GLOBAL MOVIE

JAN 2019 Rs.50

01 01 2019

Rajkummar Rao

Success Of A Film Is Not Determined By Its Budget

Aamir Khan

When I Sign A Film, I First Look At The Story

Ranveer Singh

I Am Not Going To Tone Down Just Because I Am Married

Kangana Ranaut

Directing Is Like A Worker’s Life

Shah Rukh Khan

In India We Assume We Are Talented, Don’t Learn Acting

Being an educated person gives you confidence, It also teaches you how to live on your own Sara Ali Khan

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Editor SEEMA PIMPLEY

Co - Editor Faisal Saif

Consulting - Editor Lipika Varma

International Correspondent Carlyta Mouhini

Special Corresspondent Aahana

Web & Graphics Designer Nasreen Qazi

Celeb Columnist & Photojournalist - Shrisheel

Feature News Writers Sandeep Hattangady Akshita Pawar Mohan Ayyer

Marketing Team

Greta Margreat Tanty Roniec Vats Monish Nawani

Photographer

Indrajeet Aurangabadkar Advertising Sales + 09322993982 + 022 65241705 Corporate Office Media Mag International 1st Floor, 123 Aram Nagar-1 fishery institute Road, 7 Bunglows, Andheri (west), amumbai - 400061,India Phone : +91 (22) 65241705, 26375924 Email : globalmovie@gmail.com Website : www.globalmovie.in Prinyed Published & Owned by Seema Pimpley Printed at Triton Arts 44 -Paras industrial Estate, near Kachpada telepho Exchange, Kachpad, Malad (W), Mumbai - 4400064

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Seema Pimpley Editor & Publisher

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GLOBAL MOVIE COVER STORY

Being an educated person gives you confidence, then it gives you a little bit of eloquence. It also teaches you how to live on your own. demeanour is enough to convince them that she’s a pro-in-the-making! Her composure belies any signs of nervousness.

Here are some things she said in her interviews which really hit home.

Sara Ali Khan has been in the news for her movies. Two films in the same month ! But if you haven’t taken note of her interviews, then please do. Sara may not care about my two cents but she’s already making it to the top of the list of our favourites in B-Town. She’s not even a movie old and we are in awe of how articulate she is.

The media and the stars may share a love-hate relationship but Sara’s calm and self-assured

Imagine Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh having a kid and that kid is me and of course I am weird. They are both weird. We are all weird.

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“I am not weird? Okay, wait till this interview gets done with,” says Sara in an interview with Anupama Chopra. Sara, in all her interviews so far has been successful in giving a glimpse into the person she is and the people around her. She narrates an incident when a friend visited her and said, “Now it all makes sense.” Can you imagine a house where her mother Amrita Singh is sitting with a parrot on her shoulder, which goes, “Kaaaaaa!” in Sara’s words.

She’s definitely got her charm in place if she can make the host laugh endlessly with the stories she’s narrating on a talk show.

What’s extremely endearing about Sara Ali Khan is that at 25 years of age, she’s selfaware. When asked whether she looks at online comments and gets affected by them, Sara nonchalantly replies, “No.” And why not? “Arre nahi karna yaar. Thak gayi aj!” - is her simple reaction. Let’s say, young girls today must totes take inspiration from Sara to have that attitude. Not just that, she even reads and accepts some of the comments that are written for her on social media.

I was wearing a cap and someone said she looks like a clown and I thought it was funny.

“

Reacting to one of the comments which goes something like, “Ya toh salwar kameez ya toh adnangi ghumti hai,” she says it’s true!

I am not going to deck up every time I leave the house because I am also a normal person.

When Her Social Media Behaviour Affirmed She’s Just Like Us We’re all guilty of relentlessly tracking someone on social media. We’re all also guilty of having liked random pictures on Insta. But how many public figures are okay with revealing the fact that they are on a social media platform under a ‘fake’ name?

But Sara doesn’t take inspiration from other actors when it comes to ‘social media skills’.

Love Her or Hate Her, She’s a Nerd No matter how hard Rajeev Masand tried to get her to say that her education is unrelated, and she could have made better use of an acting course, Sara Ali Khan held her ground on how her education is an integral part of the person she is today. Like most Indian parents, it seems like Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh were conventional enough to make sure she gets a good education.

Being an educated person gives you confidence, then it gives you a little bit of eloquence. It also teaches you how to live on your own.

I don’t know about you, but it was damn refreshing to see an actor talk about the importance of a good education! Sara is a mine of fun stories. She has zero issues in saying she had PCOD and no ‘effs’ to give about weight issues. Even though she might have gotten a little embarrassed when Karan showed the viewers of national television, a clip where he she enacted, what she called a “delusional” scene. She still thinks she was -- “killing it”! Ever heard an actor break into, “Bad question to ask Sara. Sara doesn’t know how to answer such questions.” Well Sara does! If you haven’t noticed already, she has some really cool one liners to share as well..

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Sara Ali Khan Reveals Interesting Fact About Ranveer Singh

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It’s your second film, and you are romancing Ranveer Singh. How does it feel?

Surreal! I think the first time when I went to Hyderabad, where he was performing at a wedding, my only motivation to go there was to see him (Ranveer). And the second time, when I was in Hyderabad, I was shooting for Simmba with him. So, I think it has just been a very surreal experience. I’m a die-hard Ranveer Singh fan. It’s just been a dream to be able to share screen space with Ranveer. He’s somebody who I have walked up to and asked for a selfie because I have never done that to anybody. I’ve never done that to even Hollywood stars, I haven’t even done with Mr Amitabh Bachchan, but I have done that with him.

How is Ranveer Singh on and off-camera?

When he is shooting, he is very different. He saves all this energy and charm for between action and cut. This is something that I did not expect because one knows of Ranveer, we’ve seen him, whether he’s in the media or giving interviews, he’s always so full of energy. So, I thought that he’ll just be like that constantly. But, I think he is infinitely smarter than that, he knows better than to expel his energy on meaningless stuff. He saves it for where it really matters.

So, there he isn’t this lad, who is teasing and having fun on the sets?

No, he isn’t. We might joke once in a while with Rohit Shetty. But, as a third person, if you look at Ranveer Singh, he’s very serious. Looking at Ranveer on sets is not what one expects.

What does a legit Bollywood masala film mean to you?

The way I define a masala Bollywood film is a Rohit sir film, which is why I can consider myself extremely privileged to be given this opportunity. I think it has every emotion, every flavour is depicted, and in a rather grand way, which makes going to the cinema hall a fulfilling experience. There’s drama, romance, good music, story, cars are flying but your heart is hurting and you are feeling it and you are living it with everything. When you come with your friends and family for two hours, and plus and get into the world, which is larger-than-life and grand, and not yours and make the cinema hall worth it.

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GLOBAL MOVIE INTERVIEWS

SHAH RUKH KHAN ON

ZERO BEING THE GAME-CHANGER FOR HIM

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Shah Rukh Khan and stardom share a karmic bond.

Both are made for each other. Decades have only added to the star’s appeal across continents and demographics.

As an actor too, he’s enjoying a different conversation with his craft. And he understands the possibilities are endless. Playing a dwarf in Aanand L Rai’s Zero is a gigantic leap of self-discovery for the actor. Through Bauaa, his character in the film, SRK celebrates the imperfections and incompleteness of existence... And discovers beauty along the way...

Zero seems to be an interesting experiment...

It’s not an experiment. It’s just about how you try to create a character. Physically, it’s a different character.

Also, we spend most of our life thinking, ‘I wish I could be happier.’ Or ‘I wish I was like this’. There are also many people telling us how we should be. Each one of us has a little bit of something missing, Nobody’s perfect. (Smiles) Except as I joke, ‘Katrina Kaif ’! So, no one’s perfect either emotionally, mentally or physically.

We should accept that as soon as possible and not waste time trying to be someone else while life passes us by.

We have just one life. You need to accept, this is who I am, this is the best I can be. Instead of worrying about the incompleteness, regard it as being unique. You just need to enjoy this one life that God has given us. We’ve shown three kinds of incompleteness in the film. One is a physically challenged person, one is a mentally challenged person, who’s actually a genius but has cerebral palsy. And then you have the most beautiful girl in the world, who’s not complete emotionally. The faster we accept our shortcomings, the better. Aanand L Rai has tried not to win sympathy or empathy for any of these three characters – be it from the audience or the characters themselves.

How nervous or excited are you for Zero?

We’ve been working hard for the past few months.

You’re so tired that you have no feeling left. We just hope that what we’ve made is liked by people. You never know because sometimes people like a film, which you don’t believe is great and sometimes they don’t like a film, which you think is great. I can’t analyse the film, it’s for the audience, who pay money to watch it. I just let it be after a point. Ab jaisi hai waisi hai. We can’t do anything about it.

Is Bauaa Singh, your character, the most challenging one you’ve played so far?

No, the VFX made it easy. The first few days it took us much longer than we thought it would. So, we took 200 days to make the film instead of 140 days.

The film is extremely cosy, emotional and warm. It’s a small film. We didn’t want to lose out the smallness,

the relationships… to the fact that we were making a VFX film. I had to be careful about small things like not walking with longer strides, a ramp had to be made instead of stairs. I had to be in a pit most of the time so that others could see me at that angle while shooting.

Did you meet any dwarf to perfect your part?

We have a person, who’s behind the scenes. His name is Ashish, an actor from Delhi. The idea was not to use a body double. He was helpful in getting the technicalities and the camera angles and perspectives right before we shot the actual scenes.

Zero is a complete numeral. When in life have you felt complete?

Zero is a perspective. If you look at it one way, it’s nothing and if you look at it the other way, it’s complete.

And that’s what the whole film is about. As an artiste, I’m incomplete. If I am not, then I wouldn’t like to work. Why would I wake up in the morning and still try to do something? As an artiste, I’m restless. I’m always thinking how I can bring in something new as an actor and as a producer. If you believe you’re complete, then you’re boring. The journey is important.

I regard an achievement as a milestone and not the end line. But I never plan it. I don’t calculate that I should earn this much or I should win that many awards or I should make that many hit films. It’s organic. If you’ve worked in films for long as I have, specifics become less important. You can’t predict the business the film will do no matter how expert one is. I find myself becoming less and less of an expert. That’s why I’m loving doing the films I’m doing. After 25 years of working, I feel the only reason you should work is for the happiness of your art.

Will Zero will be a game-changer for you?

With technology, it already is. VFX has to be made prominent in Hindi films for cinema to have better storytelling. We’re making the largest number of films.

We assume we’re the best filmmakers in the world. But the new influx of audience, the younger generation is not going to be forgiving about the cinematic visual and the sound experience because they’re used to watching beautiful international releases on their phones. Even in small towns, children are growing up watching all those films so the excuse that ‘Hindi cinema main chalta hai’ will not work. We must be the last generation that will see a tacky film. People believe that VFX must be used only for films like Baahubali. But that’s not true.

VFX must be used for the smallest of films. Directors should come forward and use VFX to enhance their storytelling.

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Asoka, Swades… were said to be ahead of their times…

(Laughs) It’s best to say a film is ahead of its time when a film flops. That’s the best excuse you have. In fact, someone asked me a few days ago, ‘What does ahead of its time mean?’ Time toh yahi hai. Isske aage kaunsa time hota hai humko kaise maaloom? But yes, there are a few films like Swades, which flopped. In retrospect, everyone talks about Swades being a lovely film. So was it ahead of its time? We appreciate its relevance today perhaps. But at that point, there was Shah Rukh Khan in it. After Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Lagaan, people went with the expectation of seeing a thrilling film like Lagaan. But, we gave them something else. Maybe, they expected a more commercial film. (Smiles) But some of the films have been bad, if they’ve not done well, they’ve not done well.

Bauaa Singh has a wicked sense of humour.

