It is that time of the year when Ahmedabad comes alive with various festivals and among them is Gujarat Literature Festival. In just five years’ time, GLF has gained a distinct identity and become a hot favorite with both, the authors as well as the audience. In my opinion, the festival is special is its core team and the immense enthusiasm they generate to the entire team because of which there is boundless energy in the atmosphere.

But before I get to the venue I have an important stop at Dainik Bhaskar incidentally the print partner of GLF. I have just started a column in the widely circulated Navrang the magazine supplement of the newspaper. When Krishnakant Unadkat, editor of Magazine, Bhaskar comes to know I am coming to Ahmedabad he insists I stop by at his office for a cup of tea.

I am glad I did because I discover the mechanics of bringing out a daily supplement on varied subjects: Health, Women, Children, Cinema, Spirituality, Commerce to name a few and this can only happen when the team has super chemistry and for this credit goes to the editor.

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In 2002 when Badhai Ho Badhai was released it did not make the impact that was expected, from either the critics or the box-office. Anil Kapoor’s obese look did not go well with the audience and he was relieved that he had used padding and not gone and put on weight because that would have been really depressing.

Satish Kaushik and Anil Kapoor did not make any more films together but continue to remain good friends. Subhash Ghai withdrew partnership with Anil and Satish films but continue to remain good friends with both Satish and Anil.

Shilpa Shetty who was still a struggling star at that time did not become the overnight sensation as predicted by her co-star and her director but working on the film strengthened a bond between the three that continues to this date. Shilpa is friends not just with her co-star after so many years but his entire family. Last seen she was celebrating her Karwa Chauth at Kapoor household with other star wives. This is show business, this is life and I think it is fantastic!

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At 5 pm, Satish Kaushik sits before the monitor and gives cue to his artistes. They are shooting a suhaag raat scene between Shilpa and Anil. Anil clad in a white kurta and jasmine flowers rolled over his wrist has to swagger into the room and frighten his bashful bride. The shot is Okayed in the first take!

Kaushik explains that Badhai Ho Badhai is a social drama, “There is a lot of emotion and as usual my story takes up for a woman’s cause.” Shilpa seated beside her director says it’s a privilege to be working with Kaushik and Anil Kapoor. Anil Kapoor pats his own back and they move on to pan the next shot.

Its 7 pm and time for a snack break. While the camera unit gets ready for the next location, Kaushik takes me on a stroll on the sets, points to a spacious terrace festooned with trees. He points to the blooming flowers and informs that all the plants are artificial “But they look so real that even I forget that the garden is not for real, that’s the magic of cinema.”

Kaushik leads me upstairs and proudly shows me the other rooms, stops to examine the balcony surrounded by bougainvillea flowers and announces with a certain sadistic pleasure announces that even the bougainvilleas are plastic. We return to the original sets and by now the lighting is done and the shot is ready. This time, it is a more serious scene. Shilpa has to render a long speech and expose the fraud Anil Kapoor. At the end of it, Anil is embarrassed and renders a long explanation.

Outside, the skyline is pitch dark and covered with fog. It is 9 pm but the unit has a long way to go. Anil Kapoor escorts me to my car, says usually it is 10-10 shift but with the long celebrations on the sets it will be a late night, not the best way to start a New Year but what to do?”

What happened when the film was released a year later? Will tell you tomorrow, stay clued in…

@bhawanasomaaya

Clearing my old files on computer I came across this one where I visited the sets of Badhai Ho Badhai on New Year day in the winter of 2001. Reading the details made me very nostalgic and I thought it would be a good way to begin the 2018 blog.  

It is a windy afternoon in the hills of Film City. The occasion is the silver jubilee celebration of Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hain and Mukta Arts, producer of Badhai Ho Badhai along with Satish Kaushik and Anil Kapoor is hosting an exclusive luncheon party on the lawns adjoining the sets. All the distinguished personalities are present.

