Saina Mirza’s family has not stopped smiling ever since they’ve watched Amol Gupte’s film Saina (released in cinema halls and soon to stream on amazon prime). It is unusual for a subject to ever be completely satisfied with his/ her biopic but Saina is that exception. The Nehwals phoned Meghna Malik, who plays Saina’s mother to express her appreciation for her performance, said, “Your every emotion, expression, gesticulation, made her feel that I was watching myself on screen, how could you get it so right?”

And to think that Meghna almost did not do the film. She appeared for the audition when she was down with malaria and when she did not receive a call from Gupte’s office after weeks, she feared she had lost the role. She had spent a lot of time researching the character, watching Nehwal videos and felt depressed that she will not play Usha Rani and so on an impulse, dressed in salwar kurta, tied her hair in chotti and landed at the director’s office unannounced. When she was led into his cabin, she took off in Haryanvi dialect just as Usha Rani had done on the badminton court. The director was initially zapped but recovered instantly and confirmed Meghan for the part. 

(To be concluded)

It has been a stressful week for everyone with covid cases rising all over India. In Maharashtra, just when the cinema halls were all set to get the ball rolling, the fear of lockdown has spread a pall of gloom again. Theatre owners collectively worked to pressurize producers not to release movies on OTT platforms.  Some of them supported, Rajkumar Rao- Jahanvi Kapoor starrer Roohi for instance and surprised all with its box-office collection, Sandeep Aur Pinky Farrar though appreciated by the media, unfortunately, opened to empty cinema halls.

Not surprising therefore, that Haathi Mere Saathi and a few Hollywood biggies have postponed releases. Not Anand Gupta, producer of Chhehre scheduled for April end release. Director Rumi Jaffery feels privileged that he had the opportunity of working with Amitabh Bachchan both as a writer/ Bade Miyan Chotte Miyan and as a director/ God Tussi Great Ho. Jaffery shares that Bachchan is the easiest actor to work with and makes everyone around him comfortable. This is the first time Bachchan and Emran Hashmi are coming together and the first film where music composers / Vishal-Shekhar have collaborated 107 musicians, across globe united in Prague to record live symphony exactly like the olden times.

(To be concluded)

The classical dance fraternity strives for excellence and preservation of rich heritage, even in uncertain times like the pandemic. In order to sustain our ecosystem which includes the regular upkeep of practice centers, cost of music recordings, stage production costs, technical costs, among many others, the organization needs a steady inflow of funds

Nupur Zankar popular as an Art for Cause is a non-profit organization, utilizing a creative platform to deliver social message, the organization is this time looking to raise funds to support Autism. In collaboration with the Swindon South Asian Performing Arts Centre (SAPAC-UK) they have previously explored rhythm through the lens of autism in a project through the Arts Council England.

Sanskriti Mahotsav: is an effort to introduce and make you ‘Meet the Masters’ of classical dance.  Over the decades, like everything else, Kathak dance has evolved and Nupur Zankar in its new show will be presenting the ‘Legacy or Gharana’, the four primary Gharanas recognized on state of origin namely Lucknow, Jaipur, Banaras and Raigarh. The Mahotsav will feature the senior Gurus, along with the second-generation disciples, and also youngest disciples to share the art form through talks, performances and interactive Q&As.

The countdown has begun for Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi starrer Chehre that features besides Amitabh Bachchan as a lawyer and Emraan Hashmi as an Advertising Agency Chief and powerful performers like Annu Kapoor, Krystle D’Souza, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Raghubir Yadav, Siddhanth Kapoor and Rhea Chakraborty. Jafry is super excited that he got the opportunity to work with Bachchan both as a writer in his early days and later as a director in God Tussi Great Ho in 2008 and now again in Chehre. He reveals that Bachchan is the easiest actor to work with and goes out of his way to make everyone around him comfortable. He is happy that Anand Pandit is bringing back the golden era of musical live-orchestra for the title track of Chehra composed by none other than the dynamic duo Vishal-Shekhar collaborating 107 musicians from across the globe who united in Prague to record the live symphony orchestra!

Even as many other films are moving out of the race fearing the onslaught of the coronavirus –Bengaluru based Prime Originals Private Limited which also owns an OTT platform NET5 has entered into film distribution by having their first movie – Legacy of Lies starring Scott Adkins across India in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu apart from English, The Indian versions are called Agent MI 6.  The producer is keen to release some of their action, blockbuster movies first in theatres and only later stream it on other platforms. They have set up distribution across India and have movies lined up for theatrical distribution every month. Legacy of Lies is releasing across 500 screens,” says Balwanth Singh, the moving spirit behind this novel idea

Shah Rukh Khan commented that he was surprised by your confidence, were you always so reassured? “I believe in being happy and if this is being reassured then the credit goes to my family for rearing my brother and me with so much love and care.  They knew I was made for the camera but never forced it on me, waited for me realize it myself and today, I am part of a world I love”.

Is there anything you dislike about being an actress? Rani thinks for a while, then removing her shades, says, “I dislike waking up at odd hours to catch flights and I dislike extended shootings. There are times, I’m shooting without a break, travelling, living out of suitcases, hopping studios, changing costumes and I forget I’m playing which character in which film. Yet when you watch the end product, it all falls into place because there are so many others taking care of the continuity”.

Rani shares that the preoccupation is so intense that most of the time actors are not even aware of it until somebody, usually a senior, points it out to them. “I was shooting with Kamini Kaushalji the other day and she said that in the olden days, nobody worked beyond 6 pm in fact Helenji had this in her contract and therefore at the stroke of 6 she’d out her wig and pack up, amazing isn’t it?”

Concluded

We traveled by the same car to the hotel and made a direct headway for breakfast. Over brown bread and cornflakes, Rani Mukherji shared her journey, “I was 14 when I did my dad’s Bengali film and declined Salim Akhtar’s Aa Gale Lag Jaa because I was not interested in films but a few years later, Salim uncle offered another film and even though I was still not exactly attracted to the idea, there was emotional pressure from all around to say yes”.

You must have been just a teenager then, I enquired, “Yes, and dad mention it to uncle as well that we should wait for a few more years but Salim uncle reassured the family that by the time the film was ready, the timing would be perfect. Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat failed at the box-office but the subject and I received a lot of praise. I was relieved that the film was over and happy to go back to college”. The offers coming however and slowly, my mind set was changing. I was saying yes to offers and one of them was and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”.

Karan Johar has gone on record to say that you were in fact his last choice. “Yes, Twinkle Khanna, Tabu, Raveena Tandon had all declined but my father said that the banner and the casting was attractive and we should go for it and we did”. Choreographer Farha Khan says that you took her by surprise on the dance floor. “I was not told that I was to participate in a dance but I have always enjoyed dancing. Not many people know that my mother and aunt Debashri Roy performed classical dances on stage and I traveled with them on all the tours so music and dance is part of my growing up.” 

To be continued