Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s protégé Meezaan on the upside of being stuck at a farm since March 13
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 12, 2020)

Jaaved Jaaferi’s son Meezaan is stuck at a friend’s farmhouse outside Mumbai due to the Coronavirus lockdown. He has been there since March 13 and has been spending time with organic farming, indoor games like badminton and table tennis, working out in the in-house gym and brushing up on his guitar and piano skills. “There are a lot of facilities here, so I can’t complain, but I am homesick now. I haven’t seen my family in a really long time,” he sighs.

Meanwhile, when they run out of vegetables, they just pluck some tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli and lettuce from the fields. “There is a different kind of joy in eating self-grown vegetables. It’s like a child you nurture. Everyone should try farming once in their lifetime as it teaches you to value things a lot more, after knowing how much effort goes into growing fruits and vegetables,” he points out.

Meezaan made his debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s production Malaal last year, opposite the filmmaker’s niece, Sharmin Segal. Next up is Hungama 2, which marks Priyadarshan’s comeback to Hindi films and also features Paresh Rawal and Shilpa Shetty. “It was a new world and I adapted well. We have about 12 days of shoot left and I can’t wait to go back on sets,” he asserts.

Remind him that there will be comparisons with the 2003 original, featuring Akshaye Khanna, Paresh, Rimi Sen and Aftab Shivdasani and he says, “Of course, there will be expectations because it’s a sequel, but ours is a new story and a fresh look at comedy. Priyan sir asked me to have faith in his vision and trust him, which I do because he knows exactly what he wants,” he avers.

Shoma Anand with screen family of Hum Paanch; Vidya Balan (below) had replaced Amita Nangia (3rd from left) as the second daughter

Shoma Anand not keen on comeback but would relent for Hum Paanch
Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 27, 2020)

Hum Paanch, one of Ekta Kapoor’s first productions, is among past TV gems that have returned to prime time during the Coronavirus lockdown. In 2020, the sitcom, featuring a couple (Ashok Saraf and Shoma Anand) and their five fiesty daughters, completes 25 years since its premiere.

Shoma is happy that her screen family is celebrating the show’s silver jubilee by bringing joy to people in a difficult time. “It makes me nostalgic about old days and how we looked then,” she says, adding that the cast has been in touch over the years. “This is a family I created for a lifetime, unlike today, where people forget each other right after a project.”

Vidya Balan, who is a successful actress in Hindi films now, was a part of the Hum Paanch family as the nerdy Radhika. Shoma is proud of her screen daughter. “She is always respectful towards us, no matter how successful she became. We talk on birthdays and events,” she gushes.

Shoma had herself been a regular fixture on the big screen for decades, with films like Coolie, Himmatwala and Ghar Ek Mandir, among others. But her last prominent project was the 2009 Govinda and Fardeen Khan-starrer Life Partner. Explaining that she took temporary retirement to get away from the hustle, the actress informs, “I spend summers in Kashmir and one time, I didn’t want to come back. There are no characters left in films anyway. It’s either a love story, an action film or special songs and I don’t fit in any of them.”

She was a part of Priyadarshan’s 2003 comedy Hungama and now, the director is returning with a sequel. But Shoma isn’t sure if she was approached. “Maybe they had an offer. I don’t answer most phone calls these days as it is tough to say no to people you worked with,” she reasons. But Hum Paanch sequel would be different. “We’ve been asking the makers for years to bring it back, as viewers won’t forget it even after 50 years.”

Kavita Awaasthi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; October 24, 2019)

Being part of a film that does stupendous business at the box office is a joy. Every actor wants his or her film to be seen by the most number of people and superhits are possible when a film is watched multiple times,” says actor Ashutosh Rana, talking about the success of the Hrithik Roshan-Tiger Shroff-starrer War, which also features him.

Ashutosh proved his mettle way back with Dushman (1999) and Sangharsh (2000). And the movies he has done of late have also given his career a boost. Last year, for instance, he was seen in Simmba, Dhadak and Mulk, besides Sonchiriya this year. The actor feels being part of a film like War has a huge impact on one’s career. “Aditya Chopra’s production house, Karan Johar’s production house and Rohit Shetty are like the chaar dhaam’. As in Hindu religion, even if you visit many famous temples, doing the chaar dhaam yatra is a must. Similarly, being an actor, after having worked with them I feel I am completely a part of the film industry. I have worked with so many other talented filmmakers but having these diggaj (stalwart) filmmakers in my filmography takes it to another level,” he says.

After shooting for Vicky Kaushal-starrer Bhoot, he is now working on Guneet Mongia’s next, Priyadarshan’s Hungama 2, another film with Aditya Chopra’s production house, a Telugu web show, a Kannada film and a web series based on the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Ashutosh is known for his impeccable command over Hindi and says talking in Urdu while playing a historical character was a pleasure for him. “Hum bhaasha ke anugrahi hai, pujari hai. So, whenever I speak in Hindi, Urdu, English, Tamil or Telugu, I try to use the language in a pure form and not use Hindi while speaking English or vice versa. Urdu and Hindi have been spoken in India for years and essentially, we speak Hindustani zubaan. It wasn’t tough to talk in Urdu for the show as the language was not as chaste as it might have been in that era. That’s because the show is set in 1700s but the audience watching it is from 2019, so we have kept that in mind,” he shares.