death of her son Rohit, and who turns out to have supernatural powers. Krrish became the secondhighest grossing picture of the year and, like its prequel, was declared a blockbuster. It received mostly positive notices from critics, and Rekha’s work earned her another Filmfare nomination in the supporting category. Ronnie Scheib from Varietynoted her for bringing “depth to her role as the nurturing grandmother”.

In 2007, she once again portrayed a courtesan in Goutam Ghose’s Yatra. Unlike the initial success she experienced in playing such roles in the early stages of her career, this time the film failed to do well. In 2010, Rekha was awarded the Padma Shri, the 4th highest civilian award given by the Government of India.

Rekha has also been nominated as a Rajya Sabha member. She currently is the member of the Rajya Sabha (May 2012).

Rekha starred in the 2010 film Sadiyaan alongside Hema

Malini and Rishi Kapoor. The film marked the debut of Shatrughan Sinha’s son Luv Sinha. The film failed to do well at the box office.

As of 2014, Rekha is currently working on Abhishek Kapoor’s next movie, Fitoor. The film is based on Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Rekha will be playing the role of Begum, based on Dickens’ character Miss Havisham.

Her upcoming film, Super Nani is set to release on Di-

wali (24 October) along with the Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonu Sood andJackie Shroff starrer Happy New Year. Super Nani is a family drama, in which the grandmother (Rekha) is unappreciated by her children and husband, Randhir Kapoor. Her grandson, Sharman Joshi convinces her to change. The grandmother ‘transforms’ herself into a glamorous model.

She is also to appear in R. Balki’s next, Shamitabh. Her role is yet unknown.

Personal life

In 1990, Rekha married Delhi-based industrialist Mukesh Aggarwal. A year later—while she was in London—he committed suicide, after several previous attempts, leaving a note, “Don’t blame anyone”.She was pilloried by the press at that time, a period which one journalist termed as “the deepest trough in her life.” She was rumoured to have been married to actorVinod Mehra in 1973, but in a 2004 television interview with Simi Garewal she denied being married to Mehra referring to him as a “well-wisher”. Rekha currently lives in her Bandra home in Mumbai.

Rekha’s best known relationship was her long-time affair with superstar Amitabh Bachchan. The couple was last seen together in the film, Silsila, and their affair ended soon after.

Image and artistry In 2011, Rediff listed her as the ninth-greatest Indian actress of all time, noting, “It’s hard not to be bowled over by Rekha’s longevity, or her ability to reinvent herself... the actress took on a man’s job and did it stunningly well, holding her own against all the top actors and being remembered despite them.”

Filmfare described her acting style, writing, “...when it comes to style, sexiness or sheer onscreen presence, she’s unparalleled... [she is] a fierce, raw, flinty performer with unbridled honesty. Her acting isn’t gimmicky.” Critic Khalid Mohamed commends her technical control: “She knows how to give and to what degree. She has all that it takes to be a director. There is a kind of vulnerability in her control. She explores when she is acting.” Shyam Benegal, who directed her in two movies, believes she is “a director’s actress”. M.L. Dhawan from The Tribune wrote, “Rekha’s flowering as an actress post Ghar and Khubsoorat climaxed in [...] Umrao Jaan. As a tragic courtesan she gave a performance of consummate artistry, adopting a much-admired huskiness and despondency of tone.

Rekha communicated much with a delicately raised eyebrow. In 2010, Filmfare included two of her performances—from Khubsoorat (1980) and Umrao Jaan (1981)—in their list of “80 Iconic Performances”.

Rekha has often been compared to Greta Garbo, and has been cited by media as her Indian equivalent. Hindustan Times described her physical change and loss of weight as “one of cinema’s and perhaps real life’s most dramatic transformations,” arguing that “Rekha morphed from an overweight, dark ordinary

girl into a glamorous and beautiful enigma, shrouding her life in an intriguing Garbo-like mystery.” According to Rediff, “Rekha’s reclusive nature has gone a long way towards building an aura of mystery around her.”[ Rekha rarely gives interviews, and she mostly avoids parties and events. Asked once about her mysterious image, she denied several times trying to live up to this image, asserting it is press-created: “What mystery?

