Hot Stuff with Bollywood Actor Abhishek Bachchan
July 26, 2007
Abhishek Bachchan was to the movies born — his illustrious parents Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan being prolific actors themselves. But he didn’t just arrive on the scene with a big bang like one expected him to. He was met with a lot of criticism for his weight, body language, dancing skills or lack of them and of course, innumerable comparisons with his legendary father. But he took it in his stride and put up all the review cuttings on his board at home and improved on each and every one of his negative points. The result: Guru in early 2007. A smash hit in which he was lauded for his performance like never before. The star son was finally recognised as an actor. Even as he modestly states, he’s “busy trying to be an actor”. The 31-year-old actor is currently playing the role of husband to the most beautiful woman in the world, Aishwarya Rai, who he married on April 20 earlier this year. After a frenzied walk on the Cannes red carpet right after their nuptials, followed by a holiday in France, the golden couple of Indian cinema have since returned to their shooting schedules of their various films.
Do you think you have reached a stage where scripts are being written for you?
Indian cinema has changed. The scripts are written first and then actors are cast accordingly as films today are bigger than any single actors. And we all work towards the collective good of the film. That’s the way things are in the industry right now.
What’s the biggest advantage being your father’s son and possibly the biggest disadvantage?
There are no disadvantages in being my father’s son. And the advantage is that I have the most loving, caring and best parent in the world.
Your sex appeal has fans screaming for more. But your dad scores higher on the sex appeal scales. How does it feel to be less sexier than your dad?
I subscribe to the fact and I know it. Pa is sexier than me and we laugh about it. But last year, a British magazine voted me the sexiest man and my father was 16th on that list!
You are a ready wit and have fun whilst working on set. Do you think you get away with stuff ‘cos of who you are?
You can only get away with things if you are badly behaved and I don’t think I am badly behaved. I only share my sense of humour with close friends and family.
Are you punctual by nature and a stickler for time?
Yes, I am since I was taught from a very young age that if you don’t respect time, time won’t respect you.
What turns you on?
A good movie. Seriously.
What do you love about Aishwarya the most?
So many things… she’s very human and unaffected and very down-to-earth. Ash is a simple little girl and that’s very endearing. And she’s always smiling.
When are you both planning to have kids?
Kids shouldn’t be planned. They should just happen.
Given your father, Ash and you share the same initials — AB barring your mom Jaya, do you think you may name your child with the alphabet A too?
That’s actually a cool idea. I don’t really know though.
Is there any one way Aishwarya has changed you?
She tries to make me eat health food as she knows I have very bad habits.
(Laughs)
ABHISHEK—AISHWARYA FILMOGRAPHY
SARKAR 2 (FILMING)
GURU (2007)
DHOOM 2 (2OO6)
UMRAO JAAN (2006)
KUCH NAA KAHO (2003)
DHAI AKSHAR PREM KE (2000)
THESE ARE A FEW OF ABHISHEK’S FAVOURITE THINGS:
SMELL Of the earth just after the first showers.
SOUND Whirring of the film camera.
CITY Mumbai.
FOOD Sevpuri for now.
MOVIE Sarkar 2 ‘cos I am filming it currently.
MUSIC Hip Hop.
LOVE Family.
COLOUR Black.
Self Esteem can affect your health
July 26, 2007
You take a risk and get a drastic haircut, leave for work the next day in your favourite outfit feeling like a million bucks. Then when you get to work, a colleague who you don’t get along with says, ‘Oh, you cut your hair! what made you do that?’ You feel terrible — your self esteem has taken a blow. Low selfesteem is a constant companion for too many people, especially those who lack assertive skills, who pine for attention all the time and go through life needlessly feeling bad about themselves.
WHAT IS SELF ESTEEM?
The term self-image is used to refer to a person’s mental picture of himself or herself. A lot of our selfimage is based on interactions we have with other people and our life experiences. This mental picture (our self-image) contributes to our self-esteem. Selfesteem is all about how much we feel valued, loved, accepted, and thought well of by others — and how much we value, love, and accept ourselves. How we’re treated by the members of our immediate family, by our teachers, coaches, religious authorities, and by our peers, all contributed to the creation of our basic self-esteem. People with low self-esteem may feel like no one likes them or that they can’t do well in anything.