Writer Himanshu Sharma, Aanand L Rai and I have that wicked sense of humour. When the girls saw the film in the beginning, they felt he was so wicked and mean. We’re not used to seeing Shah Rukh like this. But there’s a reason for it. He can be upset because he lacks something. So, we didn’t make him angry or angst-filled or wicked. We made him funny instead. So, there is this little crass in him. He does say rude things. Like when the girl asks him, how could you think you could marry me, he replies, ‘Humare yahaan plot dekhne ke paise thodi lagte hai.’ As the film progresses, you find the rudeness honest. It happens with me also. When I crack a joke, sometimes people misconstrue it. But it’s with honest goodness that I crack a joke. I know you well enough to joke with you. So, don’t take it wrong. Bauaa’s honesty becomes stronger than his wickedness after some time. That’s the beauty of storytelling. He is who he is. None of the characters change to make the other happy. They just become happy with life being who they are.

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What’s more to achieve as an actor?

When I stepped foot in the industry, most of the journalists thought I was rude and arrogant. A lot like Bauaa actually. (Laughs) When I read my earlier quotes, I’m not embarrassed but I understand why I said them.

I’ve said things like, “I’m not junk food, I’m tandoori chicken.” Or “I’ve come to rule, not to be ruled.” I wasn’t arrogant. I had a lack of knowledge of the art and craft.

Over the years, I realised how little of acting I knew.

And when I knew less, I said a lot of things. But now that I know more, I realise there’s how much more to know. There’s so much more I can do and there are few hours and years left. So, when you ask me, what next for me, I can find a billion things to do as an actor. Of course, I may not have the capability, or the talent or the time or the stardom as years go by. But there’s no dearth of wanting to improve upon what I can do within the commercial set-up. Or otherwise

Zero Movie Interview Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif And Anushka Sharma Reveal All.

One of the most-anticipated films of 2018, and Shah Rukh Khan’s Christmas release, Zero, has hit the marquee on December 21. The superstar plays a vertically challenged person named Bauua Singh, who hails from Meerut. Also, starring Katrina Kaif as Babita Kumari, and Anushka Sharma as a person suffering from cerebral palsy, the trailer of the film highlights a love-triangle between them. Sharing their experience of this film, and their bond, Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma and filmmaker Aanand L. Rai speak exclusively to midday.com.

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Aanand L Rai: What convinced you to the fact that there’s nobody else but Shah Rukh Khan, who can portray Bauua Singh?

It’s very simple. I was looking out for a more secured star, and somebody who could understand the need for this kind of story to be told to the audience. I was very clear that with him, it’s just not the actor but a filmmaker who will understand the need for this story, and that’s what happened.

who are not here and we haven’t mentioned in front of the camera, they invoke confidence. If there is fun in a film, it will translate into fun for the audience.

Shah Rukh Khan: What motivates you to take up such challenging roles. Don’t you fear the risks involved?

Not at all. Actors should consider themselves as a medium to the director and the writer’s voice. For someone like me, who hadn’t trusted Abbas-Mustan to make Baazigar, if I hadn’t trusted Mr Yash Chopra to produce a film like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, if I hadn’t trusted the filmmaker to make Chak De! India, or if I didn’t go and see a film like Tanu Weds Manu or Raanjhanaa, then what is the whole basis of being a star. When you’re doing your job, I think it gets too compartmentalised into a business of films. I think it should still remain the business of art. Twentyfive years you can’t wake up every morning and be yourself and follow a template. I think Aanand L Rai, Himanshu and his whole team, some of the people

you to be able to portray the director’s vision. You can’t just think that it’s all in your mind and you’re going to create it as a character. When you trust the director, then I think you feel very fearless. That’s what I felt in this film because we all have so much respect for Aanand sir, and he’s one of the greatest filmmakers that we have right now. He’s very confident and never unsure. I’ve never heard him say, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m not sure’, for him it’s always yes or no. Because he is so much specific and has clarity in what he’s doing, I think you feel that confidence as an actor to be fearless and just go wherever he’s taking you.

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Katrina Kaif: How easy or difficult does it become to portray characters extremely contradictory to one’s personality?

It was initially difficult for me, and I think that’s where the director really comes into play. Again, I have been reminded of it in this film that how important it is for

Anushka Sharma: To what extent did you go to prepare for your character. How challenging was it for you to portray this character, and understand its nuances?

I think that every film you get into, you have challenges, and every film and its set of roles comes with challenges. But in this particular case, I understood that I was representing somebody who has a condition like cerebral palsy. So, it had to be done very truthfully but the good thing here was that both Aanand sir and Himanshu came with all the research regarding cerebral palsy, and how this would affect me physically, my speech and they had spoken to doctors. So, they really had completely created what this character of Aafia was going to look like for me. I just had to really follow his vision, and I just had to work with an occupational therapist, an audiologist to understand the specifics of body movements or speech. But I think, in the end, I just followed his (Aanand L Rai’s) vision, and it becomes very easy to follow a vision of a director like Aanand. He really has a lot of clarity about his character. He doesn’t even let you know but takes you on a journey, and eases you out completely, and allows you to have that sort of really strong faith in him as a filmmaker.

Katrina Kaif: While reading the script, did you ever contemplate playing Aafia’s character portrayed by Anushka Sharma?

I definitely felt that both of the roles were extremely well-written, and that’s something that I have noticed in all of Aanand sir’s films, and the writer Himanshu as well. I think they write really well for women. Their characters are very well-defined, they always have a complete arch in the film. From where they start, where they go through and also what are they trying to say with the character. Sometimes, I feel that you can get really good scenes but the whole character is not complete to what the director is trying to say with that women or with that girl. I think in that sense, I have always been very attracted to the way they portray women. I can definitely say that Aanand sir has kept that in the film for both Anushka and my character. They are both very well-defined, well-written interesting layers of character.

Shah Rukh Khan: People are really getting emotional after watching the trailer. Which is that one response that has really touched you?

Not many people talk to me and tell me about my trailer but that’s the surprising part of the trailer because when we first saw it, Aanand sir was making some versions and called us all to the office many times. The one thing I didn’t realise was that the film makes you feel this way or the trailer makes you feel that way (emotional).

I think that is the quality that Aanand sir has. He will start with the fun thing and before you know it, you are just captured into another place where you are getting entangled emotionally, and to be honest, even I did not realise that. Neither in the film, when did we leave fun and move into a place where we were still having

fun but started feeling extremely emotional about moments that were happening very lightly, I didn’t realize and the nicest compliment I think, Aanand sir only must have given saying, ‘Sir, theek ho gaya.’

Aanand L Rai: You also must have received some responses.

While making this film and the entire journey what was my need was making us as a team, and I always look forward to that. This should satisfy all of us; this should be happiness amongst us in the entire journey – Anushka, Khan Saab, and Katrina, otherwise, for me it’s just their smiles that matters. The day I started my shoot, I look forward to putting that smile on my actor’s face and that gives me a lot of energy. For me, the compliment is that they are happy.

Shah Rukh Khan: One very nice thing Aanand sir said to someone was that when he makes a film as a storyteller, it’s not meant to be ahead of the audience or behind them. He wants his characters to actually shake hands and be one with the audience. That’s the quality that came through the trailer. We are playing three very different worlds and characters, physically also. But, I think somewhere down the line the trailer kind of shakes hands with you.

Shah Rukh Khan: What was AbRam’s reaction when he saw you as Bauua Singh for the first time?

I think maybe I had imposed upon him that I kind of said it or maybe just he felt it. The other day I was showing him Husn Parcham song and the trailer was attached to the laptop, and we just saw it together. He just walked in and said, ‘Oh! This is the movie where you are acting like me and he went off.’

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One reason why the audience should watch this film?

Aanand L Rai: For my audience, it is just one thing, entertainment, and I really value those precious twoand-a-half hours that they will be giving us.

Anushka Sharma: I completely agree with him. I think ultimately people want to come to watch your film to get entertained, and this is the kind of film you can watch with the entire family and be entertained.

There’s something for everybody here, by this I mean, it has emotions, there are quirky characters and they are taking you on this journey of celebrating love, and I think that’s going to make everyone really warm inside while watching the movie and laugh throughout even in the most serious scenes. It’s not going to be all melodramatic and feeling sad, that’s the beauty of Aanand sir and Himanshu when they make movies.

Their film always has this humour even though they are very emotional. And that’s the kind of film even I will like to watch.

Katrina Kaif: I think it’s a film in a very fun-lighted manner without preaching too much encourages you to overcome your insecurities, weaknesses and your fears. It also encourages you to see life in a positive manner and since it’s coming on the New Years, it’s a great way to enter the New Years.

Shah Rukh Khan: I think it is a happy space film. It’s very nice for Christmas for the whole family to come together and watch it. It’s always nice if you have a familiar film, where everybody can come and enjoy but personally and very emotionally I would say this in the lines of Jerry Maguire, ‘You complete me.’ So, I think the two empowered characters of women that Aanand L Rai and Himanshu have written; they complete me as an actor – Shah Rukh and they (Katrina and Anushka) complete me as my character Bauua Singh. Come and see what it really means to have an empowered women story and different characters, two of them and acting it so well, without thrusting it on your face.

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Anushka Sharma: How is it to reunite with the same cast? Since the bonding is already there, does it simplify working with each other?

I think it was easy even the first time we worked together. Shah Rukh and I had worked before but the three of us when we started working together, it became very easy. We didn’t try very hard to get along, firstly as people and secondly even as actors. I think we gave each other space, support that you require to give your co-actor, and the same thing continues in this film also. Aanand sir is the new addition, so he’ll be the right one to answer about it.

Aanand L Rai: How was it to be on the sets with these three?

They knew each other so well that from day 1, I was a little surprised. Most of the times I would feel that the way Anushka is saying something on the set, maybe, Sir (Shah Rukh Khan) won’t like it, but they had great chemistry. So, it was easier for me to sail through.

Shah Rukh Khan: Why the title Zero?

There are two reasons for Zero, which is the philosophy of the film, it doesn’t come inherently in the story. It’s a perspective. If you see Zero from one side, you can assume it is nothing but if you see from the other side, it’s a hole – a complete circle of life. There are times in people’s lives when they believe that they have reached the Zero stage, now they are completely gone. Instead of looking at like this, you should think of it as a new beginning. All of us should be given a chance to re-live our lives, we would make some improvement in it. So, when you’re at the lowest stage in your life, look at Zero as – I have an opportunity to start all over again. And if you look at Zero, it’s nothing, and if you look at it, it’s complete and the main thing in life is, instead of trying to be, ‘How could we be better than Zero, we should be, can be, not be.’ What one should do is remember there is only one life and don’t waste life thinking in what we can be, instead of living the life to the fullest and celebrating it.

“Shah Rukh Khan and I spoilt each other.” Aanand L Rai

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He’s a filmmaker known for weaving romance in his rustic tales. Showcasing conflicting emotions and complex relationships against the backdrop of smalltowns, his directorials Tanu Weds Manu, Raanjhanaa and Tanu Weds Manu: Returns have won huge popularity. His offbeat productions Nil Battey Sannata, Happy Bhag Jayegi, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Mukkabaaz, Manmarziyaan and Tumbbad have also taken cinema forward. But nothing could be bigger than Zero, where he has superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma actualising his vision. While some high-end VFX promise a great viewing experience, Aanand L Rai, known for his grip over emotions and drama is all set to tale a riveting tale. A chat with the director, who has his heart in the right place…

Shah Rukh Khan and you make for a never-before combination. What can we expect?

You can expect a great story. The audience is only interested in the story. Khan saab and I are focussing on the story. We have enjoyed this journey, each other’s company. It was a tough film to put across but our passion has seen it through. We don’t take ourselves so seriously but we take our work seriously.

That’s we’re extremely emotional about this journey.

I’m excited about the fact that I’ve taken him back to his earlier days where he started off as Sunil, Raju, went to become Rahul and Raj… I’m just completing the cycle and restarting with Raju. It’s like what we say ‘Shuru se shuru karte hain, zero se shuru karte hain’.

Any inhibitions before working with a superstar like SRK? It hasn’t happened to me suddenly. I have worked my way up and have earned Shah Rukh Khan. He wasn’t gifted to me. I was looking forward to working with him and waiting for an opportunity and a story where I could go to him and say, ‘I have something very exciting for you.’ Zero gave me that opportunity.

