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16 July 2019 ENTERTAINMENT www.theasianindependent.co.uk IT [KALANK] WAS A BAD FILM: VARUN DHAWAN He adds that filmmaking is a team effor so it'd be wrong to blame director or producer If films can take an actor to the pinnacle of success, there are often disappointments on the way, too. Varun Dhawan’s last release Kalank did not do as well as expected at the box office and the actor, whose performance was applauded, says he was affected by it. “It (Kalank) was not accepted by the audience because it was a bad film and somewhere we all failed collectively,” shares Varun, who starred alongside actors Alia Bhatt, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Sanjay Dutt in the film. “Making a film is a team effort. It’s wrong to blame it on the director and producer. And being a part of the team, I will take part of the blame as well. The film did let down people. We have collectively gone through why it didn’t work. Personally, it (failure) was important. I wanted the failure to affect me because if it doesn’t, then that means I don’t love my work,” he adds. But Varun has no time to linger in the past. He is looking forward to diverse films lined up for release in the coming year, including Street Dancer 3D and the remake of his father’s hit 1995 comedy, Coolie No 1. Interestingly, right from the beginning, the actor has made sure that his career is a mixed bag of genres. So how does he maintain this kind of variety? “I choose films which I know I will enjoy doing the most. If I don’t have fun, it won’t show on screen. I am playing a street dancer in my next because I love dancers in real life. If I want something serious, I do something like October (2018). With comedy, I want to work with David Dhawan (filmmaker, also Varun’s father) because he is the best in the country. His experience will help me as an actor,” says Varun. Looking at his choices, it seems that the actor also has a great understanding of what the audience wants, something which even his colleagues appreciate about him. “I am first a lover of cinema and then an actor. I am here to entertain the audience and everything else comes secondary to me. Everyone goes wrong sometimes, even I have, but you have to learn [from it],” he says, adding that he has picked up things from his father. “He has a very good take on films and he understands what the audience wants. Another thing I’ve learnt is that a film’s length should always be in control. If you don’t contain the length, the audience will not forgive that. After all, it is about their time and money. I want to make films that take Indian family entertainment ahead,” he concludes. Sunny Deol’s son Karan might have his rap song in debut film ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’ Sunny Deol's son Karan looks all set to have a double debut in Bollywood—one as an actor and one as a rapper— when dad launches him in ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’ later this year. ‘Bekhayali’ singer Sachet Tandon, one half of the singercomposer duo Sachet- Parampara, has been working hard on the soundtrack of the film, which marks the return of Sunny Deol as director after his 2016 release, ‘Ghayal Once Again’. "He (Karan) is a good actor. He was involved (with the film's music) at times. He loves music and raps sometimes," Sachet told IANS in a telephonic interview. "In fact, there is a portion of a song in which he has rapped. We are trying to retain it (in the film's soundtrack)." Karan showed his rapping skills on World Music Day, which was celebrated on June 21, with a short video he posted on Instagram. "Music has always been my goto form of expression. Be it as a hobby or just to de-stress. Rapping to Jay-Z's encore," he captioned it. ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’ is a romantic drama, and the film's title is a tribute to the evergreen song of the same title that Kishore Kumar sang for Sunny's father in the 1973 movie ‘Blackmail’. The new film, however, will not have a remix or recreation of that classic hit number, although remixes are a rage in Bollywood right now. "We are not going to recreate 'Pal pal...' from Blackmail (in the new film). Our title song is an original, though the lyrics will feature those words because they form the title of our film. It is not a remix or a recreation," he added. I don’t want anyone to shy away from talking about sex, says Sonakshi Sinha Neetu Chandra is face of Patna Pirates kabbadi team Mumbai, Actress Neetu Chandra has been roped in as brand ambassador for the Pro Kabbadi team Patna Pirates. Patna Pirates have won the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) three times. “Sports has been a way of life for me from a very young age and Patna is homeground for me,” said Neetu, adding that she was happy to be associated with the team. “There couldn’t have been a better way to celebrate talent, hardwork, and sincerity. Patna Pirates has proved their worth time and again, and I am excited to be their brand ambassador.” The seventh season of PKL starts from July 20. Sex isn’t as openly discussed yet in Indian society. Sonakshi Sinhastarrer Khandaani Shafakhana, highlights this issue, through a hilarious, yet socially relevant slice-of-life film. Chronicling the story of a small-town Punjabi girl whose circumstances lead her to run a sex clinic, the film opens a window into the seldomdiscussed subject. A bold statement is made by Sonakshi and director, Shilpi Dasgupta, by bringing out the taboos and shame around talking about sex, even amongst adults. The makers of this film feel that much of the problems related to sex can easily be resolved if we just talk about them. Says Shilpi, “Did you know that until very recently, sex education was banned in quite a few states of India? This is an issue we must all rally around.” Sonakshi, who plays the lead role, concurs. She says, “I decided to do this film because it’s a relevant and important subject that should be discussed. I don’t want anyone — woman or man, to shy away from talking about this. I hope my doing this film, will give them the courage to talk about sexual issues openly. I am sure this movie will get people thinking and talking. Baat toh karo!” Shilpi adds, “Sonakshi really took on this challenge, something most people would be hesitant to even discuss, let alone play the role. We hope that we will be able to help people to no longer look at sex as a dirty word.” Gulshan Kumar and T- Series present Khandaani Shafakhana, a Sundial production. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Mahaveer Jain, Mrighdeep Singh Lamba and Divya Khosla Kumar, the film is all set to release on August 2, 2019.