WAYS TO ENHANCE YOUR LOW SELF ESTEEM
Be proactive. Do not wait for things to happen, instead make things happen. Fuel your determination. Let other people know in what aspect they can help you. Success comes to individuals who get down to business.
Know what you can change, and accept the things you cannot change. There are certain ‘givens’ in life as God’s gift, such as one’s features. These are things we all must accept. But if you need to, say, lose weight or smile more, you can do something about it.
• Talk to your dietician about a healthy diet and exercise plan. Practice smiling in a mirror and challenge yourself to smile at least 25 times each day.
• Accept the fact that we will fail from time to time. Failures are part of growing up. Avoid letting the negative effects of failures take over.
• Clean up your past. Most people have low self esteem because they focus on what they don’t have. They focus on their shortcomings and the so called failures of their past. It’s never too late to have a happy life.
• Don’t try to be like someone else. You are unique and you cannot be someone else. Don’t criticise yourself for not being as successful, as beautiful, as slim or as popular as someone else.
• Celebrate your journey, not your destination. Learn to always feel good about where you are now, and to exude self-confidence about anywhere you might find yourself tomorrow.
HOW COUNSELLING CAN HELP
Both individual and group counselling/therapy can help improve yourselfesteem. Individual therapy includes assertiveness training, communication skills and may also explore early and later experiences that contributed to your low self-esteem. Group therapy helps to foster trust and build relationships and encourages a sense of belonging.
Pet first Boy Friend second for Bollywood Actress
July 26, 2007
The couples — John Abraham-Bispasha Basu, Lara Dutta-Kelly Dorjee, Aishwarya Rai-Vivek Oberoi, Celina Jaitley-Sean and Kashmera Shah-Brad Leisterman — got their furry four-legged pets during the courtship. All these relationships may have gone kaput, but the pets are very much around.
Bipasha Basu says her Chihuahua is like her son. Poshto, as she calls him, was gifted to her by beau John Abraham. The relationship, as per latest reports, is over and Bipasha is single again after ten years. But Poshto surely is keeping her good company.
Even actress Lara Dutta recently went kayaking with her two dogs Kiza and Dolche. “I felt like a brave mom kayaking with her babies,” Lara said. The dogs were part of the Lara-Kelly family while they were living in together in Bandra, until very recently.
Incidentally, Bips-John and Lara-Kelly’s relationship was what actress Celina Jaitley always spoke highly about. The bikini-clad Janasheen girl once said she would want her relationship to be like that of these two couples. Celina’s cute pet Tea-Cup came into her life while she was seeing foreigner Sean Teague. Sean and she may have broken up but Tea-Cup continues to be an integral part of her life.
Kashmera Shah’s case is no different. Her American Eskimo pet Boo was a gift which came when she married Brad Listerman, who is now her ex. Her dog kept the couple company then. When the marriage broke up, “I totally refused to give up on Boo,” said Kashmera. Brad too is quite attached to Boo and last January when he visited Kashmera, Boo’s pictures were shot in a raincoat, with clothes etc. and given as a gift to Brad. Having moved on from Brad, Kashmera is now dating Abhishek Krishna but Boo remains to stay with her. “Boo is now very attached to Krishna, and I am very happy about this,” added Kashmera.
Even Aishwarya Rai’s female boxer Sunshine remained with her after Vivek Oberoi and she parted ways. As they say, a dog is man’s best friend. These leading ladies indeed have reasons to believe so.
Naqaab
July 16, 2007
Starring Akshaye Khanna, Bobby Deol, Urvashi Sharma
Directed by Abbas-Mustan
Rating: * ½
Come,bask in the mask. If you want to see a smile-worthy sangam of tradition and trendiness, then try Naqaab.
On the one hand there’s the ultra-hip super-cool Kiss- Miss Sophia (newcomer Urvashi) who lives in with Richie- Rich Bobby Deol and romances the Devil-may-Care Dude (Akahaye Khanna) and even runs away from her church wedding (a la Julia Roberts in The Runaway Bride).
But get this contradiction. On the other hand when the clandestine couple Khanna and Urvashi break into a mela song, Abbas-Mustan (bless their suspenseful soul) do a quick dissolve with the camera to indicate to the audience that the song is a dream sequence.
