Swati Deshpande (THE TIMES OF INDIA; June 15, 2021)

MUMBAI: Bombay High Court on Tuesday passed no order and adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by actor Kangana Ranaut for permission to get her passport that is expiring on September 15, renewed. The HC questioned her advocate Rizwan Siddiquee on why she had not moved court earlier. He submitted that she has to travel abroad for a film shoot and her film production team was already on location.

Her application said the Regional Passport Office has raised objections to her renewal and sought an order from the court when she disclosed the FIR against her by Munawar Ali over allegedly inflammatory social media posts. Rizwan Merchant, counsel for Munawar Ali raised preliminary objections to her plea saying it nowhere places any refusal or order by the passport officer on record. He also said the RPO is not made party to her application, by her.

A bench of Justices P B Varale and S P Tavade also verbally remarked the “application is vague" and said she could have approached her lawyer and court earlier had she been more vigilant.

Siddiquee tried to submit that the film crew is already abroad and hence sought an earlier hearing. He said she “had a schedule to travel to Budapest, Hungary from June 15, 2021 till August 30, 2021 in order to complete the second shooting schedule of a Hindi Film, Dhaakad.” He said the Passport office had made an oral objection and sought a court nod.

Her plea sought HC order to “confirm that the magistrate’s order and FIR under challenge before the HC would not compromise her rights" to the passport renewal.

Due to the FIR, her application said, the passport authorities without appropriate court order, "showed inability to renew it."

Her plea was that she needs to be present for the shoot to keep her professional commitments since the production houses have huge investments at stake.

The HC had last November in an interim order granted protection to Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel from any coercive action and arrest by Mumbai Police in the case.

Ranaut has sought the quashing of a magistrate's October 2020 order and the subsequent FIR registered against her and her sister by Bandra police allegedly for statements to promote communal disharmony.

The HC at an earlier hearing expressed reservation on the invocation of 'sedition' as an offence against the sisters.

Debarati Sen (BOMBAY TIMES; May 18, 2020)

The nationwide lockdown might have started on March 24 for most of us, but Shabana Azmi had quarantined herself much before that. The senior actress, who was shooting in Budapest, went into self-isolation as soon as she returned to Mumbai on March 15. She tells us, “By the time I came out of self-isolation, the lockdown had already been implemented. So, I’ve been homebound for a very long time.”

However, she is not complaining. “The kind of gregarious person that I am, I never imagined that I could deal with something like this. But, the fact is that Javed (Akhtar) and I have never spent so much time together. So, that has been the positive side of this lockdown,” she says.

While staying safe indoors, the couple is using their time constructively. She shares, “Javed has been writing, while I am doing a lot of reading. I am going through some scripts, too. I have also been involved with the work that our NGO, which was founded by my father, is doing. So far, we have made and distributed around 22,000 masks along with dry ration, oil and sanitary towels.”

Shabana believes that Coronavirus has helped us relearn what we already knew. She says, “Apart from the importance of hygiene and sanitization, we have realised that we have to curb our greed. Many of us have cupboards overflowing with clothes, bags and shoes. Yet, we keep wanting more. This lockdown has taught us how little we really need. Success must be measured in terms of how much we can help others.”

She adds, “This pandemic has also highlighted the condition of our public health infrastructure. The divide between the rich and the poor has never been more stark. What has also been brought into focus is the plight of migrant labourers. So, we now have to think of a life that is far more inclusive and does not deal with just one section of the society.”

Slated to be shot across Europe in April, sources suggest Sanjay Dutt-Arshad Warsi's buddy comedy being rewritten with Goa as the backdrop
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; May 14, 2020)

Even as the audiences await the reunion of Munna and Circuit in the next Munnabhai film, the crackling pair of Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi were to team up for a buddy comedy written by Sajid-Farhad. The laugh riot, that has Dutt playing a blind don and Warsi, his trusted ally, was to roll in Budapest by April. With the current crisis having played havoc with the schedule of their project, sources say that the makers are now reimagining the comedy against the backdrop of Goa.

Indicating that the team had initially planned an exhaustive schedule across the Hungarian capital and Prague, a source reveals, "The film underwent two major location changes. After Europe was severely hit by the Coronavirus pandemic, it became evident that the project would have to be set elsewhere. The makers then considered a stint in Thailand, which had to be scrapped soon after. With international travel being a remote possibility after the lockdown is lifted, Sajid-Farhad are now re-writing the script with Goa as the setting."

When the shoots resume eventually, the team will take a fresh set of dates from Dutt and Warsi for the project. Farhad and Sajid remained unavailable for comment.