They say Shah Rukh Khan can spoil filmmakers. He makes everything so easy and so grand.

Yes, he can spoil people with the kind of love he showers on you. It happened with me too. Luckily, I also had a lot of love to give him. So, we could spoil each other.

What has SRK added to your vision?

He’s completely a director’s actor. At the same time with his experience, he enhances the vision. He respects your storytelling. He’s so intelligent that he understands what the storyteller is thinking. As an actor, he will never say no to you. He believes the actor’s job is to deliver. And if he feels Aanand knows small towns well, then he’ll extract everything from me and use it for his character.

What more did you discover about him?

You know a person through his films. But in the last couple of years, I’ve understood that he’s a witty, humorous family man. His success is not just because he has given hits. It’s because of the approach he has towards life. The kind of secure person he is. There’s so much to learn from him - how to deal with people, how to understand a situation… He’s a well-read man. At times, I believe his intelligence can become a hurdle for him as he can understand way beyond the situation. He can foresee a lot of things. You sit with him for some time and you go back with knowledge.

How easy or difficult was it to work with such a big personality?

He’s the most obedient actor I’ve worked with. He’s obedient to a level that he scares me. Because you’ve got to be sure about what you’re asking. Because he is going to deliver. He will never question you. If you have slightest of confusion, you must first correct it before asking him for anything because then he’s unstoppable. That’s a great quality. He’s always ready to deliver.

You also have two talented actresses Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in your film…

They’ve been professional, supportive and fantastic.

Be it Shah Rukh, Katrina or Anushka is despite all their positioning, they come on the set like any other normal actor. That makes life so beautiful for all of us. I don’t have to think twice before talking to them, which is what I’ve always wished. As a director, I’m allowed to fall in love with all of them so that I can extract the best out of them. Both Anushka and Katrina are fantastic human beings and extremely honest people.

Zero must have been a challenge given the unique technology we see…

You’re known to be such a foodie and SRK it seems hardly eats. How did this combination work?

I had a star who was with me in the entire journey. As an actor, he was completely engrossed in the film. I always tell him, ‘You’re an actor with the heart of a filmmaker.’ He loves to be there in the entire process.

He’s waiting to hear what you’re asking of him. He’s so passionate about his work, which is brilliant.

We’ve been ‘contagious’ to each other. I used to sleep early, he used to sleep late. I used to wake up early, he woke up late. I was a foodie, he wasn’t. But now, I can be awake till late in the night sitting and chatting with him. And you’ll find him try out a lot of variety in food.

We have actually affected each other.

Speaking about the technology, I should be the last person to use any VFX in my film. I’m a simple man, I’ve lived my life on real locations, in small towns. I’ve made realistic films. But then again, I I’m the right person to do a film like this. Because I don’t value VFX as a technique. I value VFX as an emotion. My motivation is my story. I was dying to tell this story. To make the story look real, I needed VFX. I only think about my story and my characters. Everything else falls in place. I’m not attached to VFX as a technique, I’m attached to people.

There’s a dearth of good writers in the industry. How do you surmount that as a filmmaker?

Was the VFX bit a tough process for you?

My last film released in 2015. In the last three and a half years, I’ve made one film, Zero. But given the canvas of the work I feel I’ve completed four films. But I’ve enjoyed bringing those emotions on screen.

I feel we need to spend some more time on scripting.

We shouldn’t be in a hurry to put the film on the floor.

It’s important to make good films, not a lot of films.

We have good writers, we just need to start respecting them. But now they’re getting their due. Things are changing.

Cinema is now enjoying newer platforms. How do you look at these avenues?

It’s the future and digital is here to grow. But again, we need to study it in a better way. Things have started on a great note. I’m excited for the audiences as they’re going to get more stories. As filmmakers, we need to understand what stories should appear on the big screen because it must have cinematic value.

Meet the husband and star of the year - Ranveer Singh 20

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Just a few years back, he was learning to hit the mark. He came out of nowhere and singed the big screen with his searing performance in Band Baaaja Baaraat. Those who thought he was just a flash in the pan had a think coming.

It’s been eight years since and the moth has turned into a butterfly. He has slalomed his way to the top. Ranveer Singh. The name spells success today. And talent too. Frankly, it’s a great time to be Ranveer Singh right now.

The last few years have seen him emerge as a dynamic performer. If he was subdued in Lootera, he was randy in Goliyon Ki Raasleela - Ram-Leela. If he was a rich brat in Dil Dhadkane Do, he could mound himself as a Maratha in Bajirao Mastani. Earlier this year, he tore into yet another landmark performance as Alauddin Khilji in Padmaavat.

The coming months will see him play varied roles in Zoya Akhtarís Gully Boy, Rohit Shetty’s Simmba, Kabir Khan’s ‘83 and Karan Joharís Takht. Versatility has always been his main stay. He serves his Molotov cocktail of emotions each time. Looks like he has durability. Needless to say, he’s on every filmmaker’s wish list right now. His burstingat-the-seams wit makes us believe that he’s a happy-go-lucky regular bloke. But pull back a few yards and you see the bigger picture. A man hard at work to hone his talent. His hunger for good roles is insatiable. No wonder he’s regarded as a complete package today. His talent translates into huge revenues for filmmakers. Which makes him Bollywood’s star du jour. There’s another role he’s keen to perform. That of a hubby. He tied the knot with Deepika Padukone on November 14 at Lake Como, in Italy. He’s excited to start this new phase in his life. He calls himself the husband of the millennium. Deepika’s happiness is his happiness he claims. Awww. Just the kind of man every woman dreams of. Right now, Ranveer Singh is at the top of his game. And I begin by asking: Your marriage to Deepika (Padukone) has created a huge buzz... How ready are you to be a husband?

(Smiles) I’ve been ready for a while. I was just waiting for Deepika to be ready. It would happen whenever she had decided. I was fully ready and raring to go.

Why Lake Como in Italy? Do you believe in fairy-tales?

Whatever she wished, I wanted her to have it. That’s the first step in being the husband of the millennium.

Whatever her vision of getting married, I wanted her to realise it. Whatever she wanted, it was done exactly in that manner. She deserves every bit of it. I too deserve happiness and my happiness comes from her happiness.

It’s that simple.

When did you realise that she is the girl?

Six months into the relationship, I knew she was the one. I nurtured the relationship accordingly. It’s been six years now. She’s too good, too lovely. She’s a force of nature. I understood that almost immediately.

She’s lucky to have you...

I don’t think about these things. I’m lucky to have her. I knew all too well that this is the woman I’m going to marry. This is the woman who would become the mother of my children. I’ve been thinking about marriage seriously for almost three years now. I was just waiting, I told her the minute you say so, we’ll do it.

happened three years back as well. Now that she’s also feeling right about it, it’s perhaps the right time now.

When two people feel right about it, itís the right time.

Now, the perception attached to married actors has also changed...

Oh yeah. It reflects the evolution of our society, of our audience. It’s applause worthy. I’m a huge fan of Deepika as an actor. As a fan of hers, I’d like her to keep on doing some great movies. The emotional depth that she has as an actor, well, only the surface has been scratched so far. She’s an unexplored actor still. She’s selective about her films. She wasn’t committing to any project for the last two years. But now that she has, she has selected one of the highest order (Meghna Gulzarís biopic on acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal). She’s going to pour her heart and soul into it. She wanted to be sure if it was worth it. I respect her for taking her own time to take that decision. I was so happy and relieved that she finally liked something. I’m excited that she’ll be working on a new project soon after our marriage.

What changes are you expecting in life now?

Now it will be more regulated, more streamlined. I’ll wake up earlier; I’ll reach work on time and return on time. She’ll add a certain discipline in me that will help me as a professional. I’ve been waiting for it because discipline is one department where I lack. I don’t wake up early enough. I don’t reach on time, though I’m not Both of you are at the top of your game. Is this the a horror story like some actors. But I can do better. I right time to be distracted by marriage? want to have a work life balance. I want to be done by I believe when the feeling is right, it’s the right time. I’ve evening and spend time with family. been feeling itís right for a long time. This could have January 2019 Global Movie

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Marriage is going to demand a lot too...

Yes, things will be different, there’ll be demands on my time. Marriage takes some work and effort. (Smiles) I’ve not been married before. So, I don’t know what’s coming my way. I’ll figure it out along the way, like I did with acting. But I believe it’s going to be a blast. We’re going to be living together officially. I’ve been wanting to shift gear into becoming a family man for a while now.

Over time, my friend circle has become smaller and smaller. There are few people, who I want to spend time with. From 18 to 28 I wasn’t connected with my family so much. Now, I want to spend more time with them.

I want to go on family holidays, I want to come back home to my family. Deepika is also a family-oriented person. That’s another thing I love about her.

How has she changed you?

She’s someone who demands authenticity of character.

That’s the biggest influence. She’s a real person and demands that you keep it real too. If you want to be her friend, her partner or part of her life, you have to engage with her in an authentic manner. She has anchored me.

I could have got carried away with my name and fame.

But she grounded me. Before she had her blockbuster year, we’d already started dating. I’ve seen her deal with failure and success. She’s one hell of a person; she runs her whole show herself. I can’t say that for myself. I’ve got support. My family’s based in Mumbai. She’s the CEO of her world in the truest sense. There’s a lot to admire, respect and learn from her. She has the discipline of a sportsperson ingrained in her. I hope it will rub off on me. She has good habits. She’s an early riser, eats well, sleeps well, she doesn’t procrastinate, she’s meticulous.

This is a good influence on an undisciplined person like me.

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But you’ve been a giver in the relationship too. Right?

Yes I have. Iím a giver in a relationship. I’m happy to do that as thatís being true to who I am. We’re different people and itís great that weíre so compatible. She finds something in me thatís not in her. I find something in her that’s not in me. We have different sensibilities, different aesthetics, different tastes, but similar interests and core values. We complete each other.

Do you believe youíll be a good husband?

Husband of the millennium! Iíve always said I am the best boyfriend ever. Now itís time to be the best husband.

As an actor you’re amongst the best too...

How can I say that? What I can say is that Iím enjoying my work. Which means you’re creatively stimulated and you’re pouring yourself into it. Invariably, the work will be good. Itís great right now. To go from Sanjay Leela Bhansali to Zoya Akhtar to Rohit Shetty means something. These are some of our finest filmmakers.

Then there’s Kabir Khan’s ‘83, something Iíve never done before. Though it’s not a biopic, itís the story of an ‘underdog’ team, which went on to win the World Cup. Thereís Karan Johar’s Takht. There are a few new directors too in the pipeline. I’m in a good space. Every time your performance is lauded it motivates you, it gives you validation. Padmaavat did that for me. It’s one of my most appreciated performances. Straight after Padmaavat, I jumped into Gully Boy. After that I did Simmba and now ‘83. My hunger is insatiable. A funny thing happened on the last day of Simmba. We had to take some hand shot. (Laughs) While waiting for the shot, I found myself thinking about ‘83 and I started doing the bowling action. I was already into the next film. I just want to act. I get restless if I go on a holiday or if I sit at home even for a day. Work excites me so much that I want to do more and more of it.

From Khilji to Kapil Dev... How do you manage such a range of roles?

In my previous interviews with Filmfare, I’ve mentioned that the idea is to be versatile. The elite actors I’ve admired are the ones, who have a wide bandwidth and the quality to transform. What’s the criterion to become an elite actor? Versatility. I always wanted to be a versatile actor. When I did Band Baaja Baaraat, people believed I was actually the character I played on screen. That I was high strung and high on energy.

They doubted if I’d be able to do things at the other end of the spectrum. That’s why I deliberately did Lootera at that point. To establish that I had the ability to do a variety of things. The offers fell into place after that.

In 2013, I had two diverse films Lootera and Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela. A soft-spoken character in the first one and a randy and rowdy Ram in the second. Then in 2015, I had Dil Dhadakne Do and Bajirao Mastani.

