Harshada Rege (DNA; May 18, 2015)


Shooting shuru!
It makes perfect sense to release a trailer during a cricket series. The only catch is that the movie is nowhere near completion. The film is slated for a 2016 release. As of now, shooting is on. Prachi Desai has been signed to play the cricketer’s first wife Naureen, while Nargis Fakhri has stepped in to play Sangeeta Bijlani, although she hasn’t begun shooting for the film yet.

Hollywood lessons
Hollywood follows the model of releasing a trailer as early as six months or sometimes even a year before the release. The first trailer is followed by two or more trailers to attract more viewers. This will be the first time in B-Town that a trailer will be released even before the entire film has been completed. No doubt, there’s a lot of curiosity among the audience, let’s see if the movie building up some more by releasing the trailer this early on, works for the film.

The Munnabhai story
The trailer of Munnabhai Chale Amreeka was released post Lage Raho Munnabhai in 2006. The first movie in the series — Munnabhai MBBS — was released in 2003. However, post Sanjay Dutt’s conviction, the movie was shelved. Hirani plans to make the third installment in the series once Sanjay completes his jail term.

Preity on dance, her twinkle-toed favourites in the industry and more
Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; April 16, 2015)


Rate yourself as a dancer.
I am fantastic. Have you heard anybody say they are bad?

No, seriously?
I can’t believe you are saying ‘No, seriously?’ Like, seriously!

But you were never known as a dancer like Madhuri Dixit or Shilpa Shetty...
Now, if I got powerful roles that did not require me to dance, what can I do? Veer Zaara had no dancing, nor did Dil Chahta Hai, or for that matter Kya Kehna. There were some dances in Soldier. I played a journalist in Lakshya, a prostitute in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, which had some dance. My roles were character-driven, but somehow those characters didn’t dance. I love to dance, but I was never given opportunities to dance much. However, now, that you have said this, mere andar ka dancer jaag utha! May be, I will do a film ABCDZ dancing till Z!

Who according to you is the best dancer — male and female?
It has to be Hrithik among the males. I know he is being raved about for his dances in Bang Bang, but I think his dance in Dhoom 2 is something else altogether. He is my friend but I was like wow — I became a fan of his after that. Among females it’s Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan). From Nimbooda (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) to Dhoom 2, there is no better Indian dancer than her. She is equally amazing in Western dances. However, the one who is slightly better than both of them is me! This is to ground them just in case they start smiling too much after reading this. (laughs)

If you had to pick a dance partner, it would be...
Hrithik (Roshan). And if I am allowed two partners then even Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan).

Three songs of yours that you see yourself dancing to?
Where’s The Party Tonight (Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna). The second would be Tera Rang Balle (Soldier). Whenever they play that song, I jump up and start dancing it is addictive and so much fun. The third would be Jiya Jale from Dil Se.

Judges often end up performing on the show. Will you dance too?
Don’t expect to see anything that you have seen before. This whole format is different. If you feel it will have the predictability of a ‘judge has to dance’, you won’t see that.

How tough will you be?
I will be very fair and ethical. I am going to be myself. I am not that kind of a person, who believes in belittling someone. I believe that the best performance comes out when you encourage the contestants, not when you are mean to them.

The song that always makes you dance is...
Of late it’s Subah Hone Na De (Desi Boyz). Whenever I hear it, I start dancing.

You will be juggling the show and IPL, right?
Yes, and with a heavy heart, will miss one or two games because of the shoot.

Preity Zinta says she is now in a relationship with 'someone nice'
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 15, 2015)

Bollywood's dimpled beauty, Preity Zinta, turns up at a suburban 5-star hotel for this interview, in ripped jeans, a beige singlet, sunglasses and a hat. She's been shuttling between cricket stadiums and a TV set, but radiates happiness as she sips on green tea. "Whenever I'm in India, I go through this madness. Thankfully, I have managed to accommodate the IPL team and Nach Baliye's seventh season comfortably," she says, draining her fifth cup.

She's been off the Bollywood radar but not out of touch with the industry and friends like Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Rani Mukerji. She insists that the reason she chose to return with a TV show, rather than a film, is because of its exciting format. "It's more than just dance, the show is about compatibility between couples. I remember, once I was angry with my co-star and thus couldn't get a scene right. I either put my heart into it or I'm just not there," she admits.