Music director Anu Malik, Ramesh Taurani of Tips, Anil’s close friends Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria and of course the cast of Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hain and Sirf Tum. The heroine of Badhai Ho Badhai, Shilpa Shetty is in a talkative mood. She elaborates on her role in the film. “I play a mad-hatter; I think an extension of my director, who is very funny.”

Satish Kaushik, wearing a red cap says he likes shooting where there is no stress. “We work 360 days a year, we cannot be stressed all the time, special at the beginning of a new year”. David Dhawan, Rumi Jafri, Manmohan Shetty are seated in a corner, as usual discussing business. The spirits are high and finally, around 4 pm, after a lot of food and endless rounds of print and electronic interviews, the party is dispersed.

There is more… wait till tomorrow….

I’m unable to recall serious separations of film actors during the sixties decade but in the seventies two couples with great love stories parted mysteriously. Rajesh Khanna -Dimple Kapadia and Raakhee- Gulzar.  Khanna proposed to the Bobby star in a dramatic fashion and Dimple was over the moon to become Mrs Superstar Khanna.  A decade and two children later, Dimple realized that life was not a film.  She was back to where she belonged, the cameras! Khanna and Kapadia lived separate lives but were united in crisis and it was Dimple and son-in-law Akshay Kumar who nursed an ailing Khanna in his final days.

For Raakhee it was love at first sight with writer director Gulzar who has apenchant for Bengali culture, cuisine and women. Both were soaring in their respective careers and began building their love nest in Pali Hill. The real reasons for their split is unknown after all these years but rumors say Gulzar disapproved of a working wife and Raakhee a big star of the seventies was unable to steal away from the tempting offers. The duo separated after the baby. Raakhee stayed back in her maiden home, a few bungalows away from Gulzar. After so many years Gulzar and Raakhee are best of friends.

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Dilip Kumar had a late marriage and to a woman many years his junior, Saira Banu.  When they got married everyone said it will not last a year but it has lasted over 50 years.  There were many challenges but the two continued to be soaked in the fragrance of love- Saab and his Begum stuck together for decades and remain madly in love till today.

I don’t know why but while the heroes were able to conquer the storms in their lives, the heroines fell as victims. The beautiful Meena Kumari married director Kamal Amrohi. They separated, came together, married again, separated and came together for a film Pakeezah. Madhubala, a top ranking heroine of the 50s married singer Kishore Kumar against the wishes of her family and paid a price! Kishore Kumar married and divorced once, lost interest in Madhubala after marriage and neglected her.  When she fell seriously ill he dropped her at her parents’ where she died a sad, lonely death.

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Marriage has never been easy for a celebrity and for those in show business even more so.  An actor is always in the limelight where his everything he does, inadvertently affects his career. When his film is a success, his fans celebrate, when it is a failure, they mourn for him. They are happy when he is happy and sad when he is depressed.

Perhaps that is why the superstars never let their private life overshadow their public image.

In the golden fifties, Raj Kapoor was linked with almost every heroine he worked with and there came a time during Sangam, when his wife Krishna moved out of RK Bungalow in Chembur with her five children into a hotel in South Bombay but eventually better sense prevailed and Raj Kapoor brought his family home.

Dev Anand and Kalpana Kartik had a registered marriage during the lunch break of shooting Taxi Driver.  Soon they resumed shooting like on a normal day because it was not an appropriate time to go public with the news. A few years and two children later, the couple began to have differences yet continued to live under the same roof till the end. It was Kalpana who organized the final rites of Dev Anand in London and supervised his Tribute at the Mehboob Studio in Mumbai.

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It is that time of the year when everyone is in a terrific mood and everyone ready to celebrate. Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma could not have chosen a better time to get married because now they can usher the New Year together.  As the duo get ready to leave for their honeymoon my mind goes back to star marriages over the decades, some good, some sad and some terribly mismatched that ended in divorces. But before we get into the wedding mood a quick look at my report on Anushka Sharma Virat Kohli wedding

https://theprint.in/2017/12/23/anushka-virat-wedding-changes-the-we-are-just-friends-game-bollywood-plays/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

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