One was a contemporary black comedy and the other my first costume drama. Zoya Akhtar and Rohit Shetty are on the opposite ends of the spectrum, right? I’ve done their films back to back. Zoya believes I’m the best choice for her film. Rohit also feels the same. In Gully Boy, this guy hardly speaks. There’s more listening and reacting than actual dialogue. Whereas in Simmba, I’m driving everything. As an actor, Iím not stuck doing the same thing because then monotony sets in. That’s not a good space to be in.

have to adapt to the energy of the new character, you have to change your physicality. When you’ve let some time pass, you slowly let go of the previous character and the place for a new energy is created in your system.

Gully Boy would have been compromised if I didn’t have that homework period when you let go of one thing and start the pursuit of another.

Is it easy to let go of a character? Say, you’re on a different set and something of Khilji comes back to you?

In my case, the films have taken long to complete. To live with the emotional turbulence of Bajirao was so difficult that by the end of it, youíre ready to let it go.

It’s like you are waiting to exhale. Same with Alauddin Khilji - to live with that monster in your head for so long was so difficult that towards the end you’re just counting the days. These are heavy-duty characters they bear down heavily on your system. In Alauddin’s case, the day the last shot happened and I cut the cake, I was done. People believe that heavy characters are the ones that are the toughest to let go. But the truth is that they leave the fastest because you want to let them go.

How do you select a movie?

If I’m offered a role thatís similar to something I’ve done before and if that character is still in my system, I won’t do the film. Right now, people are calling me a ‘costume drama specialist’ because I’ve signed Takht. But it’s different. One, it’s headed by Karan Johar. A film is about the director’s vision and not about the genre. If Takht didn’t have something to offer, why would I choose it?

I’d not trap myself. Also, this costume drama will come after Gully Boy, Simmba and ‘83. A gap of two years is fine. Padmaavat was my third film with Bhansali. People were like itís your third film with Deepika and Bhansali (after Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani), what different are you going to do? Later, I was praised for it. People were like with the same director, same DoP, same editor, same writer, same set-up you’ve done something different. Ram, Bajirao and Khilji are so different from each other. Takht isn’t anything like I’ve done before.

It’s a different period film, it’s a different character, his emotional graph, his core, his values are different.

What do you have to unlearn when you shift gears playing different characters?

You can’t walk into a new film right out of another set. If I didn’t have a gap and if I didn’t demarcate 15-20 days for prepping, I wouldn’t be able to do a new film. You

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You were sceptical about playing a negative character like Alauddin Khilji. But it paid off...

My apprehensions at that time were valid. When I read the material, it was daunting. I realised how far I’d have to go into this black hole and that was scary. It’s psychologically sucking to play such a dark character.

Imagine I’m in isolation for 21 days and I’m engaging only with dark material. I’m reading about tyrants and genocides. I’m seeing pictures of mass killings, I’m watching dark films. When you’re marinating in that darkness, when you’re manipulating yourself into that

shooting, I told the cameraman I wasn’t feeling too good. The next moment I’d blacked out. They told me my hands were turning in, my eyes were popping out, my mouth fell open and my nerves were visible. They put a spoon in my mouth so I didn’t bite my tongue. The next thing I remember was my dad beside me when I opened my eyes. We were somewhere in the outskirts of Maharashtra. I didn’t recognise anything. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life. People said it was probably black magic. Everyone had their theory. I don’t know if that’s a price worth paying.

Go on...

During Padmaavat too, a lot of s @#t happened. It was a difficult film to execute; every day took a toll on me. To shoot without a break was the highest level of difficulty.

I barely had time to rest before heading to set again. I was so busy being Alauddin Khilji that I started losing touch with Ranveer. I realised that even off camera I had started reacting like Alauddin. For instance, if someone in my team made a mistake, I’d react like Alauddin.

I remember one night I walked into the bathroom, I But it was worth it. Right? looked into the mirror and I couldnít recognise my face.

I don’t believe that you have to pay a high price to It scared the sh** out of me. I was being Alauddin at create something. I don’t know if pinching my side to home too. My expressions wouldn’t change even after create the pain of a gunshot during Lootera was worth I had taken a shower and changed into my night suit. it. Because of that, my back started hurting. Slowly the Imagine waking up at 9 am and reading about how this disc started slipping out. I was on bed for two months. guy in 5th century Russia used to mutilate people and I don’t know if falling sick after shooting the climax of ending your day reading about some nymphomaniac. A Bajirao for 11 days was worth it. On the 12th day after person can go mad. And I was going mad. kind of headspace, it’s a trip. The price I had to pay was high. It was a physically difficult film but my mental health suffered. My mental health suffered during Bajirao Mastani also. When Bajirao loses his senses, I feared I was going mental. Now, that I watched the climax three years later, I realised that the way I look is half make-up and half because I was actually looking like that. I had begun looking sick. So it comes with a high price.

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If given an option would you do Alauddin again...

No. It’s such a dark character. I wanted to do a negative character at least once in my career. So I did it. But when it was offered to me, I was not in that space in life. I was apprehensive about doing it initially. Recently, an actor turned down a negative role and I could understand why. I know the apprehension. I chose to do it; this actor chose not to do it. That’s totally understandable.

It was a courageous decision.

comedies in recent times. Even Chennai Express.

In these past eight years what have been the most exhilarating and challenging moments?

It’s exhilarating when your work is appreciated. I’ve faced challenges along the way that were seemingly insurmountable. But like they say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. When Bajirao Mastani happened, it was a shock for my system because the role required so much. My first film, Band Baaja Baaraat, was a challenge Yours was a courageous decision too... because I was so kaccha. I didnít know anything. During No, no. My decision came from my own self-loathing. my second film Ladies V/S Ricky Bahl, I was dealing with Everyone has a negative side. The thought was now the fame, I was semi-famous. It’s a weird space to be in intensity of my wrongdoings will be equal to my struggle because you’ve got validation but not enough to satisfy to correct it. So when I played the part and got done, it you. You don’t know how to deal with fame and it can be felt like all the rubbish was out of my system. It felt like dangerous. You have to hit the ground, make mistakes atonement. and bear the brunt of it also. So in my second year that was the challenge.

After this heavy-duty experience, you walked into Rohit Shetty’s Simmba. What’s the mind space you Then? had to be in for that?

In my acting class, everyone remembers me as a person, Simmba is also pretty heavy duty. The character speaks who could do high-pitch roles. So something like Lootera a lot, he drives every scene. The switch is on the whole was new for me. Then to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali time. The shooting style here wasn’t stretched out like for the first time was an experience in itself. Gunday with Sanjay sir. There we would do one scene in four days. was physically challenging, while Dil Dhadakne Do was Here we’d shoot two scenes a day. The film is intense like a holiday. Befikre was again a holiday. Then came in many parts, it has many flavours. While it has light Padmaavat, which was extremely challenging. Along the moments, it’s also heavily dramatic. The new thing that way these challenges have solidified me as a performer.

I got to do was comedy, which is so difficult. This kind of It’s not that I don’t get scared of characters. Playing comedy is a play of timing. I compare it to jumping on a Kapil Dev will come with its own share of challenges. To trampoline. If you jump in the centre you’re going to be adapt to Rohit sir’s shooting style during Simmba was a fine, if you move back or ahead, you’re gone. I believed challenge. The machine gun kind of shooting is tough to I had grown up on this, so it’d be fun. But it was tough. cope with. Before you process what you’ve done in the But who better to do a masala comedy with than Rohit last shot, youíre giving the next shot. But I’ve come out Shetty? He’s cracked it. Golmaal 3 is one of the best more evolved.

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GLOBAL MOVIE B FILES

Rajkummar Rao: Success Of A Film Is Not Determined By Its Budget

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Rajkummar Rao who has seen a successful year 2018, has said that success of a film is not determined by its budget

Actor Rajkummar Rao, who has seen a successful year 2018, has said that success of a film is not determined by its budget. Rajkummar Rao was interacting with media when he unveiled first look of his forthcoming film Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga along with his co-actors Anil Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Juhi Chawla and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra on Monday in Mumbai.

Rajukummar Rao starrer horror comedy Stree went on to become one of the highest grossers of year 2018 with box-office collection of Rs 180 crore against its mere budget of Rs 25 crore. Similarly, many small budgets film like Raazi, Andhadun, Badhaai Ho, Hichki and Pad Man managed to earn 4-5 times of their actual budgets.

On the other hand, big budget films of big stars like Race 3, Thugs of Hindostan and Zero bombed at the box-office. “I think success of the film is not determined by its budget. I feel it’s about the content. Content of the film eventually decides budget of your film so, if your content is strong and if your audience is able to connect with it then, it will do well,” said Rao. Rajkummar Rao-Sonam Kapoor starrer Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga tells the story of a Hindu woman in love with a Muslim man, whose life falls apart when she discovers her father’s infidelity with

a woman who aspires to be an actress.

Sharing his experience working in ‘Ek Ladki...’, Rao said, “It was really nice experience for me working in this film. When makers of the film approached me with the script, I decided that I had to do this film. I was very moved after reading the script.”

Talking about her experience working in ‘Ek Ladki...’, Sonam said, “When Vinod (Vidhu Vinod Chopra) called me and told me that I am doing one film and I want you to be part of film that time, I felt it was a wonderful compliment coming from such a reputed director and producer.

“Shelly ji (Shelly Chopra Dhar) narrated the film’s script to me and after hearing it, I felt that it was one of the most beautifully structured scripts I have heard. It is a very complete, entertaining script. It has emotionally satisfying and beautiful ending so, when I heard the script, I told myself that I had to do it.”

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is a romantic comedy film directed by Shelly Chopra Dhar and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It stars Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Sonam Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao in the lead roles.

It will hit the cinemas on February 1.

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Shah Rukh Khan: In India We Assume We Are Talented, Don’t Learn Acting

Shah Rukh Khan says he wants his daughter Suhana to learn the craft of acting before venturing into films as he does not want her to simply assume that she is talented Superstar Shah Rukh Khan says he wants his daughter Suhana to learn the craft of acting before venturing into films as he does not want her to simply assume that she is talented. Shah Rukh says Suhana came on the sets of his latest Zero and observed how things function. “She came on sets because learning acting has a lot to do with spending time on the sets and learning production. She did the same in London and while she was here.

“She said she still has two weeks to go back to London and we were shooting a song for Zero in the coming two weeks. So she came here to have that experience,” Shah Rukh said in a group interview. The Raees star said he wanted his daughter to observe a film set, including his co-stars Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, and learn the nuances.

“I wanted her to see Anushka and Katrina perform live as both are such different kind of actors. Katrina has her own charm and Anushka has her own way of enacting things. So I wanted her to spend time (on sets). So what they did is they put her onto me as an assistant director.

“But I think ground experience is good for actors or any kind of job, only as an internship. But you have to finish your education first. If you have the opportunity to study, it formalises and makes your craft better. So, I want her to study first for some time.” Shah Rukh says Suhana will train for three-four years more, doing plays and theatres.

“In India, I think we don’t learn acting, we just assume that we are talented. Like if you drive very first, it first mean you are going to become a Formula 1 driver.

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You’ll have to finally learn it. So I want her to have a formal training in acting. The experience matters a lot,” he added. Zero is scheduled to release on this Friday

Sara Ali Khan: Rohit Shetty Is The King Of Commercial Cinema Sara Ali Khan is all praises for her Simmba director Rohit Shetty Newcomer Sara Ali Khan considers her Simmba director Rohit Shetty the “king of commercial cinema”. “I am a huge Rohit sir fan. I aspire for versatility, and I mean it. I messaged Rohit sir thrice and he responded on the third message. I think he is the king of commercial cinema. So, knowing that Rohit sir and Ranveer Singh were coming together, I had to,” Khan told the media when asked why she wanted to work in a Rohit Shetty film.

the serious zone... I think it is my responsibility to tell that story in a serious manner. When I, along with my team, watched the final cut of the film, everyone told me that I made a woman-oriented action film,” Shetty said.

