Actress plays a neurotic designer who has lost her boyfriend and job; comedy also features Diljit Dosanjh as a farmer’s son
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 1, 2018)

Sonakshi Sinha, who was studying fashion designing at SNDT before she made her acting debut with the Salman Khan-starrer Dabangg in 2010, is all set to revisit her roots. The actress will be playing a Gujarati fashion designer, Jinal Patel, in the upcoming film Welcome To New York. Sona’s look has been put together by her college batch mate, Eka Lakhani.

“I’ve had three years of real-life experience in fashion designing but this will be the first reel experience. It was quite easy to bring certain elements from my student days to this character. Back then, I learnt how to sew, cut, embroider, illustrate and dye fabrics. It never felt tedious and I ended up winning ‘Student of the Year’ title in my batch,” the actress reminisces, adding that she could relate to the character because Jinal Patel was everything she aspired to be as a student.

“Scenes in which I’m sketching, cutting cloth, taking measurements took me back to college days,” Sonakshi adds.

For Jinal’s quirky look, Sona teams up kurtis with bindi and heavy but trendy accessories. “I think Eka understood the quirks of the character really well and applied it to Jinal’s different and individual style,” she explains.

While Sonakshi’s character is a neurotic young woman who has lost her job and her boyfriend, the film alsol features Diljit Dosanjh as a farmer’s son who refuses to follow the family profession as he wants to act and travel the world. An unexpected trip to New York City sets the two youngsters, who aspire to a better life, on a life-altering adventure. The comedy, directed by Chakri Toleti, also features Karan Johar, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh and Boman Irani.

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; April 7, 2017)

The first look of Shraddha Kapoor as Haseena Parkar was sharp, intimidating and gritty, with a slicked back hairdo and kohl eyes helping her successfully slip into the role of mafia don Dawood Ibrahim's sister.

To ensure authenticity, the actress, along with stylist Ekta Lakhani, approached Parkar's daughter to lend them props that could be used in the film.

Says Ekta, "We have used the same shade of lip colour that Haseena wore. Her daughter shared the shade number with us."

Ekta and Shraddha also went through old pictures of Haseena to get a sense of her dressing style. The mafia queen preferred long and loose salwars kameez. "We will be using Haseena's Dolce and Gabbana glasses too."

Shraddha tells us, "We are using the reading glasses in the film. There is no hard and fast rule about preparing for characters; it varies from film to film. Each character has its own journey."

The Parkar family was present on the sets of Apoorva Lakhia’s upcoming biopic as his leading lady joined the team for a photoshoot
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 17, 2016)

Siddhanth Kapoor who plays Dawood Ibrahim in Apoorva Lakhia’s Haseena Parkar biopic kicked off shooting in mid-October in Mumbai with the song “Bantai”, followed by a week-long schedule in Bangkok. When his sister, Shraddha who essays the titular character joined the cast on Tuesday for a photoshoot. Haseena’s daughter Umaira, son Alishah, nephew Sameer Antulay, and a few other family members, were present on the sets to meet the film’s cast.

“They stayed for a few hours and were excited to interact with the film’s team. Shraddha and Siddhanth had a brief conversation with them, so did Ankur Bhatia who plays Ibrahim Parkar, Haseena’s husband, in the film. The Parkar family even complimented Ankur on his close resemblance to Ibrahim,” informs a source present on the set. The film touches upon Haseena’s dealings with slum redevelopment authorities, negotiating overseas rights of Hindi films, the Hawala racket and the territorial wars among cable operators.

Shraddha will start filming for her portions from January as she gets busy with the promotions of Shaad Ali’s OK Jaanu, an official remake of Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film, OK Kanmani. “The family has been very cooperative and even let us borrow some of Haseena’s things, including her nose ring so stylist Eka Lakhani could make a duplicate for Shraddha who is likely to have a longer meeting with the family in December as part of her prep,” adds the source.

This is the first time Shraddha and Siddhanth will share screen space and the duo believes that their biggest strength is their understanding of each other. “We’re extremely close, more like best friends. Shra’s my person,” Siddhanth had told Mirror (June 10).

The actor-siblings mother, Shivangi Kapoor, was also present on the set to see them at work. “She got food for the duo and got emotional watching her kids at work,” the source further revealed. While Shraddha’s character will age from 15 to 42, Siddhanth’s will span from 19 to 45 years.