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; March 28, 2020)

Shabana Azmi recently spoke to BT about life post the near-fatal accident in January this year, how the ecosystem of casting character actors has changed, and life in times of the coronavirus pandemic. Read on…

You returned from a trip to Budapest and went in for self-imposed quarantine. How are you biding time at home while in self-isolation?
I returned on March 15 with my close friend Parna Patkar and my nurse Pravina who were with me in Budapest. Hungary was not included in the risky countries then, so I wasn’t worried. It was really on Parna’s and Zoya’s (Akhtar) insistence that I have self-isolated myself till March 30.

What arrangements have you made at home for quarantining yourself, given that your husband Javed Akhtar is also home these days?
Our office staff is working from their homes. Only a skeletal domestic staff is operating from our house. We have been counselling whoever we can to maintain a safe distance and wash their hands with soap and water frequently. With healthcare conditions in our country severely lacking, we simply do not have the wherewithal to deal with the pandemic if it hits in full force. There are not enough ventilators, ICUs and hospital beds, so we have to try and flatten the curve. Social distancing and going by the government advisories must become the norm. I participated in a board meeting (via phone) of the NGO I work with based in Ahmedabad for two hours.

I am trying to Marie Condo the house starting with my books, although it’s really hard to part with them! But I really want to declutter and get rid of stuff I haven’t used for six months, whether it’s clothes bags or shoes. I don’t see the point of having a favourite sari or a favourite outfit if I know that I won’t repeat it. I’m glad Kate Middleton has been repeating her outfits and talking about sustainable fashion. Celebrities must set an example and repeat their clothes. Javed and I have also been reading a lot, watching movies and resting. I’ve recovered well but have to still get my strength back.

Could you tell us how long it took you to recover from the accident that you met with on the weekend after Javed Saab’s birthday and what had really happened?
It was a pure accident. I was sleeping at the back of my car because we had stayed up till early morning celebrating Javed’s birthday. Javed was in another car ahead of me with his cousin Dr Sumbul Warsi and her husband Nawab. We were on our way to Sukoon, our house in Khandala when a truck rammed into my car.

Your accident had clearly shaken up the entire family. Javed Saab had barely gone home during those days…
Mercifully, I passed out and I remember nothing. When I came to my senses, I was in the ICU at Kokilaben Hospital, Mumbai. The doctors and hospital staff were exemplary. In fact, I remember very little of the entire period I was in the ICU. Every now and then I would hear snatches of a conversation where someone would say, ‘It’s a miracle she survived.’ My phone was taken away. It was much later that I saw the outpouring of concern and prayers from all quarters. It was overwhelming. I resumed shooting 40 days after the accident. It’s a miracle I didn’t break any bones or require surgery. But my nerves have taken a beating. I still have a lot of pain in my neck, arms and palms due to the accident.

Before the industry halted work, you had resumed shooting and travelling. How was the experience on the set of Halo in Budapest?
I’ve been shooting there off and on since October and it’s been great. I’m contracted not to say more than that at this stage about the project.

As an actor, you’ve always been active from the time you started off ...
Neena Gupta had recently brought up the issue of ageism a few months ago. She had even urged filmmakers through social media to get work.

Do you think women (of your generation), even today, do not have enough age-appropriate roles written for them?
It’s getting better. This is a very good time for actors because all kinds of work are coming our way. I’m doing drama, comedy, villainous roles in equal measure, and enjoying it. The advent of the casting director has changed the ecosystem, particularly for character actors. Earlier you had stock characters...Jeevan, Kanhaiyalal, Shivraj, etc. Today, the actors are being ferreted out from theatre and small towns. They bring a great degree of authenticity because acting is about reacting. This inspires the lead actors to push the envelope. Actors are no longer doing 12 films at one time, so they get the time to learn a skill, change body type, etc. Today, if you are shown playing the guitar, you can’t fake it. You have to learn the chords.

From the time you became an actor, you’ve largely led the films that you’ve worked in. Why do you think the industry has taken so long to accept women in powerful places — as directors, central characters in films, producers, cinematographers and so on?
In a patriarchal society like ours, women have to fight hard for a seat at the table. Boys are privileged over girls from birth. Equal opportunity and access for both girls and boys must become the norm.

In an earlier a discussion with BT, directors like Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Nandita Das and Tanuja Chandra had pointed out that even today, despite a large number of women in different departments of cinema, they are expected to take the shorter end of the stick. Your views?
We need many more directors, producers and writers who have a female gaze. A woman director is not obliged to make a feminist film. She can make what she wants, a thriller, an action film, a comedy, or whatever, but hopefully, she will be informed by a gaze that is female.

You often say that Javed saab does not have the bone of romance in his body, but both of you have always stood by each other like a rock. Love and companionship of that sort are becoming rare in relationships today. What do you think has kept you both together for so many years?
Love, friendship and a similar worldview. We belong to identical backgrounds...we could have had an arranged marriage given our commonalities!