Sharing her opinion on the safety of women in society, Khan said, “The film is addressing the issue and that is my favourite part in the film. In a Ranveer Singh and Rohit Shetty film, the audience Simmba addresses the issue of rape and sexual is going to expect high energy, entertainment and harassment of women, and how rapists often walk flying cars. Yes, those elements are there but then free after the crime because of the negligence of it comes to the real social message. Something police and political power. The film shows how needs to be done. There’s a need to bring a change the protagonist Simmba, played by Singh, brings in the system. Obviously we cannot go to every culprit and change them, but we can change the a change. view of the people and how they look at it.”

“Within 45 minutes of the film, the story gets into

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KANGANA RANAUT: DIRECTING IS LIKE A WORKER’S LIFE

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Kangana Ranaut who took over the reigns as director of her forthcoming film Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi, says directing a film is like leading a worker's life, but she had fun while she was at it Kangana Ranaut, who took over the reigns as director of her forthcoming film Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi, says directing a film is like leading a worker’s life, but she had fun while she was at it. Kangana interacted with the media at the trailer launch of Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi along with her co-actors Ankita Lokhande, Mishti and Suresh Oberoi, as well as producer Kamal Jain, writer K.V. Vijayendra Prasad and music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy here on Tuesday.

The Queen star stepped into the film’s original director Krish’s shoes after he departed the project due to what has been blamed on scheduling conflicts and creative differences. Asked whether she wants to pursue direction in the future as well, she said: “I was telling my sister yesterday, I don’t know what it is about me that I really love working as a technician as no actor wants to be out in the sun as opposed to being in the air conditioned van.

“No actor wants to be sweaty where 80 people are asking you like 100 questions. No actor wants to do recce of locations when you can simply be in your luxury suite. I don’t know what it is about me that I am so comfortable in this job that there is nothing more that I love than directing, even though I don’t get to wear make-up and I don’t get any special treatment.”

She added: “It is absolutely a worker’s life to be honest but there was something so amazing about this job.

I don’t know why people consider it a job. It is just so much fun. I think acting is more like a job but directing is just like having fun. I hope I get more chances to do this and I hope I continue doing this because this seems like my first love.”

In past interviews, Kangana had said it was her dream to play the role of Rani Laxmibai in her film career.

How does it feel now that her dream is fulfilled?

She said: “A lot of people tried to make it (film) and before Kamalji (Jain), there was another producer who had approached me for a similar subject. I worked on that script for two years as well, but then we didn’t get additional producer to produce the film and that project didn’t materialise. So, I had serious setbacks with this, but eventually we came up with this film.

“Therefore, I feel today is a very special day for all of us because we have made it.”

Asked if she has learnt anything new after playing the role of Rani Laxmibai or whether her perception about the warrior queen has changed after doing this film, she said: “I haven’t learnt as such after doing this film because we have heard so many stories about her since our childhood days. My only brief to our costume team or music team was that to match up to her legacy because it is too larger than life and nothing is good enough. The kind of stories we have heard about her bravery is absolutely amazing.

“There is one scene in the film where she jumps off her fort with her child on her back and rides a horse but while doing that scene, we were literally drained...

There is nothing which seems good enough.

Therefore, I feel even if we can live up to the audience expectations, then it will be good enough.”

The film, set for release on January 25, 2019, is produced by Zee Studios in association with Kamal Jain and Nishant Pitti.

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Aamir Khan: When I Sign A Film, I First Look At The Story Aamir Khan who is called as the perfectionist of Bollywood looks at the script while deciding a film Superstar Aamir Khan, who is called as the perfectionist of Bollywood, looks at the script while deciding a film. “When I sign a film, I first look at the story or the script...Actors and technicians are all a part of the film but it all begins with the writer. The writer is the origin and the most important aspect of the making of a film,” Aamir said in a statement.

The Thugs of Hindostan actor is currently judging Cinestaan India’s Storytellers Script Contest. So while sharing what he expects from the aspiring writers, he said: “We are looking at somebody with an imagination and a different story or scenario that we come across, where the characters have been well written, the premise and goal is clear and where the whole journey of the story is highly entertaining and engaging. That’s what we look for in a good script.”

Cinestaan India’s Storytellers Script Contest is launched by Cinestaan Digital Pvt. Ltd. As a part of the contest, the winners with the best script will be awarded a prize of Rs. 25 lakhs.

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Global Movie January 2019

Ranveer Singh: I Am Not Going To Tone Down Just Because I Am Married

Ranveer Singh will not change his personality after his marriage to Deepika Padukone, and says he doesn’t want his wife and actress to change herself either.

Actor Ranveer Singh will not change his personality after his marriage to Deepika Padukone, and says he doesn’t want his wife and actress to change herself either. Deepika and Ranveer got married in Italy last month.

“Marriage is like the best thing that has ever happened to me. I feel some kind of magic, some kind of power, it’s like I’m invincible. You know in those superhero movies, you know that moment when the suit comes on. I feel like marriage has done that to me,” Ranveer said during a session at Times Network’s India Economic Conclave 2018.

He says getting married makes him feel “grounded, feel secure”. “I’m really loving it. It

has only been about 10-15 days now but it’s so nice, it’s so lovely. I would highly recommend it to the entire young population of the country.

Take it from me, it’s great,” added the actor, who was present at the fifth edition of the conclave to talk about new age role models. Asked whether the couple is planning to expand the family, he said: “It’s not my call really. I mean partly it is, but mostly it’s just her”. “I allow her to make most of the decisions because she is just better at everything. I have no qualms in accepting that she is a much more evolved, a much more mature person than me. Of course I love her, but I respect and admire her for everything that she has achieved. She is a much greater person than me. She has achieved a lot more than me,” he added.He says he has not toned down. “Did you see what I was wearing for my wedding?

I was wearing a leopard on my shoulder for one of the events. A leopard who had green lasers coming out of his eyes! How is that toned down? It was hot pink. Manish Arora made it especially for me. He is my spirit designer, and he’s really out there.”I don’t think I’m going to tone down or change who I am just because now I’m married which leads me into the next part of my answer that if it happens, I’m not going to filter it. I’m just going to allow it to happen if it happens naturally.”

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When Priyanka Met Nick: A Love Story The first time Nick Jonas met Priyanka Chopra, he got down on one knee.

Jonas, 26, has the same fresh face that graced the cover of Tiger Beatten years ago, but his oncewavy hair is now cropped short, and even black long sleeves cannot hide the small mountain ranges that are his biceps. Though their age difference has been a point of obsession in the press (Chopra, at 36, is ten years older), Jonas seems the more senior and serious of the two. He moves around with a quiet, clandestine intention, as though, in addition to ordering room service— two turkey burgers, no buns—he might be looking for his house slippers. (“I call him Old Man Jonas,” Chopra says when I note this.)

Seated primly on the couch in a mustard-and-black floral sheath by Christian Dior and black heels, Chopra is chatty, exuberant—and psychotically pretty. Sophia Loren–in–her–heyday pretty. Takeher-to-a-Dodgers-game-and-you-will-end-up-inthe-owner’s-box pretty. (That happened on their third date.)

Jonas uncorks a bottle of champagne and pours us mimosas. The bended-knee encounter took place at the Vanity Fair Oscars party last year, he explains. Jonas was hanging out at the bar, dressed in a velvet suit, a white rose tucked into his breast pocket. He noticed Chopra breezing through, in a long black sequined Michael Kors Collection dress.

“And I put my drink down,” Jonas tells me, “get on one knee—this is in front of a bunch of people— and I say, ‘You’re real. Where have you been all my life?’ Like, loud.”

Nick and Priyanka were not perfect strangers.

They’d been texting each other for months because—well, because this is a 2018 love story.

(More on the texting later.) Chopra had a car waiting and a flight to India to catch, but that didn’t stop Jonas from suggesting a drink. “I looked at Anj” (her manager, Anjula Acharia), Chopra says.

“And I said, ‘Five minutes.’ ” It would be almost a year and a half before Jonas proposed. Naturally, they would spend most of that time not seeing each other. Yes, Ralph Lauren invited them to attend the 2017 Met gala together—not knowing anything about their months-long text flirtation. And yes, they met for a proper drink a week before the Met at the Carlyle hotel in New York. Chopra ended up inviting Jonas to her apartment that evening—even though her mother was home watching Law & Order in her nightgown. (Introductions were made, and Jonas confirms that Chopra’s mother, Madhu, was indeed wearing her nightgown.)

All along there were signs, chemistry, a mysterious familiarity building. Looking back, Chopra can pinpoint the moment she felt a subtle shift. She was on a date in L.A. with Jonas and he said, “I love the way you look at the world. I love the drive you have.” “As a girl, I’ve never had a guy tell me, ‘I like your ambition,’ ” Chopra says. “It’s always been the opposite.”

PRIYANKA CHOPRA IS undoubtedly one of the biggest movie stars in India. She’s acted in more than 50 films, including India’s first superhero franchise, Krrish. She played an autistic runaway in Barfi!, India’s submission to the 2012 Academy Awards. For her portrayal of an exploited model in a 2008 drama about the Indian fashion industry called, simply, Fashion, she won a National Film Award—India’s equivalent of an Oscar.

But movie star doesn’t begin to convey Chopra’s place in Indian culture. Having become famous at the age of seventeen, in 2000, when she was one of three women crowned Miss India, and then doubly famous later the same year when she was crowned Miss World, Chopra is something closer to a head of state, albeit one with a remarkably diverse portfolio.

Her production company, Purple Pebble Pictures, develops movies across India’s regional film industries and in its various languages: Sikkimese, Punjabi, Hindi, English. She has a YouTube series

in the works and has become something of a tech investor as well, with a stake in the dating–and– social media app Bumble, which she is helping to bring to India this fall. (“It’s the idea of it that I love for India,” she tells me. “It’s empowering girls to take control of their futures. You want a career?

Go online; pursue the person you want to meet.

Choose the kind of guy you like.”)

In recent years, Chopra has become well known in America thanks to the FBI drama Quantico— which made her the first Indian-born woman to lead a prime-time network show in the United States. Although Quantico was canceled this year after three seasons, Chopra most definitely was not. Come February she will star opposite Rebel Wilson in the rom-com send-up Isn’t It Romantic.

Chopra, in other words, has done what no Indian superstar before her has managed: cross over into Hollywood. “High-profile people in the industry in India would be like, ‘It’s never happened before.

It’s not going to happen. You’re wasting your time,’ ” Acharia says. (By the way, Chopra is the only celebrity managed by Acharia, whose primary occupation is venture capitalist.)

At the news that Chopra was engaged to the youngest Jonas Brother—and when photos surfaced of the couple’s rokaengagement ceremony in Mumbai, showing the onetime teen idol in a kurta-pajama—a kind of mania broke out.

Partly it was the seeming abruptness. Didn’t they just start dating? Is he old enough to get married?

If anything, the attention in India was more intense.

There Jonas has acquired a national nickname, a play on the Hindi word jiju, which means “brotherin-law” or, more precisely, “sister’s husband.” As of this summer, in Indian newspaper headlines and across Indian social media, Jonas is now referred to as “National Jiju.

Chopra and Jonas own, by my count, six homes, spanning a distance from Mumbai to Mammoth, California. Two weeks before our lunch in Las Vegas, I meet Chopra at her penthouse in Lower Manhattan, with its wraparound views and its

white fluffy rug, over which Diana, her tiny terrierchihuahua, has free rein.

We’re not here long. Chopra is starving. She alerts her security that we will be walking to a café nearby. We take the elevator downstairs, where a swirl of staff appear and disappear. One security guard remains, hovering within a five-foot radius of Chopra at all times as we make our way uptown on foot. Compared with Mumbai, I remark, where she would be mobbed, New York must feel like a respite. Chopra responds by identifying paparazzi positioned in various spots along our route— “There you go,” she says, “there you go”—their telephoto lenses protruding from behind parked cars.

We get to the café and settle into a table in the back. Soon a waiter delivers what can only be described as wooden slabs of deconstructed avocado toast. As we assemble our respective toasts, Chopra tells me about her childhood.

Both of her parents were doctors in the Indian Army. Her father, Ashok, was a surgeon. (He died of cancer in 2013.) Her mother, who now coruns Chopra’s film-production company, was a gynecologist. They met at a party in Bareilly, a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and were married ten days later. Madhu jokes about her daughter’s own fast engagement. “She’s like, ‘It’s in your genes,’ ” says Chopra.