The media is the one that creates this image. It’s just that I am basically shy by nature, an introvert and fiercely private.”[ Film journalist Anupama Chopra, who visited Rekha in 2003, wrote that while tabloids had portrayed her as “a reclusive woman twisted bitter by lecherous men and loneliness”, in reality Rekha was “none of these”, describing her as “chatty and curious, excited and energetic, cheerful and almost illegally optimistic”.

Writing for The Tribune, Mukesh Khosla spoke of her transformation, writing, “From the giggling village belle in Saawan Bhadon to one of country’s reigning actresses, Rekha has come a long way.” According to critic Omar Qureshi, “the term diva (in India) was coined for Rekha.” Mira Nair, who directed Rekha in Kama Sutra (1997), likens her to a “Jamini Roy painting” and says, “Like Marilyn Monroe is shorthand for sex, Rekha is shorthand for charisma”. Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali labels her the “last of the great stars”.

She was referred to as the reigning Queen of Indian Cinema at the 2012 IIFA Awards held in Singapore, where she was given the “Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema (Female)” award, also referred to as the Lifetime Achievement Award.

10 EUROPEAN CITIES TO VISIT DURING THE WINTER

From sleigh rides through the Swiss countryside and skiing the breathtaking Alps to lounging in outdoor thermal pools and raging at ice festivals, Europe has some of the best and most unique places to spend the winter. Whether you have just a weekend or a whole week to blow, there are an unlimited amount of places to explore. To help you narrow it down, we’ve compiled a list of the top ten cities to visit in thewinter.

Abisko, Sweden

If you’re a serious winter lover, Abisko is one of the best places you can go. Almost as far north as you can get on a train in Europe, this Swedish town is one of the world’s best places to catch the Northern Lights. Before you travel there, be forewarned that the sun doesn’t rise for weeks in December and January, but that means it will always feel like Saturday night! Besides gazing at the aurora borealis, visitors can ski, hike, ice skate, go dog sledding, and explore the national parks. Don’t forget to check out the famous Icehotel in nearby Kiruna, which was the world’s first hotel made of ice.

Copenhagen, Denmark As the home of Hans Christian Andersen, Copenhagen is one of the most fairytale-like cities in Europe, especially in winter. The Danish concept of “hygge” (or “coziness”) is at its peak in winter, when locals spend their afternoons and evenings relaxing, drinking hot chocolate, and enjoying their beautiful surroundings. Top sights in Copenhagen include Tivoli Amusement Park, Christiansborg Slot, and Rosenborg Castle, which are all even more charming covered in snow. Don’t miss out on Copenhagen’s winter culture month, Wondercool, which occurs in February and includes concerts in unusual venues, art shows, and culinary events.

Transylvania, Romania

It doesn’t feel right to visit Dracula’s home on a warm, sunny day, so take a visit to Transylvania when it’s cold and snowy!

In addition to Dracula, Transylvania is also home to many medieval towns filled with castles, cathedrals, and rich histories that are just begging to be explored. After you’ve frolicked to your heart’s content, don’t forget to hit up one of the area’s many ski resorts and national parks for some real winter activities.

Venice, Italy One of the top European tourist attractions in winter is the Carnival of Venice. Beautiful, haunting, and extremely weird, Venice’s February celebration is not to be missed. Costumed events can be very pricey, but you can get the full effect of the festival by enjoying the free events with a mask purchased on the street. Carnival aside, traveling to Venice in winter allows visitors to experience the city at a slower pace and really soak up the culture. The city’s canals, beautiful architecture, and old-fashioned atmosphere become magical in winter. A stop in Venice is a definite European highlight.