The problem with our cinema is, it takes on the mantle of the new millennium without knowing where it is going.
In Naqaab,the female protagonist goes from being a flaky burger waitress in a Dubai restaurant to an unsuspecting actress in a reality film to a vengeful Mata Hari…to God knows what else.
Ooof….this time Abbas-Mustan tire us out. Gone is the well thought-out paciness of Baazigar, Soldier, Humraaz and Aetraaz. There’re many wheels within wheels simulating a sense of well-oiled movement in the plot.
But check the editing patterns (Hussain Burmawala). The narrative is just not getting anywhere. Yup, this time Abbas-Mustan have lost the plot.
Some early scenes when Akshaye, playing a struggling actor, and Urvashi, playing a grappling go-getter, bond with the feast have a punchy perkiness.
One episode of masti between the couple in a posh hotel (where Khanna treats Urvashi to a banquet by ordering for room service from a foyer phone) seems to have been ripped off from Vikram Bhatt’s Life Mein Kabhi Kabhie.
But what the heck! There’s a mood of anything-goes in the first –half that doesn’t quite get into the required tempo.
Abbas-Mustan’s creative output has lately been on the decline. Naqab makes you feel they are now lunging for effect. Even when the earlier films were Hollywood rip offs they conveyed a sense of streamlined momentum.
Everything in Naqab is calculated for an effect. And that goes for the characters too. They are constantly trying to be what they are not, and therefore perpetually tying themselves up in knots.
Most of this film about a wacked-out filmmaker shooting a secret improvised reality-film with characters who are actors rather than characters, is shot on elaborately done-up sets representing cool clubs and sweaty bedrooms. They add to the feeling of claustrophobia that assails us from all sides.
Akshaye Khanna and Bobby Deol struggle to instill a sense of logic to the wacky plot. Khanna succeeds to some extent. Bobby, veering from devoted passion to demented creativity, fails.
The new girl Urvashi seems to have some fun playing the feisty miss who’s engaged to a placid tycoon and is swept off her feet by a wicked stranger.
Mills & Boon? That’s old world. Kick off your shoes and enter Abbas-Mustan’s web of virtual reality.
Here, anything can happen. Alas, nothing does. At least nothing to sink our teeth into.
Funny pet names Bollywood Stars have
July 16, 2007
Isn’t it amazing that in Bollywood, where most stars have screen names, several are still saddled with the pet names they picked up in childhood! For instance macho man Salman Khan is addressed by most everyone in the industry as Bhai, because his siblings and boyhood chums called him that. Salman is also known as Sallu, but this is a pet name he doesn’t care to hear from everyone.
To continue, does Gullu suit former beauty queen Aishwarya Rai Bachchan? Perhaps not, but it goes well with Bollywood’s bad man Gulshan Grover! That other beauty, Sushmita Sen, in the meanwhile, must live down the ignominy of being called Titu!
If you need to ryhme, consider Guddu and Duggu… Rakesh Roshan and son Hrithik respectively. And don’t know what Bong bombshell Bipasha Basu’s parents were thinking of when she was young and they adoringly called her Bonny. But clinical analyst Dr Pratikshay Dhole explains the trend, “A nickname is sometimes considered desirable, symbolising a form of acceptance, but can often be a form of ridicule. In most cases it eventually becomes a term of endearment.”