When she was twelve, Chopra visited relatives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was amazed that students

didn’t wear uniforms. She asked her mother to let her stay in America for high school. “That was my teenage vanity,” Chopra says, laughing. “I was like: I get to be cute? Girls are wearing makeup and their hair down. Land of the free, here I come!”

She spent part of her ninth-grade year in Cedar Rapids, and the rest with relatives in Queens, New York. Tenth grade she spent with extended family in Indianapolis, Indiana; eleventh grade in Newton, Massachusetts. Her favorite city was New York. “Because it was Queens,” she says. “So diverse, so fun.” She discovered hip-hop. “I had braids. It was a whole thing—puffer jackets, I was in love with Tupac. I wore black for 20 days when he was killed.”

She was less crazy about Newton, where she was subjected to racist taunts at school. (“Go back on the elephant you came on,” she remembers. And “Oh, my God, do you smell the curry?”) “It really marked the way I felt and my self-esteem.” Chopra decided she’d had enough of the U.S. “I wanted to go back to the uniform.”

Madhu barely recognized her daughter at the airport. “I sent her there a lanky, carefree tomboy, and what came back was a gorgeous female,” Madhu tells me later. “From a chrysalis to a butterfly.” The attention from boys would be so intense that Chopra’s father installed iron bars on the windows of the family home. “The house looked like a fortress,” Madhu remembers. (“A jail,” Chopra says.)

One day, Chopra’s brother Siddharth was paging through one of his mother’s magazines when he happened upon an advertisement for the Miss India contest. “This little fellow, my son, all of nine years old, came into my room,” Madhu remembers. “He said, ‘Is Didi beautiful?’ I said, ‘I think so.’ He said, ‘Is she five-eight? I said yes. ‘Is she seventeen?’ I said yes. ‘OK, then why don’t you fill this out?’ ” (Later, when I reach Siddharth, who is now a chef in Mumbai, he tells me that Chopra had taken over his bedroom. The Miss India idea was his plot to reclaim it. “I thought, I’ll get my room back.”)

Chopra was studying to become an engineer—but she begged to go to the preliminary Miss India competition in Delhi. “I remember the doors of this hotel opening, and these tall, lissome, gorgeous women walking out—in my head, in slow motion—and big tears started rolling down my face,” Chopra says. “My mom said, ‘Don’t worry about how you look. Speak so that they listen to you. Have something to say.’ ” She won.

She won the Miss World competition in London, too—at which point the film offers started pouring in. Chopra learned acting on set, by doing.

“Life prepared me for it,” she says. “All the moving around. I knew what cultural differences were. I knew that differences don’t make us different.

Differences make us interesting.”

Chopra was ten years into her movie career when, in 2010, she was contacted by Acharia, who was riding a wave of success of her own and had found a business partner in music executive Jimmy Iovine. The two were looking for an Indian artist who could break into the American market. By chance, Acharia had seen Chopra in a spoof hiphop video a few years earlier. Chopra agreed to a meeting.

Her first single, “In My City,” made with will.i.am, was released as the official theme song for the NFL’s 2013 Thursday Night Football season. The reaction was hostile. Social media erupted with a flood of racist comments (“Who is this Arab terrorist?” and “She’s not American. This is an

American sport”). “It took me back to being that sixteen-year-old girl again,” says Chopra. She pauses. “I remember talking to my manager and saying, ‘It will always be like this.’ ” So when, the following year, the ABC casting executive Keli Lee flew to Mumbai to persuade Chopra to meet with her about Quantico, Chopra was hesitant. “The only thing I told her was: I don’t want my ethnicity to lead the part that I play,” Chopra says. “I want to have a job. I want to have a plot. I want to have a story.” The night the show premiered, Chopra calmed her nerves the way she often does: She sat by the pool of her Los Angeles hotel in a bikini, with a Bellini in hand. “Bikini Bellinis make me calm,” she says. “It’s my happy place.” Quantico blew up and was ultimately broadcast in 64 countries during its first season.

Never, during all that time, had Chopra allowed herself to be photographed with a boyfriend.

“I’ve had that rule my whole life,” she says. “Never publicly acknowledge a relationship. Ever.” But when I bring up Jonas, Chopra covers her face with her hands. She visibly melts. “What is happening?

I’ve not known myself like this,” she says. “This guy turned me into such a girl! If I could blush, I’d be tomato red right now.”

Cut back to Vegas, where Chopra and Jonas have now unearthed and reviewed the electronic record of their courtship.

“It was Nick who sent the first message,” Chopra says.

Jonas confirms this, deadpan. He’d sent a text to Graham Rogers, Chopra’s costar on Quantico: “ ‘Priyanka. Is. Wow.’ ” Jonas lets the words hang.

“That’s not the way I talk.”

Next was a direct message from Jonas to Chopra on Twitter: “I’m hearing from a few mutual friends that we should meet.” I ask for the date.

“September 8, 2016,” Jonas says. “We checked this morning.” He goes on: “She responded day of with a message that said, ‘My team can read this.

Why don’t you just text me.’ ” (Here Chopra erupts,

like she’s cheering at the Super Bowl: “Boy got the number!”)

They text back and forth, an epic correspondence— “friendly with an eye toward flirtation,” Jonas says.

Then came the Oscars drink. Then the Carlyle and Chopra’s apartment. “We hung out for a couple of hours,” Chopra says. “He patted my back before he left.”

“There was no kiss. There was nothing,” Jonas confirms.

“There was a back pat,” Chopra says, with a look of pure incredulity on her face.

“She’s still upset about that.”

Chopra demonstrates the platonic pat on Jonas’s back.

“Your mom was in the house!” Jonas says. “I thought it was a respectful first night.”

“It was too respectful if you ask me.”

They had an incredible time at the Met and the after-­parties. Later, I call Nick’s brother Joe Jonas, who was also there with his fiancée, the actor Sophie Turner. “I think she kind of knocked him off his feet. He was just this little puppy dog,” Joe tells me. Joe still has a photo he took of Nick at the end of the night, at the Carlyle: “He’s sitting on the floor. And Sophie and I were just laughing at him.

We’re like, Look at this little smitten, drunk kid right now.”Jonas and Chopra didn’t see each other for an entire yearafter that. Not until the next Met gala, in fact, where, oddly, they ran into each other on the red carpet This, apparently, was the pivotal point when timing began to work in their favor. In Los Angeles later that month, Jonas invited Chopra to a live performance of Beauty and the Beast. They met at the Chateau Marmont. Jonas: “She walks into the Chateau, and I feel an overwhelming sense of peace and understanding about this next chapter of my life.” The next night, they went to

the Dodgers game. The following morning, Jonas called his mother and informed her that he was going to marry Chopra. “This is date three,” Chopra says.

Jonas proposed in Crete. As far as Chopra knew, it was to be a birthday trip. Jonas waited until after midnight, so that future engagement anniversaries would not coincide with her birthday celebrations.

He had the ring with him, having shut down a Tiffany & Co. in London to pick it out with his brothers a few weeks earlier.

“I got down on one knee, again, and I said: Will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?” Jonas says. “No joke—she took about 45 seconds. Forty-five seconds of silence.”

(Chopra says she was speechless.)

Jonas pressed on. “I’m going to put this ring on your finger now unless you have any objections.”

First, Jonas and Chopra will marry. They will have two ceremonies—a traditional Indian wedding and a Christian service officiated by Jonas’s father—each held in different spots at the palace in Rajasthan.

The three-day extravaganza promises to be over the top. “People will need vacations after this wedding,” Chopra says. It will be, in tone, not unlike Jonas’s description of the roka: “Two very different cultures and religious backgrounds, and the beauty of it was, there was so much love and acceptance for our side.” “Nick’s mother thinks she was Indian in a past life,” Chopra adds. “She rocks a sari.”

Chopra will wear a custom gown by Ralph Lauren, very likely more than one. Before this, Lauren has made wedding dresses only for his daughter, his daughter-inlaw, and his niece.

But he personally came to Chopra with sketches. Jonas will dress like royalty, as is customary—turban, sword—and he’ll ride in on a horse.

The roka took place in August. “It was such an incredible comingtogether of two really ancient cultures and religions,” Chopra says.

Jonas’s father, a pastor, “Are you comfortable said a prayer. A Hindu priest led blessings. “Nick did the Hindu prayers,” on a horse?” it suddenly occurs to Chopra to ask.

Chopra says. “The prayers are in Sanskrit. Even I can’t say them. But he did it in Sanskrit. The Indians “I am,” Jonas says. “I can’t wait.” were so impressed with their National Jiju.”

Jonas and Chopra will walk around a fire seven Chopra and Jonas are drawing up long-term plans. times, once for each of the seven lifetimes they They will still do what they’ve done thus far, we will spend together. Truth be told, Jonas is already can assume, but philanthropy will become an even of the opinion that they’re on their third lifetime bigger focus. We can also assume they will have together, possibly even their fourth. Either way, children, possibly several. “My ultimate dream is he says, “I’ll take seven more.” to have kids,” Chopra has said in the past. “As many as I can.”

GLOBAL MOVIE TELEVISION

Radhika Madan: Winning Award Motivates Me To Work Harder

Radhika Madan who has bagged the Most Promising Newcomer award, says she feels motivated to work harder to entertain people through her work Actress Radhika Madan, who has bagged the Most Promising Newcomer award, says she feels motivated to work harder to entertain people through her work. Radhika won the trophy at Star Screen Awards in Mumbai on Sunday for her debut act in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Pataakha.

“I didn’t expect it. It just happened. It motivates me to work even harder to entertain more and more people, and give my 200 per cent. I gave my heart and soul to Pataakha”, Radhika told IANS. “It didn’t do commercially well, but to be acknowledged for that... it speaks a lot,” added the actress about the film on two warring sisters.

The Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi actress has also acted in Vasan Bala’s film Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, which is expected to release next year. “I never picked those films. I feel that when I plan stuff, it doesn’t work for me, but when universe plans it for me, it works the best,” said the actress, who has done TV shows as well.

While she had to go for a few rounds of audition to get the role of Badki in Pataakha, the story of how she got Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota is slightly different. “I went to audition for Laila Majnu. Somebody saw me there and asked me ‘Can you kick?’ I was a dancer before. I did a few kicks,” she said. And soon, she joined the cast of Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota.

For her, budget of a film doesn’t matter. “I am not thinking about the budget of the film that much. I am just waiting for something to come up and excite me. Be it a commercial film or an indie one, anything that makes me want to just jump on my bed and go for it,” she said.

Here’s why Vikrant Massey is the actor to watch out for Vikrant Massey is busy as hell. He’s got an important role in the remake of Criminal Justice, which is being developed into a web series by Tigmanshu Dhulia. The director has given him an important life lesson. “Tigmanshu told me you’ve got to constantly refill yourself. And the biggest input is from life itself… experiences, observations… We’ve become so consumed by technology after digitalisation that we overlook things around us. Things which would have affected us a few years back,” he says.

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He’s also playing the lead in Ronnie Screwvala’s Yaar Jigri, helmed by debutant Amit Joshi. The film pairs him with Sunny Singh of Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety fame. Other projects include Arati Kadav’s sci-fi film Cargo, Alankrita Shrivastava’s Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare and Seema Pahwa’s Pind Daan. He’s part of web projects like Mirzapur, Made In Heaven and Broken as well. Well, all this proves his eclectic tastes where it comes to his selection of roles.

Hailing from Versova in suburban Mumbai, Vikrant witnessed many shootings in the vicinity while growing up. “I have memories of actors like Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff shooting near my home,” he smiles.

Vikrant began learning dance under Shiamak Davar’s tutelage from an early age. Later, he became an assistant instructor with Shiamak. He was just 16 when he got a casting call for a serial. He got selected but the show for which he had left his secure job with Shiamak, never went on air. But as luck would have it, someone from Disney Channel happened to spot him. They cast him in a show called Dhoom Machao Dhoom. “This turned out to be a rage among the youth,” he says. He rose to further fame with the popular daily soap, Balika Vadhu even though he wasn’t the lead in the show.