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk ENTERTAINMENT ‘I THOUGHT ACTING WAS FAR BEYOND July 2019 17 ALIA BHATT starts prepping for Ooty schedule of 'Sadak 2' MY REACH’ While growing up, actor Jacqueline Fernandez thought being on the big screen was a dream too ambitious for her to achieve. But that was a long time ago. Today, she has some very successful Bollywood potboilers to her credit. Now, she has become one of the few mainstream Bollywood heroines to be foraying into web space. The Kick (2014) actor says she is excited about her web film. “Not for a moment did I hesitate to work with an OTT (over the top) platform. I am a huge consumer of digital content. It was an immediate ‘yes’ on my part. It’s a great platform, as good as theatre. We seem to be moving in the direction of digital, anyway.” Excerpts: Are you open to doing web shows as well? Everything really depends on content. We have been harping on this for many years. But it’s really dawning on the industry now because of certain examples. The past two years have been such a disruption in the industry that we are now taking it (digital space) very seriously. So, whether theatrical, digital films or web series, for me, it’ll have to be about the content, the character and the team. Digital is a great space that will help us grow. It’s a great time for filmmakers and actors. Will commercial entertainers now take a back seat? I don’t think I will ever move away from commercial entertainers. It has got me to where I am. I’ve always enjoyed being a part of commercial cinema and have worked with amazing people. I’d love to balance it now and be able to take on much more. There was a time when I was only focusing on commercial films; now, it’s more about diversifying. If I end up doing only one kind of cinema, I definitely don’t see myself growing. I’m not putting it aside, instead I plan to do other things as well. So, how would you sum up your journey so far? I’d say it has been one lucky ride. There has been a lot of growth, especially, in the last couple of years. I don’t think I’d have been able to discover so much about myself in any other industry or job. I am glad that I stuck by and said ‘this is what I want to do’. It took me a long time to come to terms with it, and also with people back home. I thought it (acting) was far beyond my reach while growing up. It took time to understand what I was actually doing or the path I’d chosen. But, it’s a great journey of self-discovery and one that I am hoping to continue for a long time. Actress Alia Bhatt will soon head to Ooty to shoot for her father and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's 'Sadak 2', and she has already started prepping for the schedule. The actress on Sunday took to Instagram stories to share an update about the project. She posted a photograph of the front page of the script of the film. It read: "'Sadak 2'.. Written by Mahesh Bhatt and Suhrita... Copy for Alia Bhatt... Ooty sides only." Along with the image, Alia also shared bag, coffee and pencil emojis, hinting that she is all set to get to work. The film also stars Pooja Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sanjay Dutt, Jisshu Sengupta, Priyanka Bose and Akshay Anand. 'Sadak 2' is sequel to the hit 1991 film 'Sadak', a romantic thriller, which featured Pooja and Sanjay. It was one of the highest-grossing Hindi movie of 1991 with a popular musical score. Late Sadashiv Amrapurkar's award-winning performance as the villain, Maharani won hearts and is still one of the all time best bad guy in Bollywood. The film was inspired by the 1976 American movie 'Taxi Driver'. The movie is scheduled to release on July 10, 2020. ‘I want to be seen as a newcomer’: Tamannaah Mumbai : Actress Tamannaah Bhatia, a big star in south Indian films, has been trying to find her feet in Bollywood for a while now. She will be seen in the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer “Bole Chudiyan” soon. The actress counts the film as one of her biggest opportunities in Bollywood and wants the audience to consider her a newcomer. Being one of the actresses who made it big in the south with superhits such as “Kandein Kadhalai”, “Ayan”, “Tadakha”, “Dharma Durai” and the “Baahubali” series, Tamannaah has not done any memorable role in Bollywood. “I know that ‘Baahubali’ was a big deal for me but in this film, I am approaching my character very differently. The world of this film is very different. It is a Hindi film. I want our audience to look at me as a newcomer. I want to focus on the emotion of the character rather than applying my experience from my early films,” said Tamannaah, who replaced popular television actress Mouni Roy as the leading lady opposite Nawazuddin. She is excited to share screen space with Nawazuddin: “I am amazed to see how effortlessly he acts on screen and convincingly portrays every character. I think by the time I finish shooting the film, I will get to know his acting secret!” she quipped. So, how did she respond to the offer when she got a call for the film? “Firstly, when I got a call to act opposite an actor like Nawazuddin Siddiqui, I thought someone was playing a prank. So, I cross-checked and then realised it was a genuine offer! I have to say that I am a huge fan of Nawaz sir,” she replied. Set in the Uttar Pradesh, the film is a love story between a bangle seller and a village girl, and is the directorial debut of Shamas Siddiqui, brother of Nawazuddin. “Never have I ever worked on a script like this and that is why the world of this story is very interesting to me. I have done films in the South where stories are set in the rural landscape but in Bollywood showcasing such a beautiful side of northern India is rare,” she said. “I am so excited to be in the same frame with Nawaz sir. As an actor, it is always exciting to do something different and that is why it will be interesting,” added the actress. Lata’s request to Dhoni : Please don’t retire Mumbai, Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar on Thursday requested cricket star Mahendra Singh Dhoni to not retire, following rumours that the former Indian captain was all set to end his illustrious career. “These days, I have been hearing that you plan to retire. Please don’t think this way. The country needs you and it is my request, too, that you don’t allow even the thought of retirement to enter your mind,” Mangeshkar tweeted in Hindi. The buzz on Dhoni’s retirement gathered force after India lost its World Cup semifinal match to New Zealand on Wednesday. Apart from requesting Dhoni to not retire, Mangeshkar also left an encouraging note for Team India, to help them tide over their defeat. She dedicated her 1994 song, “Akash ke us paar bhi”, to the Men in Blue. The song is penned by Gulzar and composed by Hridaynath Mangeshkar. “We did not win yesterday, but we didn’t lose. I dedicate this song by Gulzar sahab to our team,” she said in another tweet.
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July 2019

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