Celina Jaitley is called as Chinki at home, and Mahima Chaudhary whose original name was Ritu Chaudhary, is known as Rits! Govind Arun Ahuja or Govinda, is known by everyone as Chi Chi, it is a name given by his mother Nirmala Devi. “In Punjabi, Chi Chi means little finger. Apparently, Lord Krishna lifted an entire mountain on his little finger so that his poor friends could take shelter. Chi Chi’s a symbol of strength and unity,” says Govinda. The Kapoor sisters Kareena and Karisma are Bebo and Lolo respectively. Karisma explains her pet name, “I got it from my dad because my mother liked the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigidia.” Bebo’s boyfriend Shahid Kapoor, meanwhile, is cute as Sasha. Aamir Khan’s friends call him AK and Shah Rukh Khan’s known as SRK. But Juhi Chawla calls him Lucky Ali, because she believes SRK’s a fluke! Malaika Arora Khan is Malla and sister Amrita is Amu. Lanky Tabu is Tabassum, that’s her real name, and Tabu her pet name! Akshay Kumar’s real name is Rajiv Bhatia and he is called Raju by his friends. He adopted Akshay, aka Akki, as his screen name. Ajay Devgan was Vishal Devgan but friends call him VD. And not many know that Boney Kapoor’s original name is Achal Kumar. Sunshine and Angel are Ameesha Patel’s pet names. She adores them. “Both were given by an uncle who lives in Paris. He used to spoil me silly,” recalls Ameesha. While Suniel Shetty is Anna to everybody, Sanjay Dutt’s pet name given by his mother Nargis is Sanju, but the industry knows him as Baba. Abhishek Bachchan’s pet name is Abhi and dad Amitabh is called Amit. But the funniest and most interesting name has to be Aftab Shivdasani’s. He’s called Faffy! And nobody can beat Priyanka Chopra whose pet name Piggy Chops was given to her by Abhishek Bachchan while shooting for Bluffmaster.
Shahrukh’s statue at French Graven Museum
July 16, 2007
There’s new honour for Shah Rukh Khan in the offing. The Bollywood Badshah will be the first Indian actor to find a place at the French Graven Museum in Paris.
A statue of the actor is set to be installed at the museum soon. SRK admitted that he felt honoured. He is already cast in wax and standing at Madame Tussauds in London alongwith other Bollywood actors like Amitabh and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. And among his other recent honours is the Officier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
(Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government for his prolific career and his contribution to the development of Indo-French cooperation in the field of cinema.
The French Graven Museum has statues of Salman Rushdie and writer and social activist Mahashweta Devi. SRK is busy shooting for his films in the city. Last week, while attending the premiere of the film Jai Jagannath, he escaped with a few bruises and scratches on his arms, after a glass door shattered due to the media frenzy over there.
Amisha Patel refuses to work with Emraan Hashmi
July 9, 2007
Emraan Hashmi might have emerged as one of Bollywood’s hottest stars, but it hasn’t been long since actresses like Bipasha Basu and Ameesha Patel had refused to work with him. And Emraan has no qualms about admitting it.
One such little secret he reveal on Wednesday on Zoom TV’s popular show Let’s Talk is that Ameesha found him expressionless and stiff during the photo shoot of a film titled Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar.
She conveyed her reservations about Emraan to Mahesh Bhatt. The senior Bhatt promptly told him that he wasn’t actor material and if he wanted to get anywhere he would have to work very hard. Emraan was disheartened by this, but he believes that the experience made him stronger. And that’s how a kisser boy was born!
I am not engaged to Uday Chopra
July 9, 2007
Tanisha hasn’t made her presence felt onscreen, but the number of her relatives in tinsel town match the number of her releases. She is Tanuja’s daughter, Kajol’s sister, Ajay Devgan’s sister-in-law and Rani Mukerji’s cousin. Despite the poor showing of four of her films, the actress is trying her luck, again. But this time, she seems to be in safe hands.
When asked if acting was a natural choice, pat came the reply, “I have answered this question in the past. Can we please talk about something else?”
She comes across as an ambitious actor who wants to be remembered for her accomplishments. “I am an individual in my own right. Comparisons do not bother me at all. It is very flattering, though, to be compared with actors like my sister and mother,” she says.
While Aishwarya Bachchan is being talked about for her role in Sarkar 2, there is no mention of Tanisha? “I will be doing the same role that I played in Sarkar,” she says.
Post Neal ‘n’ Nikki, rumours were rife about her getting engaged with co-star Uday Chopra. Dismissing them, she says, “I am not engaged to him, and wouldn’t like to comment on the issue.”
Aap Ka Surroor
July 5, 2007
Starring Himesh Reshammiya, Hansika Motwani, Mallika Sherawat
Directed by Prashant Chadha
Rating: *
Can Himesh Resahmmiya act? What a silly question! As silly as asking, cam Himesh sing? Of course he can’t!!! Who said he was an actor in the first place?