Prague, Czech Republic

With its snow-capped spires, cobblestone streets, and the romantic hue of its gas-lit street lamps, Prague is right out of a fairytale. It is relatively tourist-free in the winter, which is surprising because the city’s natural beauty comes to life under a blanket of snow. Stroll through the Prague Castle at your own pace or hit up a local cafe to escape the cold, especially Choco Cafe, which has more than a dozen types of hot chocolate (check out ourPrague destination guide for more cool things to do there, including where to party.) If you’re in the Czech Republic long enough, be sure to take a day trip to Cesky Krumlov, which is known as the “Pearl of Bohemia”.

Granada, Spain

If you’re looking to take a break from the bitter cold, Granada is a great solution. However, don’t go Spain under the impression that it will be a beach vacation. Even southern Spain is too cold for the beach in the winter, which is why a city like Granada is such an ideal option because there is more to do than just stroll along the sand. No other region has as much variety as Granada — you can ski the Sierra Nevadas, head to the coast, or simply just roam the city. Spain is much cheaper and less crowded in the winter months, so visitors can truly enjoy the city’s sights without waiting in line or breaking the bank.

is known as the ski and snowboard capital of the world. As the Innsbruck, Austria Innsbruck two-time host of the Winter Olympics and covered in internationally recognized alpine resorts, Innsbruck does not disappoint. In addition to tearing up the slopes, visitors can tour the famous Olympic ski jump and other facilities. Innsbruck was also a seat of power for centuries and history buffs will love visiting the royal Habsburg home and soaking up the city’s beautiful architecture. Furthermore, Innsbruck is the home of Swarovski Crystals, and no visit to this city is complete without a tour of their bizarre but beautiful headquarters.

Even though Iceland is a trek from most popular study abroad spots and it is among Europe’s coldest areas, there are many reasons why its capital is a mustsee place. The annual Winter Lights Festival in February is one of the best European celebrations of winter and its abundance of winter sports, museums, and restaurants make it quite a happening place. What makes Reykjavik even more special are the city’s many outdoor geothermal swimming pools, which are some of few in Europe. There is nothing quite like relaxing in their naturally warm waters while the snow falls around you.

Every pool is unique, so visitors should try as many as possible.

nd a l e c I , ik v a j k y e R

Edinburgh, Scotland

The winding streets, stunning castles, and beautiful Princes Street Gardens transformed into a winter wonderland make Edinburgh a city to definitely visit in winter. There is nothing more charming than ice skating in the center of one of Europe’s oldest cities and wandering through the Edinburgh castle as the snow slowly falls. Be sure to check out the highlands as well, which are exquisite in winter. Arthur’s Seat, on the edge of the city, is the perfect place to take a snowy stroll while soaking up unparalleled views.

Bled, Slovenia Bled’s incredible natural beauty combined with its peaceful surroundings make it one of the most superb alpine areas in Europe. Renowned for its healing climate, thermal lake water, and “tucked away” ambiance, this small city is perfect for anyone looking to have a relaxing winter escape. However, don’t shy away from Bled if you’re looking for a bit more adventure – its terrain is ideal for anyone interested in outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing, or ice skating. In between relaxing and skiing, don’t forget to check out Bled Castle, a medieval fortress believed to be the oldest castle in Slovenia.

Whether you’re into shredding the slopes or strolling the quaint cobblestone streets, Europe has plenty to offer in the winter. Don’t get bogged down by the cold weather or cabin fever – take advantage of your weekends and vacation time to try something you otherwise couldn’t do in your host city. Happy winter, fellow travelers!

5 Most Expensive Celebrity Plastic Surgeries We all want to look good for as long as humanly possible. For celebrities that are raking in a lot of money, it can be a lot easier to afford “enhancements”. Most of these renovations on celebs “personal” real estate are not only noticeable, but downright terrible! Sure, some will do very minor corrections, but there are those who want to look like a cat or something else crazy— it’s as expensive as it is weird.

In this list, you will find out which celebrities spent the highest amounts of money on plastic surgeries. You will also get to see some of the strangest transformations that have ever been documented in modern medicine. These days, it’s not that strange that people find the fountain of youth only a knife away appealing, but it hardly ever comes out right.