She says that she quit, "when every top producer wanted to cast me", to become an entrepreneur. "Why should an actress remain one all her life when she's capable of so much more?" she wonders, adding that she was bored of playing the innocent in love. "If another NRI love-story came my way, I'd have stabbed the hero."

But she hasn't given up on love. She been making frequent trips to Los Angeles and admits, "there's something brewing which you'll be told about shortly". Prod her on the subject and she adds, "Yes, I'm in a relationship with someone nice. Finally, I have time for myself as the cricket doesn't need me physically."

Last year, she filed a case against former boyfriend Ness Wadia, accusing him of assaulting her. The duo continues to work professionally. Doesn't the situation get sticky at times? "I know when to move on," she says shortly. So, did Ness apologise for his alleged misbehaviour? "I'm in a happy space with a happy guy. And I want to be as far from negativity as I can!" she shrugs.

Does that mean that she is no longer pursuing the case and has reached an out-ofcourt settlement with Ness? "I've reached closure with Ness. My glass is always full, never half empty and will remain that way," she signs off.

Subramanian Harikumar (DNA; April 14, 2015)

Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa that marks Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s comeback, is set to release on October 9. While the Jazbaa team is keen to wrap up the shooting schedule, they seem to be experiencing hindrance in shooting. So what’s stopping Sanjay Gupta and his team? Apparently, the film’s team had got the permission to shoot at the Wankhede stadium on April 12. But it looks like the authorities revoked the permission as the Wankhede ground was hosting the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab. A miffed Sanjay Gupta tweeted, “Shoot cancelled because of IPL at Wankhede. We were to shoot around there. Permissions granted then revoked.” Incidentally, it was on the same ground that Shah Rukh Khan had an ugly tiff with the security personnel, after which he was banned from the stadium premises. Looks like the authorities decided to back out from hosting the Jazbaa team from shooting, stating security reasons. This decision, we hear, has not gone down well with the filmmaker.

After a long break from Bollywood, Pritam Chakraborty returns to composing and to stage shows. He discusses his depression, subsequent extended vacation, his return and the way ahead
Bryan Durham (DNA; April 11, 2015)


Why? If you remember, Pritam used to be in a band and performed live for years before making it huge in Bollywood. And since Bollywood, it’s been success after incessant success for this much-loved composer. The pressures of delivering hit after hit for over a decade finally took its toll, and he never really got around to performing live with his band. Until October 2013.

That’s when he decided enough was enough. “I started getting depressed at around that time. And when that happened, I decided it was time to dial it back a little,” he shares. And so he took an extended break from Bollywood all the way till October 2014.

What did he do with all that free time? Ask him and he says emphatically, “I did nothing with a capital N. I just roamed around, went on a month-and-a-half long holiday. I didn’t compose anything new. I didn’t get back to music at all in that time. And it’s a decision I made after much thought. So I visited old friends, travelled with the family, spent time at home, renovated my office and took up a lot of live gigs as well.”

He says it was an amazing experience hitting the stage again after that long. And it’s something he doesn’t want to give up on. And so, he has made a conscientious effort to do more gigs from now on in India and abroad.

So, we’ve heard a lot about his recent gigs. And the world knows he’s worked with a multitude of singers over the years. So how does he pick them for live shows? He says, “With shows, it’s all about who has the dates. When I’m doing a show, I just see who’s free and get them to come along. For example, my last gig had eight singers travelling with me. It sort of becomes a party. A full-on celebration.”

And the most demanded track is? “Kabira (from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani)”, he shoots back sans hesitation.

Asira Tarannum (MID-DAY; December 8, 2014)

Nikhil Advani’s remake of Hero was earlier set to release a day before Valentine’s Day in 2015. But now the buzz is that film launching two star kids — Suniel Shetty’s daughter Athiya and Aditya Pancholi’s son Sooraj — will release in June. Apparently, the makers made this decision because of World Cup and then Indian Premier League (IPL).

While the makers and the director remained unavailable for the comment, a source from the industry revealed that the they are planning to postpone the release, as the makers fear that a love story of that kind will find no audience when the cricket fever is on.

Hero is said to be almost done except for a little bit of shooting which is expected to be get done by the first week of January next year. Also, a song is to be shot in Romania which is expected to be wrapped up in eight days.

The project, a remake of the 1983 film Hero, starring Jackie Shroff and Meenakshi Sheshadri and directed by Subhash Ghai, is being produced by Salman Khan Productions.