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MEDICS VISIT JAVED AKHTAR-SHABANA AZMI’S BUILDING

Yesterday morning, a team of medics was seen at Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar’s building. According to a resident from the neighbourhood, the team wore protective gear and masks on and carried their kits and other equipment to the top floor of the building, where the couple stays.

The actress, who was in Budapest for the shoot of her international film, Halo, had returned to India around March 15 and has been in a self-imposed quarantine for a fortnight. She had met with a serious car accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in January. When we reached out to her, she said, “I had to take certain tests in the hospital, as a follow-up to the accident. Fortunately, we were able to do all the tests at home. I am fine.”

Sonil Dedhia (HINDUSTAN TIMES; March 18, 2020)

If you compare those graphic images to the outpouring of love and concern that came my way from my audience, it overwhelmed me so completely that nothing else mattered,” says Shabana Azmi from Budapest, Hungary, where she’s currently shooting for Steven Spielberg’s Halo. The veteran actor met with an accident on the Mumbai-Pune-Expressway a couple of months back. As her upcoming short film, Sheer Qorma, on same sex relationship is about to release, she opens up on the changing portrayal of homosexuality in Hindi cinema across decades. Excerpts:

You met with a road accident in January. How is your health now?
I am completely fine and have fully recovered. Currently, I am in Budapest shooting for Halo (produced by Steven Spielberg) and I am happy to be back on the sets.

Pictures of the unfortunate incident were circulated on social media. Many felt that it was insensitive and intrusive. Did that bother you?
My family was upset. It was kept away from me for the longest time as I didn’t have my cellphone. When I saw it, I was on my way to recovery. At that moment, I was just really grateful to those who helped me and the hospital staff.

Right from Fire (1996), the release of which was opposed and banned, to Sheer Qorma now, how do you think the portrayal of the LGBTQ community in Hindi cinema has changed?
I have to say that this genre has opened up, really. The frequency of films that deal with a sensitive subject like homosexuality are being made, have increased in the last few years which is a great sign. The audience, too, is accepting this kind of cinema. Earlier, homosexuality was ridiculed in mainstream cinema but now, we see this subject being tackled sensitively. But at the same time, I feel it is only a section of audience especially in the metros who has have accepted this change.

What would you attribute this change to?
The notion of a family is changing. It is no longer just a heterogeneous family that we accept as a norm. We have seen two partners of the same sex having a baby and I think it is a healthy sign. The notion of family is being redefined as it is no longer restricted to having a baby biologically.

What do you think about mainstream actors working in films dealing with sensitive subjects?
I always believe that films are a reflection of our society and good films can influence society. There is a relation but there is an acceptance, too, and that has to be applauded. Actors today, aren’t shying away from experimenting. The credit should also go to the producer who is ready to back a film on a sensitive subject and the writer who writes the script. The Supreme Court’s decision of scrapping Section 377 was a big propeller towards positively changing the perspective that people had towards the LGBTQ community. It is a great time to be an actor. Gender and age are no longer considered while casting someone.

In a career spanning over 45 years, have you ever faced sexism and ageism?
I have been extremely lucky and my career has always been about being at the right place at the right time. It was my good fortune that Shyam Benegal’s Ankur (1974) became the film that propelled parallel cinema forward. Consequently, I got many different roles from what I would have got had I worked only in mainstream cinema. I never faced lack of acceptance.

Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; November 6, 2019)

They were much loved for the portrayal of Munna Bhai and Circuit in Rajkumar Hirani’s hit franchise. So much so, that for years since the release of the second installment (Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 2006), their fans have been curious to know when the duo, Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi, will team up for the next instalment of the series. Finally, BT has it that the actors will be reuniting soon. However, it isn’t for the Munna Bhai sequel, but for a fresh project.

Arshad, who is currently promoting his upcoming Pagalpanti, said, “Sanju and I will start working on a film next year. It’s a crazy script, a project by Sajid-Farhad. The film is likely to go on floor by March-April next year. We’ll probably head to Budapest for the first schedule of the film.” Talking about the story of the film, Arshad shared, “Sanju plays the role of a blind don and I am his eyes. The challenge is that nobody can know that he is blind, and I cannot tell anyone that he is blind. I am actually directing him throughout the film. It’s quite a fun script.”

In a candid conversation with Mirror, actor Shruti Haasan talks about how taking a break helped rediscover herself and reignite her music career
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 25, 2019)

Ten years ago, Shruti Haasan had made her acting debut with Soham Shah’s action-thriller Luck, co-starring Imran Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Mithun Chakraborty. The film released on July 24, 2009. On Wednesday, the actor revealed that taking a break for a year (2017-2018) to reassess her professional and personal goals, really sorted her out for the next phase.