Vikramaditya Motwane’s Lootera (2013) came to him after a decade in the business. He played Ranveer Singh’s friend and assistant. “Films just happened. As a youngster, I enjoyed watching films like Maqbool, Satya and Haasil. I sensed a shift in my sensibilities at an early age, when I began watching offbeat cinema rather than candyfloss films,” he says. He elaborates, “ I wanted to play characters like Om Puriji’s in Tamas. Or like Naseeruddin Shah’s in Mirza Ghalib and Irrfan Khan’s in Maqbool.” In the 14 years of his career, he considers every day a challenge. For him, acting means creating life out of nothing, breathing form into the writing on paper. And he considers it a never-ending process.

Except for Death In The Gunj, he has played bit roles in films so far but that doesn’t bother him. “I was never apprehensive about playing the hero’s friend. The challenge is to deliver what the director imagines you as rather than doing things you imagine,” he explains.

Zoya Akhtar’s interpretation of his character Rana (the rich kid in Dil Dhadakne Do) was poles apart from the Rana he had imagined. “But the fun was to deliver what she wanted,” he maintains.

According to him, more than the film Death In The Gunj, it was director Konkona Sen Sharma, who was the turning point in his career. Vikrant delivered a breakthrough performance of his career as Shutu. A brooding, lost boy searching for affection in a world that sees him no more than a means, Shutu is the star of the film. “Konkana gave me what no one did. She saw in me what probably no one else did. I’ll always be indebted to her. She doesn’t wear her lineage or her intellect on her sleeve,” he says of the director. “After Death… people realised my potential. Now, there are writers who write for me, people are backing projects resting on my shoulders. I hope to stand true to the expectations,” he shares of the credibility he has earned as an actor.

He’s enjoying his journey in all mediums - television,

films, short films and web series. “I’ve been lucky to collaborate with like-minded people. I do not see myself as an ‘Indie actor’ but as an actor, whose capability and contribution is steadily being recognised across all platforms,” says he.

Rather lanky and lean, he doesn’t necessarily fit into the abs flaunting heroes of today. He’s not desperate to hit the gym and develop six-pack abs. Likewise, he doesn’t want to dance around trees despite being a trained dancer. “I wouldn’t call it inhibition but yes, I’ve never considered myself an extremely good-looking guy. That didn’t alter things in any way,” he remarks. His mother is a huge Satyajit Ray fan. Like her he was fascinated by the maverick and offbeat as well. “None of my idols were conventionally good-looking heroes. Rather, they were extraordinary with the talent they possessed. Be it Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Irrfan Khan or Pankaj Kapur,” he explains. “So, I’m in a happy space. If there’s a character that demands a chiselled body, I’ll get it. I’m working towards it for a project,” he informs.

Money too is not something that floats his boat. He recently rejected a celebrated filmmaker’s offer for a role he wasn’t convinced about. “I was tempted to take the plunge for monetary purpose alone. I was being paid a lot of money. But better sense prevailed,” he confides. “I feared I was going against my ethics and social conscience. I thought paisa kama lenge aage phir kabhi,” he reasons.

He concedes that it’s difficult for an outsider to put his foot in this industry. But he also believes that if nepotism exists, free and fair opportunities also thrive in the industry. “Else, I wouldn’t have been here today.

The beauty of this vast industry is that merit always survives.” He admits that fear of failure is natural and he suffers from it as well. He points out that an actor’s failures become public affairs. “Your mettle determines how you deal with it. Fear of failure drives away complacency,” he says.

He prefers to keep his private life private. He has a wonderful companion in Sheetal Thakur, an actor herself. “We aren’t closeted about our personal lives just to create an intrigue about us. You can see our pictures on our Instagram handles. I don’t talk about these things as I’m shy,” he says. “I prefer coming back to a regular home like any other family. Coming back to reality from this glamorous, fragile, world of make-believe keeps me sane. Or I can be consumed by things and turn selfdestructive at times.”

He’s happy replenishing himself with loved ones. And with their support, he says, “It’s possible to dream.”

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GLOBAL MOVIE HEALTH & FITNESS

Hrithik Roshan Workout: Kris Gethin Transforms Bollywood Star

A lush, celebrity lifestyle left Hrithik Roshan with a blown-out back, a bulging gut, a tobacco habit and serious desire to change. Enter Kris Gethin, the hero’s hero.

Movie stars in India make American celebrities seem like B-list busts. The lifestyle is fun and exciting, but it took its toll on Hrithik Roshan, the action star from Mumbai. Instructional supply met muscular demand when the Sheru Classic Asian Grand Prix came to Mumbai, along with the best bodybuilders and trainers in the world. There, Roshan met his new mentor Kris Gethin. Kris introduced Hrithik to nutrition with taste and helped him fit back into his superhero costume for Krrish II! The physical transformation was remarkable, but Gethin’s guidance struck Hrithik at an elemental level.

He realized the flaws in his life are prevalent in the subcontinent cultures. He has vowed to change the way India eats.

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Q. What Caused You To First Seek Out Kris Gethin?

It’s the initiative I had to take. I had to make a change in my life. I was living off the myth of being the fittest guy, because that is what I’ve become symbolic for in my country, in my news, my career.

The past year has taken its toll on my time and my state of mind. I just let myself go. I eventually ended up with a double slipped disc in my back. I was lying supine on my bed for months and feeding off all the love of my family in the form of brownies and cupcakes, chocolate and all that. Everyone kept sending it because I was sick.

Eventually, when I got up, I had a 36-1/2-inch waist. I was suffering from blood pressure, high and low: one day high, one day low.

I didn’t know what was going on. I am slated to begin my father’s movie, in which I play a superhero. It’s part II in a series. I called for my superhero jacket, the Krrish Jacket and I couldn’t get that on. I couldn’t get it on and I was like, ‘I’m not meant to play this right now. I’m not the guy who is worthy enough to play a superhero. I need to get myself worthy enough. I need to make a change.’

That’s when I decided to search for help. I was smoking 3 packs a day. I have been smoking for the last 2 1/2 years now; everything was just going the wrong way. I knew that if I don’t put a stop to it now, it’s going to take over my life. That’s going to be my downfall.

I searched the whole world for help. I went on the net.

I Googled. I spoke to friends, and fortunately for me, there was the Sheru Classic, being held in Mumbai (9-25-11). A lot of the major bodybuilders came, and Kris [Gethin] himself was down here. Through all the feedback I got, his name was the only name that kept popping up in every conversation.

I understood that he must be good, and I got a hold of his book. I read his book. I was very impressed. I saw some potential there. Also perhaps it was a sign from God that his name was Kris and I was training for Krrish, which is the name of my people’s hero. I figured we might as well try this out.

The rest is history. He came down here. He didn’t know from Adam who I was, and neither did he care. All he cared about was if I was committed enough before he came down to Mumbai. Once he was satisfied, that was it, that’s how we joined.

When You First Sat Down With Him, What Did You Tell Him Your Goals Were? Did You Just Want To Lose The Gut You Developed, Or Did You Actually Want To Get Big And Superhero-Esque? What Was The Program?

I’d done that before in my life. I’d gotten into the best shape. I’d go back to all the wrong ways, eating chocolates and letting myself go. I knew that this wasn’t just getting into shape for a character. This was something I wanted; it had to be a lifestyle change. It had to be something that would last me all my life. That’s what I told [Kris].

My mission is to make a lifestyle change. I want to wake-up every morning of my life and feel healthy, feel like I want to live, feel like my body is serving me well and I am serving it well.

You Do A Lot Of Your Own Stunts In Your Movies. Did You Guys Emphasize Functional Training As Well As Muscle-Building Techniques?

We incorporated a lot of CrossFit sessions because I have to be in athletic condition, which will also help me from getting injured. We’ve incorporated a lot of CrossFit, along with the weight training. A lot of cardio work, CrossFit and weight training.

You’ve Had Some Difficulties With Back And Knee Injuries, Perhaps From Your Stunt Work In The Past. Was It Tricky To Navigate And Work Around That Stuff?

I’m all damaged goods here. Just put me back piece by piece. I’ve just completed my transformation and I look at myself and I am amazed that something like this is possible. It was a 12-week transformation, but we completed it in 10 weeks.

I’m just amazed at the possibilities of the human body, and how easy it was. There was no sacrifice.

Everything just flowed. I was loving my meals. They were nutritious as well as tasty. I don’t think I can go back to normal (if I can say normal) kind of food again, where it’s just about taste and not about nutrition. There’s a double delicate, with the taste as well as the nutrition and it is all great food.

I’m eager and almost desperate to make people aware of what all is possible. People need to get educated where all this is concerned. There’s just this scarcity of information. People are just lost and here is the best help that exists on the planet. I am living proof of that.

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I Think The Notion That Healthy Eating Is Unappetizing Is Such A Misnomer; It Tastes Much Better Than What You’re Used To. It’s such a misnomer; it’s so sad. I wouldn’t have wanted to believe that 12 weeks ago. I wouldn’t have believed it until I tasted the food and actually was made to go do this. Right now it is a revelation. What were we doing? What were we thinking? Now I look at people when I pass the supermarket. I look at the food and I look at what people are buying and there are healthy options all around. And they were around in my pre-transformation days. I didn’t know about them. I didn’t know about the concoctions that were possible.

Can You Give A Few Examples Of The Kind Of Meals You Started Eating Once Kris Changed Your Diet Around? Maybe A Sample Breakfast, Lunch And Dinner That Was Healthy For You? I’m having pancakes with sugar-free syrup, which is made with a protein powder. It’s the best-tasting pancake in the world. I’m having the banana split with protein powder and yogurt. The possibilities and the list are really long. There are meatballs with ketchup if I want to do that.There were a lot of changes in the plan as we saw my body progress. It mainly consisted of about 100 grams of meat, there were some fibrous carbs, like broccoli, sprouts and spinach, a cup of rice or pasta, some really great flavoring. That made up my staple foods for the day. But, now that the transformation is over and I can go back, because I’m not dieting anymore; the world is open to me.

There are all kinds of things, pasta, rice; I’m having seven egg whites with two yolks and two slices of toast. Does this sound like the type of person who is on a diet? No. Anyone can survive on this. It’s amazing.

Of course, I did go through a week or two of deprivation, which was necessary because I had to diet down to get the kind of look I wanted. We went that way for two weeks, but now that it’s over ... it never gets over. This is for life.

I’m going to stay on my nutrition, depending on the way I want to go. I have the control now. It’s really an empowering feeling.

Do You Have Any Of The Stats? How Much Did You Lose?

After 10 weeks training with Kris Gethin Hrithik went from a 36 1/2-inch waist to 30 inches. He lost 10 kilos, or about 22 pounds.

When people look at my picture, they think I look bigger now. The illusion makes me look like The Hulk.

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You Took Some Supplements. Did That Help You, Give You An Extra Edge?

I think everything Kris told me helped. I just followed his instructions and waited for the results.

There was a lot of protein powders and glutamine, multivitamins, but there was nothing more than the stock vitamins athletes take.

You Won’t Be Working With Kris [Gethin] Indefinitely. Do You Feel Like You’ve Mastered It Enough That You Can Now Take Those Lessons And Continue The Path You’ve Chosen For Yourself?

Yes, I can, though right now I’m not going to let Kris go. I’m making him stay back for 10 more weeks.

We’re getting on to another transformation, a muscle-building transformation. My after picture turns into my before picture.

I feel very empowered already to take over the reins of my own nutrition plan and share it. Of course, Kris will always be there.

Despite Being A Movie Star, You Were Headed Down A Pretty Unhealthy Path Recently. Looking Back, In 10 Weeks You Really Changed The Entire Trajectory Of Your Life, Your Body. What Would You Say To Other People Who Think They Can’t Do It Or That It’s Going To Take Forever? What Words Of Encouragement Might You Offer?

That’s just because they have not been educated.

They don’t have the information or have not seen the examples. Whatever examples they’ve seen seem so far away. You see it in a book or you see pictures and you don’t really connect with it as much as you would if it was your brother or your friend who had gone through that.

