Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 14, 2014)

Now that One By Two, your first production, is behind you, what’s keeping you busy?
For the next couple of weeks I’m only going to read the scripts lying in my cupboard.
 
Buzz is, you are in talks with Kumar Mangat, have signed Ajay Bahl's next, and given the nod to Ashwini Chaudhury’s action film set in Chambal.
I've been meeting people, some whom you mentioned. I don’t like talking about a film till I've signed it. I’m told Ajay’s BA Pass was good. But I’m yet to catch it!
 
Will you continue to produce?
The focus now is on the acting. But if something interesting comes up, I will produce it. Maybe I can sketch out an idea and give it to a writer to develop. It’s been a while since I came up with the concept for Dev D. Production isn’t easy but then neither is acting.
 
One expected the box-office performance of the film to have put you off production. Reportedly, the satellite rights are going for Rs 50 lakh.
I’ve stopped looking at the figures.
 
Did going against Bhushan Kumar and turning up for a press conference with a cosmetically designed black eye, hit the film adversely? Not only did you not earn from the music rights but even the songs weren’t promoted?
I did what I felt needed to be done to highlight a larger issue. I wanted to focus some attention on the ongoing tussle between composers and music companies over the issue of royalty.
 
The film premiered officially on Facebook on the day of its release and is available to overseas viewers at $4.99 for 48 hours rental. Has this first-of-its kind move for Indian cinema helped you recoup a part of your investment?
That’s hard to say. We're only in the second week. But it has given filmmakers a new platform to showcase their work. I'm always looking to explore new avenues. Recently, on a panel discussion on joint collaborations with foreign producers and the Secretary of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, I learnt that a co-production treaty between India and Canada was signed recently after years of discussion. It’s good to see that our government is keen to promote India as a shooting destination and open to collaborations.
 
One By Two engaged the viewers initially with its novel concept but then the story meandered off...
Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. What I like, you may not. Some of it is constructive criticism, some is spiteful criticism. I prefer to focus on the former.
 
If you had a chance to remake the film, what changes would you implement?
I would make the boy and girl interact a little more with the audience, spell out the story more. But it's time to move on.
 
How do you react to the One By Two jokes on radio and the social networking sites?
(Laughs) I haven’t heard any yet. And ignorance is bliss!
 
Will your next production also be with a debutant director?
As an actor, I’ve done a lot of work with debutants. Anurag Kashyap and Prakash Jha were the only two experienced ones. And I’ve learnt since then, what sets an experienced director apart, is not talent but experience. So maybe next time I will work with one of the directors I have already collaborated with.
 
What was the response to your film at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival?
The German audience liked it a little more than our desi viewers. (Laughs) I tried to marry traditional Bollywood with something more contemporary. And marrying an alien to an earthling is difficult!
 
You've always been averse to marriage, yet you were dancing with girlfriend Preeti at cousin Ahaana Deol’s wedding?
I’m not anti-marriage. When the time is right maybe I’ll go through with it too. And weddings are a time to party!

Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; February 6, 2014)

If sources are to be believed, Ahaana Deol’s wedding afterparty witnessed more than its share of action on Sunday night. A source says that when a photographer captured an intimate moment between lovebirds Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, the latter lost his cool.

“Both Deepika and Ranveer were in high spirits and were walking about with their hands clasped together. A photographer then clicked photographs of the two of them and this upset Ranveer,” says the source.

Those present at the party say that the actor trailed Deepika wherever she went. The source adds, “They were enjoying each other’s company but as soon as Ranveer saw the photographer click their pictures, he chased after him and manhandled him. He then took his camera and deleted the pictures before returning the camera to him. Soon after, the couple left the party.” The actor’s spokesperson denies that Ranveer manhandled the photographer.

The spokesperson says, “At the aforementioned private function, the person in question was surreptitiously clicking pictures of Ranveer from behind the DJ console without his consent. After letting this pass for a considerably long time, Ranveer started feeling uncomfortable because of this man's persistent and unwarranted intrusion. He then went up to the man and requested him to delete the pictures. At no point did he assault the person, that is a flagrant exaggeration of the incident.”

MUMBAI MIRROR (February 4, 2014)

Ten days after an unhinged door came crashing and packed him off to a hospital, the indomitable Shah Rukh Khan resumes work today in Chembur for Farah Khan’s Happy New Year. 