The role of HR has been written to accentuate Himesh’s capped unsmiling visage. He gets on stage, bursts into many self-written songs where hordes of fans shriek clap cheer in orgasmic opulence. They take to Himesh like fish to water.
If you are HR (Himesh Resh) you win the race even before the gun goes off.
Guns do go off in this musical thriller where the music often provides the thrills while the suspense about a murdered girl’s body in the rock star’s purview leaves you as cold as the corpse that triggers off a chain of reactions ranging from weird to wired –depending on which side of the stage you’re standing on and peering from.
To ensure a safe passage into celluloid stardom, Himesh has spared no pains. Aap Ka Surroor has everything from untried snowcapped location to spotlight the capped cheer-leaders auspicious journey into the sphere of stardom, to dozens of autorickshaws suddenly appearing to support Himesh’s hefty hijinks.
To be fair the songs and the stage performances do make your pulse pound and your feet feverishly wild. The Mehbooba track put there mainly to make Mallika sizzle with our ever-grim hero, gets slightly off-colour. It tries too hard to win over the audience and influence their judgement.
But you really can’t win- over the audience with songs and stage performaces. They see Himesh doing that anyway. What was required was a strong plot-line to carry his acting aspirations into the sphere of the bearable, if not the believable.
Vibha Singh’s screenplay seems to have borrowed generously, if somewhat uneccesarily from Jon Avnet’s thriller Red Corner where Richard Gere played a foreigner in China who has to clear himself of murder charges with the help of a sexy lawyer.
Sexy is as sexy ‘dose’. Dose nahin koi tumsa, Mallika!
Mallika doubling up as a femme fatale and a lawyer provides all the unintentional laughter. She can’t act to save Himesh’s life. And she can’t dance for nuts. So what can she do?
Hmmmm….good question. And as hard to answer as the original brain basher: why did Himesh decide to become an actor when he very obviously can’t act?
His leading lady Hansika Motwani can act. She does so in every moment, countering Himesh’s deadpan expressions with an overdose of facial gymnastics which qualify her as the new-age all-purpose Barbie doll.
Rock meets dead-wood in this mixture of staged splendour and doctored misadventure. The locations are well exploited by Manoj Soni’s camera. The frames avoid garish overstatement.
But a quiet confidence is no substitute for genuine ability.
Both Himesh and his director fail to generate a high level of curiosity in the Screen Adventures Of The Nasal Drifter.
Himesh, cancel the sequel.
Gandhi My Father
July 5, 2007
Cast: Darshan Jariwala, Akshaye Khanna, Bhumika Chawla, Shefali Shah, Daniel Janks
Music: Piyush Kanojia
Producer: Anil Kapoor
Director & Writer: Feroz Khan
Gandhi My Father is a powerful study of the nature and sufferings of the patriarchal relationship between one of the world’s most loved figures – ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi – and his misfortunate eldest son Harilal.
The film delves into a territory that has never before been visited by film, and will spark debate by bringing to light an unknown facet of the personal history of a man who transformed the soul of a nation, but who could not save the soul of his own son.
Based on his thought-provoking play, Mahatma v/s Gandhi, veteran thespian of Indian theatre and cinema Feroz Khan has combined his unparalleled talents as a writer and director with the production skills of fellow industry stalwart Anil Kapoor, to create the most affecting film of modern times.
Although inspired by the philosophies and teachings of one of the greatest men of the modern world, the groundbreaking Gandhi My Father is far from a biopic account or portrayal of Gandhi’s struggle towards India’s independence.
Delving deep into the personal tragedy that Gandhi kept secret from the world, Feroz Khan’s filmic tour de force focuses on the doomed relationship between a father respected by an entire nation, but rebuked by a son who was disowned, and whose bitter end was the result of years of abject alcoholism.
Coming from a family that has been involved in the art of filmmaking for the past 50 years, actor Anil Kapoor has entered the realm of production with Gandhi My Father, and brings thorough knowledge and wide experience to the craft.
He forays into independent production with his banner, Anil Kapoor Films Company, joining hands with the London-listed, leading integrated media and entertainment Company Eros International, to bring to the audiences a story that gives fascinating insight into Gandhi’s life; not so much as father of the nation, but as a father to his son, Harilal.
Gandhi My Father is released and distributed worldwide by Eros International.
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