Shruti is at present training and shooting for Treadstone, a Bourne series spin-off, which revolves around the present-day functioning of a CIA blackops programme, Treadstone that trains its recruits as “superhuman” assassins. This will be her American TV debut. A trained Hindustani classical musician, she is also working toward launching her English music album, which she says is “extremely autobiographical”.

Speaking to Mirror from Budapest, Shruti informs us that her break began after she wrapped up the Telugu film Katamarayudu with Pawan Kalyan.

“Shooting for that film was a lovely experience,” Shruti says. “But on a personal level, I felt like I was in a rut and needed to step away to get a clearer perspective. Of course, a lot of people didn’t understand it back then. To many, it seemed like bad timing as a lot of Tamil and Telugu films were coming my way. It was a scary decision to make, but I knew I had to stop for the sake of my personal growth,” says Shruti.

The actor says that during her break she neither thought of films, nor planned for future ones, she just focused on her music.

“I had become a bit jaded. I felt like I was definitely losing my spark. Most importantly, I had completely lost touch with music. I felt that something was constantly missing in my life, but I couldn’t put a finger on it, which is when I realised that I am a songwriter and that’s how I express myself.”

Shruti had made her singing debut when she was six, in her father Kamal Haasan’s 1992 Tamil film, Thevar Magan. The song was an Ilaiyaraaja composition. She had even lent her voice to Chachi 420’s popular track “Chupadi Chupadi Chaachi”.

“My dad had been telling me for long that it isn’t normal to do five to six movies at a time. That I will burn out. He felt I should be doing music. The same advice came from my friends too, but sometimes you don’t really listen to anyone, right?” Shruti says. “In fact, I hadn’t even written or performed in the eight years that I was working, and I knew that if I was writing an entire album from scratch then I needed to give it the time it deserves. And I will be able to write honestly when I could reconnect with myself.”

She is also candid about the privilege her second name lends. “With all the nepotism debate doing the rounds, it might also sound like I am this whiny girl who is not thankful for what she has. No, I am very grateful for what I have and I am aware that my surname opened doors for me. But I also know that I stayed on for the Shruti part and not the Haasan part.”

Shruti adds that what gave her full confidence to take the break was an actor training course at the Central Saint Martins College in London.

“I love acting and it was amazing to go to England to Liana Nyquist, my teacher, who had never seen an Indian film in her life. She gave me a completely honest opinion about my strengths and weaknesses. In fact, forget about acting, I had never ever been an assistant director on a set before,” she says. “It was a big life-changing experience that made me realise that I have potential, and can take a break, something that I wanted all for myself.”

Shruti reveals that her bond with the acting school became so strong, that she would often fly off to London in between shoots and train for five hours every day with her tutor. “An artist’s journey to find themselves never ends.”

Meanwhile, she is happy to celebrate her ten years in professional acting in Budapest, even though she admits she is not up to much partying. “I am training very hard every day for my Treadstone episode, which involves a lot of action scenes. Initially, I was like, ‘dus saal kaam kar liya’, how difficult can it be. But it’s tough, though I am not complaining. I am having the best time working and that’s how I want this occasion to be celebrated—with more work,” Shruti laughs as she gets back to training.

Unveiling Kangana Ranaut's killing machine avatar from Dhaakad, director on how the movie will introduce Bollywood to genre's immense potential
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; July 9, 2019)

Only months after dabbling in action with Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi, Kangana Ranaut has thrown her weight behind the actioner, Dhaakad. Director Razneesh Ghai points out that Bollywood is surprisingly starved of female action heroes, leading to the genesis of the stylised entertainer. "There is a big void when it comes to female-oriented action films. I haven't heard of a lead heroine in an out-and-out action entertainer in a contemporary space. That's why we wanted to explore this genre," reasons Ghai, who forays into Bollywood armed with years of ad filmmaking to his credit.'

Tight-lipped about the movie's premise, all the director is willing to let in on is that the script is the result of 10 months of brainstorming between writers Chintan Gandhi, Rinish Ravindra and him. A subsequent meeting with Ranaut in May set the ball rolling on the project. "She is an intelligent actor who understood that there is an opportunity to attempt something completely different. We are constantly having brainstorming sessions with her, and her ideas have further elevated the film."

Ghai adds that given the genre it belongs to, the film will be physically demanding on the leading lady. "I'm not a fan of gravity-defying action sequences, so we will show realistic action. Since the film has many action set-pieces, we are looking at stunt coordinators with different skill sets. We have already met action directors from Hong Kong and Thailand for the Gun Fu [a mix of guns and martial arts] sequence."

Having locked in on the script and his leading lady, the director has now progressed to doing recces before the project goes on floors early next year. "We are planning to shoot in Thailand, pockets of Europe, mainly Budapest and Prague, and in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We will also have one schedule in North India. Kangana is currently busy with Panga; once she gets time, we will work out the schedule."