Mirror has learnt that there will be no heavy-duty action or dance sequence and some of the shots have been modified keeping SRK’s fragile condition in mind.

The accident which happened on the sets of the same film, left the actor with a fractured shoulder and a torn left knee tendon. The doctor had advised him complete bed rest for a couple of weeks, but SRK has been hobbling around with a cast on his leg and a crutch manacled to his hand. He was last spotted at Ahaana Deol’s wedding having a long conversation with the bride’s mother Hema Malini. 
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DNA (February 4, 2014)

Trust Shah Rukh Khan to find style even in injury. While his much-talked about golden sling has inspired many (latest being Esha Deol), the superstar was seen in a trendy knee brace at Dharmendra and Hema Malini’s daughter Ahaana’s wedding on Sunday.
 
It has been almost a week since Shah Rukh was injured while shooting for Happy New Year when a door came crashing on him at the set. His physiotherapist Dr Ali Irani says, “Shah Rukh is being treated by his orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sanjay Desai and me. Dr Desai has ruled out a fracture right now. There’s a deep contusion in the bone (indicated by a massive bruise). We are letting nature take its course and heal the knee naturally with a lot of rest at home and ice packs. My staff and I are giving him physiotheraphy. His knee is supported by a brace so he doesn’t bend it or hurt it by putting pressure on it. He’s also undergoing cryotherapy.”

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 4, 2014)

Love makes the world go round and if you are Ranveer Singh, it lands you in some rather awkward places too. After the well-attended reception of Ahaana Deol and Vaibhav Vora, the guests headed to the after-party, held at the same hotel. While the reception saw a host of Bollywood celebrities, including the Bachchans and Shah Rukh Khan, the afterparty had only one power-couple in attendance: Ranveer and Deepika Padukone. And they only had eyes for each other.

According to a fellow guest, the duo walked in together post midnight and were inseparable. They almost stole the attention from the newly-weds, with guests queuing up for pictures. “Deepika was chilling with a couple of  friends and Ranveer. While international pop music played, nobody really got in the groove,” the guest told Mirror. And then something awkward happened. “The DJ decided to play Badtameez Dil and much to the guests' dissapointment the two did not bother to shake a leg. Was it because the song featured Deepika and her former flame Ranbir? But then the DJ spun some Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela tracks, followed by numbers from Gunday and Deepika who was in a saree, stepped on the dance floor and busted out some energetic moves. Ranveer’s jacket also flew off somewhere and soon his neatly done ponytail had untied itself too,” said the source. The source added that Ranveer kept planting kisses on Dippy’s cheeks and the two went on whispering sweet-nothings to each other. But the ultimate act of dedication was yet to come. The source tells us that when Deepika excused herself to go to the washroom, Ranveer insisted on tagging along too. He gallantly escorted her and patiently waiting outside, fidgeting with his phone, till she was done. Then the two headed back in and partied till as late as 3 in the morning.” Awwwww sweet!

Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; February 4, 2014)

Sunny and Bobby Deol preferred to do a no show at half-sister Ahaana Deol’s wedding that was held over the weekend. The brothers were not spotted at any of the events marking the wedding of Hema Malini and Dharmendra’s younger daughter to Delhi- based businessman Vaibhav Vora.

Prior to Ahaana’s nuptials, Hema Malini had reportedly stated that Sunny and Bobby would attend the wedding celebrations. She had said that there was no reason why the brothers would skip the same, even though they were conspicuous by their absence even during her older daughter Esha Deol’s wedding in 2012. At that time, Hema Malini had claimed that the Deol brothers were not in town during the wedding.
Says a source close to the family, “Sunny and Bobby’s absence comes as no surprise. Everyone knows they did it out of respect for their mother, Prakash. It was better for them to stay away as their presence would add to speculation.”

Bobby was in Dubai where he took part in Celebrity Cricket League 4 on Saturday. Though many stars were back in Mumbai on Sunday, he preferred to remain in Dubai and is slated to be back in the city today. Sunny, on the other hand, was very much in the city.

Though he avoids attending events unless it pertains to promotions for his film, he was spotted last week at an event hosted by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s event where Lata Mangeshkar was felicitated. Ironically, Modi attended Ahaana and Vaibhav’s reception.

It may be recalled that Dharmendra’s private life came under the scanner when he wed Hema Malini in 1980 even though he was already married to Prakash.