I have the power now. I have the platform. My fans feel real close to me. I’m hoping that when I propagate this and I tell them, try to educate them, they will listen to me and realize this is far too easy.

We’ve been living in a kind of Matrix with all the subsidized foods and the fast-food culture. We just got lost. The youth needs to really be re-conditioned, re-wired about what is good, what is bad and what is possible. That’s the only way to help at least my

country get healthier.

If you’re not in the athletic world and you’re just one of the guys out there, you just eat what you’re fed. You have no control. You have no education.

I feel responsible now. I feel it’s my duty to educate people.

Hrithik’s Nutrition Plan During the transformation he undertook with Kris Gethin, Hrithik changed his nutrition plan weekly, sometimes daily, based on his condition and body weight.

Gethin also took heed of Hrithik’s blood type and insulinsensitivity. There were recurring themes, thoughHrithik’s proteincame from: Hrithik’s Supplement Schedule Hrithik’s pre- and post-workout shakes were prepared with Myofusion, mixed with walnuts or oats in a SmartShaker. He also whipped up protein shakes on shoots when he didn’t have time for a meal.

BEFORE BED PRE WORKOUT MORNING Optimum Nutrition Glutamine Optimum Nutrition Bcaa Gaspari Anavite Now Grapeseed Antioxidant Now Omega-3 Now Liver Detoxifier

BEFORE CARDIO Grenade Thermo Detonator

Gaspari Sizeon Optimum Nutrition Bcaa Gaspari Anavite Grenade Thermo Detonator Now Grape Seed Antioxidant

POST WORKOUT Genr8 Vitargo S2 Optimum Nutrition Creatine Optimum Nutrition Glutamine Optimum Nutrition Bcaa

Optimum Nutrition ZMA Optimum Nutrition Casein Optimum Nutrition Glutamine Optimum Nutrition Bcaa Now Omega-3 Now Grape Seed Antioxidant Now Liver Detoxifier

Hrithik’s Training Regimen Hrithik performed 20 minutes of cardio after breakfast and again after working out in the evening. He chose from among swimming, beach walking, running, Crossfit and various cardiovascular machines.January 2019 Global Movie 47

0 1 P TO N O O M Y E HON ATIONS IN N I T S R E DE T N I W N I A I IND bell wedding e th s te era cozy ter reverb exotic and n a r fo As the win ts ity r life temp escape from the c u o , ts n a ch y to oon is on holida . Honeym e v la c n nts honeymo e tranquil ful mome a ti u to a r e u b o t s clam e mo ories y one of th amed in our mem tl n re a p re p a that is fr ith love, lu e w m d ti e ll fe fi li r e of ou of tim gs he period iance brin b T . m y ll a a c n ti r o ete quix ecution midst the r the pros e d n u of t and lust a u that burst ct hide-o y fe r c a e p m a ti in forth ys of and al. Few da uoyancy b th o in tr e d b n f le o sp g flames re everlastin 48

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any ally with m s c ti o x e d nestle ation on destin e. India is o c n m y te e is s n r o e p ng h and nd tempti bell chants ut from g in d d popular a e the post w p the gemstone o tals that echo le rose pe t picking u id u g B . in k ts c n lu e us r of p mom is a matte e article th h re T u . s e a s e a v tr n the et in your oneymoo u h q u 0 1 o b p e to from g the from th se to opt som durin lo o c b u a o r y e s ff draw tions that o lar destina s in India u n p o ti o a p n e ti s th de om wed out fr winter he in India.

1. Jaisalmer Amidst the shifting dunes, quaint havelis and overlooking the orangish horizon Jaisalmer as a honeymoon destination in India is one of the words of mouth amongst the honeymoon love birds. The exotic destination offers you to experience an ideal honeymoon holiday filled with activities like desert safari, camping and bonfire. During the winters the destination beholds a rejuvenating entity. Arrayed with quixotic resorts and brass ring to step on the quaint havelis, honeymoon in Jaislamer in one word is “bona fide�. Set for the day an enchanting camel safari en route the love bites and gamey pinches and head for a traditional dance and music show and thereafter a candlelit wine and dine that enriches to your bed of flowers.

2. Udaipur Get arrests within the bounteous luxuries reflecting on the gentle ripples of the lake city-Udaipur. An ultimate getaway to start a refreshing life with your partner where majestic palaces flash the royal life of the Rajputs, love rows on the sparkling lakes and whispers at the colourful sunset. Udaipur is said to be one of the princely honeymoon destinations in India that is located in the heart of the incredible state of Rajasthan and brings back home a fusion of royalty and romanticism. If you are hassling for where to go for honeymoon vacations in India in winter and seeking to savour an epicurean banquet topped with the cultural diorama and lush green panorama under the shadow of the Aravalli Mountains, Udaipur is a seraphic pick. The city offers not only the royal aroma but also draws couples to step on the ardent antique marble floor of the Lake Palace, which stands amidst the jewelled waters of the Lake Pichola. So when you are picking up a honeymoon tour out from the royal treasure, Udaipur in winter is definitely one of the best honeymoon picks in India.

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3. Goa So you have finally decided to go for a lazy and leisure honeymoon vacation this winter in India. Well Goa is undoubtedly a stimulating pick but there you go… often during the winters, which is the peak tourist season, your dreamlike honeymoon seems like amidst the whole world. Still Goa fetches the trendy honeymoon couples to spend their exotic days as Goa hosts some of the secluded, tranquil and pristine beaches overlooking the Arabian blues. The Miramar Beach, which is one of the isolated beaches in Goa, offers a harmonious ambiance reverberating the local trance. It is a perfect hideaway for the couples looking for a sunburn day and thereafter a relishing Goan cuisine at the shore… that makes a perfect honeymoon holiday. Holding in a pristine and peaceful ambiance and also dilating the ethnicity of Goans, honeymoon on the shore of the Arambol Beach is JUST TEMPTING. Love on the abode of the Olive ridley sea turtles must be a surreal way to spend your honeymoon vacation. Thus the Morjim Beach, which is also dubbed as ‘Little Russia’, is another secluded beach that answers exotically to your daze… where to go for honeymoon vacations in India in winter. Nonetheless Goa is one of the hotspot tourist destinations in India and there are many beaches where you can bustle your honeymoon with lot of activities and shake your body on the soft sandy floor by the folk music. Moreover there are many places to visit in Goa. The ancient churches and forts are dotted are special attractions. The Dudhsagar Falls is also another attraction around Goa.

4. Munnar Think of a verdure honeymoon place in India where you will find bountiful natural beauty tempting you to enjoy the pleasurable moments amidst the whispering woods, varied spice plantations and tea gardens. Munnar brings back home the diorama of love, nature and wilderness and a mighty hill station in the hues of Western Ghats, in Kerala, which dwells with a soothing and amorous climate throughout the year. Far from the clamour of the city, Munnar is a world of its own. The evergreen forest that breathes in and out the endangered species blanketed under a thick mist is a unique territory where you can step in for a quixotic stay.

Life there simply turns to flutter like a butterfly spreading your honeymoon wings with varied colours, emotions and tunes. Honeymoon holidays in Munnar especially in winter are a way to mingle with your partner and share the warmth with the wild nature. The couples can also go for a short trek to the Anamudi Peak. The other attractions in Munnar are Echo Point, Top Station, Pothamedu View Point, Mattupetty Dam, Kalvari Mount, Forest Rose Gardens and many Tea Estates. The Kurinjimala Sanctuary, Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary, Eravikulam National Park and Anamudi Shola National Park are also major places to visit in Munnar.

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5. Ooty Topping amongst the hill stations in South India, Ooty is an unparalleled get away for the honeymoon migrating birds during the winter.

The colonial colours secluded within the dilating hues of the sprawling verdure encircling the sparkling lakes and dwelling with a pleasant climate throughout the year makes Ooty one of the best picked honeymoon destinations in India even during the winter. The best time to blush in the cool winter zephyr along with blossoming rose orchids that is bedded over the rolling slopes… Ooty is a gateway to fasten the bond. Even during the peak tourist season the honeymoon tours in Ooty finds a serene place to rejuvenate. The mighty hill station hosts much luxury to budget resorts having honeymoon suites for the couples to bind their first bond of eternal love. A leisurely walk holding each other’s hand along the lakeshore and off ramps down the slopes, the panoramic view of the Western Ghats from the edge of the ridge and playing with the cool winter breeze, makes your honeymoonscape to Ooty a niche one. The exotic ride on the toy train from Conoor and the boat ride on the gentle ripples of the lake… hiking amid the evergreen hues and mulling over the colonial ambiance, Ooty bring back home a diorama of enchanting memories.

6. Andaman and Nicobar Islands Far from the mainland, the archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar is every honeymooner’s dream. Set amid the refreshing blues of Bay of Bengal, honeymoon in Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the winter only speak of ardent love and spread idealist moments. Along with the radiance of honeymoon holidays, the exotic destination also reflects the sprawling underwater lives and allows one to acquaint the marine plants and colourful fishes. The Karmatang Beach, which is an abode to leatherback, hawksbill and green turtles, is one of the major attractions in Andaman. Nonetheless honeymoon tours in Andaman are also popular for quixotic Ocean Cruise and stepping on the floors of luxury resorts that reflects the local ambiance. Picked up as one of the popular honeymoon destinations in India specifically during the winter, the honeymooners often hop from one island to another and bustle to activities like snorkeling, scuba diving and boat rides. Wake up to bird song in lush, evergreen forests; dive into shoals of brilliantly coloured fish; swim with elephants in clear blue water; breath in the crisp, salt-tinged air of the ocean; hop across islands and eat exquisite local fare… A DREAM COMING TRUE when you are planning for Andaman as a honeymoon destination during the frigid days of winter.

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7. Darjeeling Though a bustling hill station that is nestled on the verdure of Lesser Himalaya in North Bengal, Darjeeling, during the winter is an ideal offshoot of the quenching honeymooners. So you are seeking to light a bon fire along with a savoring dine and unique wine… and straightaway fall on the carmine bed. The bright sunny winter morning allows you to acquaint the lush green valley dotted with sprawling tea gardens and the bird’s eye view of the Himalaya from the Mall Road and the panorama of the Kanchenjunga Range from Tiger Hill tops your winter honeymoon in Darjeeling with bountiful scenic beauty. Tourists stay away from Darjeeling during this time of the year… so you are all set to make love in the open air and feel the surreal warm whispers of the frigid isolation. The heritage ride on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is one of the best parts on your honeymoon in Darjeeling.

8. Manali Aah! Seeking for a tight warm hug and a liplock moment on the snow bed covering the slopes of Manali? There you go for a unique honeymoon destination in India AND THAT ALSO in winter.

FREAK OUT! CHILL OUT! SHIVER! But your bond with your partner is going to make you warm. (WINK). During the winter in Manali, couples often bustle their honeymoon in several activities like skiing, paragliding and hiking. Nonetheless the enchanting view of the farfetched snow clad Himalayan Range from your window pane, mouthful dine and unique wine and the traditional colours of the Himachal folk, makes your honeymoon in Manali packed with several clicks, tastes and tunes. Nonetheless you can also pay a divine visit to the Hadimba Temple and also hop to the Buddhist monasteries. You can also drive up to Rohtang Pass (that’s going to be freezing) and Solang Valley and thereafter to Kullu Valley, Naggar and Kasol.

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9. Nainital When honeymoon plans are made at the eleventh hour and you hassle for where to go for honeymoon vacations in India in winter‌ do you think of Nainital? Overlooking the quixotic Nanini Lake, honeymoon in Nainital seems a perfect escape for the ideal love birds. Nainital during the winter is damn cold but offers the best bond between the honeymoon couples totting up with pleasurable moments and warmth. There are many luxury hotels and resorts those are well equipped with centrally heating system. Nainital also brings back home a diorama of scenic beauty. The panoramic view of the distant snow clad peaks from the Snow View Point and visiting the ambiance of Sattal Lake, the Bhimtal Lake and the Naukuchiyatal Lake are the major attractions in Nainital.

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