If you want a bigger butt or an injection that will make your lips look like you got stung by a bee, you can do it! But if you want it done correctly, you better go to a place like Beverly Hills instead of Tijuana, Mexico. A lot of people have made that mistake in an effort to save money.

So which celebrities emptied out their checkbooks in order to go under non-essential surgery, when most Americans can’t even afford medication? Here are the biggest plastic surgery splurges (splurgeries, if you will) that celebs have done to themselves.

5 – Nicki Minaj ($11,500)

At one point, Nicki Minaj looked like a normal girl hailing from Trinidad and Tobago. These days, she is looking more like a strange hybrid between about four different ethnicities and a Barbie Doll. But Nicki’s new look hasn’t stopped her from being massively popular thanks to songs that are essentially about sex and drugs— without any actual musical instruments being played.

Nicki spent $11,500 on three different surgeries to establish her new appearance. The cheapest one was a skin bleaching to make her skin look lighter. The most expensive one was a nose job that made the tip of her nose point down instead of up. The other major procedure Nicki had done was the oddest. She spent over $5,000 to get silicone implants in each buttocks. Now, Nicki shakes her prosthetic butt around for everyone to see.

4 – Nadya “Octomom” Suleman ($12,810) At one point, we were all sick of hearing about Octomom.

Instead of getting pregnant in the natural way, Nadya Suleman was assisted by a team of doctors in order to become pregnant with octuplets. Octomom did this mainly because she’s an absolute nut who needed to surround herself with children.

Most moms want to look good after having children, so having eight can really do a number on the body. Surgery was probably a very necessary thing for Nadya in one area, but a waste of cash elsewhere. The Octomom spent $5,900 on vaginal rejuvenation, and nearly $7,000 on a nose job and lip injections.

3 – Lil’ Kim ($19,625)

A lot of people don’t recognize Lil’ Kim these days, since she looks more like a white muppet than the African-American rapper we were used to seeing in the 1990’s. Lil’ Kim had five operations done while disappearing from the limelight and came back very differently.

Among Lil’ Kim’s procedures were; a skin bleach (thus creating the white effect), lip injections, a nose job, liposuction and breast implants. When it was all said and done, Lil’ Kim ended up having more plastic surgeries than hit singles over the last 15 years. She still has a decent net worth of $18 million, though.

2 – Vivica Fox ($26,085)

Vivica Fox was never really an A-list star, even during her most relevant period. Fox wanted to stay at least somewhat relevant and young looking, so she opted to go under the knife. The procedures Fox had were Botox injections, lip injections, jaw implants, a facelift and breast implants.

You know, just for fun, let’s take a look at a list of cars that came out in 2014 that cost less than Fox’s surgeries. Mazda Miata, Fiat 500 Abarth, Scion FR-S, Ford Fiesta and the Jeep Wrangler.

Those aren’t bad cars and will probably last longer than jaw implants. Just remember that.

1 – Jocelyn Wildenstein ($2 Million)

There probably isn’t a day in her life that the ‘socialite’ Jocelyn Wildenstein (also known as “Catwoman”) doesn’t get asked “what in the world happened to you?” What happened was a series of unnecessary plastic surgeries that spanned the course of a few decades, racking up bills worth over $2 million. After all of these surgeries, the end result has made Wildenstein look more like a nightmarish version of a cat than a person.

Jocelyn has had so many surgeries that listing them all would just be a waste of your time, but just know that she has had her eyelids stretched to the side of her face. She has also had surgery on her lips that makes her look like Heath Ledger’s version of “The Joker”. Except Jocelyn doesn’t have an interesting backstory like “The Joker”, she just married into a rich family. Her ex-husband Alec Wildenstein got the last laugh, putting a clause in their initial $2.5 billion divorce settlement (plus an extra $100 million per year) that absolutely no money is to be used for plastic surgery.