Ever since, Hema Malini has stayed separately with her two daughters, with only cousin Abhay Deol reaching out to them.

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; February 3, 2014)

What’s common between Esha Deol and Shah Rukh Khan? Besides the fact that they share their birthday, November 2, both have novel imagination when it comes to slings for their fractures. The Deol gal, who fractured her shoulder after a fall at home a few days ago, got her stylist to design an appropriate sling to go with her various outfits for her sister Ahaana’s wedding.

In the past, SRK too has used a variety of slings for his fractured shoulder — like the one in gold colour, as seen in the picture alongside.

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 3, 2014)

When Ahaana Deol took the saat pheras with Delhi businessman Vaibhav Vohra in a multi-cultural ceremony today, some of the biggest names in entertainment, business and politics were on the guest list.

The guests at the ceremony included Tina and Anil Ambani, Subroto Roy, Abhay Deol and Madhoo Shah.

The reception was a star studded affair and Kirron Kher with son Sikandar Kher were the first ones to arrive. Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, Anupam Kher, Jeetendra and Sonakshi Sinha followed.

The Bachchan family was in attendance with Amitabh, Jaya, Abhishek and Aishwarya making a grand entrance together. Rekha entered five minutes after the foursome. Baba Ramdev and Uddhav Thackeray also joined the celebrations.

Narendra Modi almost stole the newlyweds' thunder with a much anticipated nine-minute appearance.

The wedding, presided over by the bride’s beaming parents, Hema Malini and Dharmendra, and took place at a suburban hotel and combined Punjabi and Tamil rituals. The boisterous baraat led by Vaibhav’s family danced their way to the venue from a nearby five star property and Ahaana’s cousin Abhay with girlfriend Preeti Desai joined in and shook a leg.

The groom was welcomed by the bride’s parents with Hema Malini sporting a traditional Kanjivaram from her collection of silk sarees while Dharmendra looked dapper in a suit, paired with a vibrant pink tie.

Vaibhav chose a belted Sabyasachi sherwani for the big day and a double string of emeralds completed the groom’s ensemble. The bride was resplendent in an elaborate Manish Malhotra outfit, in the colour scheme of fuschia and gold. The decor matched up to the pair’s outfit with peacocks and candle lit gazebos.

Mehul S Thakkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 1, 2014)

Dharmendra and Hema Malini’s younger daughter, Ahaana Deol, will tie the knot with businessman Vaibhav Vohra over the weekend at a suburban hotel in the city. Many Bollywood A-listers and political bigwigs are on the guestlist and the man who has been entrusted with the security arrangements is Salman Khan’s personal bodyguard, Shera. His company, Tiger Security, will keep the gatecrashers at bay, with Shera himself in charge.

The reason the Deols have reached out to him is because they were impressed with the way he handled the crowd at Esha’s wedding in 2012. At that time he had deployed a team of 75 and this time he has upped the number of security personnel to 100.

On Friday afternoon, the day of the mehendi, which was a close door affair, Shera had a long meeting with the cops to discuss the entry and exit points. He will be spending a day with his team today to cue them in for a hectic Sunday. The wedding is in the morning, and will be followed by a reception in the evening. It is because of this assignment that he has not travelled with Salman to Dubai for the Celebrity Cricket League.

Shera confirmed the story and said, “Yes, my company is in charge of the security of Ahaana’s wedding. It’s a huge responsibility and we will ensure that it goes off smoothly and the guests are not troubled.”

Upala KBR (DNA; January 31, 2014)

The big fat wedding that the film frat was looking forward to is right around the corner. Society’s who’s who are expected to attend Dharmendra and Hema Malini’s younger daughter Ahaana’s wedding to Vaibhav Vohra (below) on Sunday. However, two names which will be conspicuously absent from the grand event will be Sunny and Bobby Deol.

“Both bhaiyyas are very camera-shy so I don’t think they will come to Ahaana’s wedding,” says Esha. Abhay Deol, however, is expected to come. “We have sent the invites to all of them (the entire Deol family). Bobby and Sunny bhaiyya have always given us their love and support. It’s just that we do things privately in our world,” she adds.

While the mehendi is being held today at Hema’s Juhu home, the sangeet, wedding and reception will take place at ITC Maratha. Both Esha and Ahaana’s outfits have been designed by Neeta Lulla. Tushar Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan, Riteish and Genelia Deshmukh are expected to attend.

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 30, 2014)