On a day Kolkata nearly drowned, Jisshu U Sengupta glided in at an upscale lounge, dapper in his boots and trench coat. Evidently, his interpretation of festive dressing has its own rule book. Just like his career choices. In between prepping for a US tour with his band, juggling work in Bengali, Hindi, and Telugu theatricals and OTT, and prepping for a massive two-part film project this winter, he was at his leisurely best as he sat down with Calcutta Times for an adda over a double-shot espresso.

I’ve always believed my work should speak for itself – not just in the last three or four years, but always. I’ve avoided giving in to the media too much. I’m not a great speaker, and I believe that about myself. Saying “I’m a good actor” doesn’t make me a good actor. Saying “I’m a good drummer” doesn’t make me a good drummer. Some colleagues are very vocal, and that’s needed too. But I’m happy in my own cocoon. I talk to myself, and that gives me peace. I’ve never planned anything in my life.

I’m not a trained actor. My father was a theatre actor, and my mother used to say one actor in the family was enough (laughs). I was rather into cricket and music. By default, I’m here today talking to you primarily as an actor.

Unlike a lot of actors who design their script and character before going to set, I’ve never done that. I read the script. Ritu da (Rituparno Ghosh), who was my mentor, once asked if I put any thought behind what I do. I said no. Wherever I’m shooting, everything from the people around me to the cup of tea in the frame helps me do what I do. He heard me out and then told me, that while my approach wasn’t wrong, it would help if I got into the character’s headspace – understand his backstory, take him back to his childhood, parents, and heartbreaks, and work my way to who he is today.

From that day, that’s exactly what I’ve done. I build the character’s story in my head. I realized if you don’t believe in the character, you can’t act. The best way to act a character is not to act, but to behave. I try to behave.

People think it’s easy to go to Mumbai and get work – that if you meet the right people, it’ll just happen. It doesn’t work that way. Even when I had my Mercedes back home in Kolkata, I used to travel in autos in Mumbai. I did that for years, and it helped.

People assume because you’ve done well in one film industry, people elsewhere will automatically know you. They don’t. When you go and ask for a role, you’re just an actor asking for a role. If you fit the bill, you get it. If you don’t, you don’t.

Posto was my first film with them – a great father-son story built around a true story. Then I did Baba Baby O which was unusual as well. The first Bohurupi was a huge hit, and I had big shoes to fill – Abir’s shoes. He did a brilliant job, I was quite unsure about stepping into this role, but Shibu convinced me. And I also genuinely believe Shiboprosad is a great actor. I’ve told him this to his face and behind his back too. I don’t know why he does not pursue acting more.

Shiboprosad is a brilliant actor. Had he taken it up seriously, most of us would be totally out of work. He is that good.

Honestly, I have no idea (smiles). There was no calculation behind it. I wanted to be at it – if I wanted to achieve something, I had to keep showing up. That’s how I ended up doing Telugu films. I did Manikarnika with Krish, who’s now a great friend. He asked if I wanted to do a Telugu film, and I said I didn’t know the language. He said that didn’t matter. From that day to this, I’ve done around 18-19 Telugu films with Chiranjeevi sir, Ravi Teja, Venkatesh sir, Nani, and Nithiin. Funnily enough, a lot of people think my name is Jishu Sen Gupta and that I’m a Telugu actor. When people around me speak in Telugu, I simply smile and nod my way through it.

That’s the beauty of this industry. Every day is a new day. If I carry the baggage of what I’ve already done, I’m weighing myself down. Honestly, I believe I’ve done nothing in life, and I mean it.

I’d love to win a National Award someday. There have been awards I haven’t even gone to collect, and ones I have picked up. It feels brilliant being recognized as best actor, but that glory is only for that moment. The next day is a new day. That award isn’t going to fetch me three more awards – I still have to work hard for that.

This applies to everything, and it’s something Ritu da taught me. He once asked me whether I wanted to be an actor or a hero. I said I wanted to be an actor. He explained that if you choose to be a hero, your time span is limited, but an actor can act until he dies.

He told me: “When offered a character, imagine taking him out of the story. Does the story still move without him, or does it get stuck? If it can move without him, don’t do it. But if the story doesn’t work without that character, take it – because that one scene will give you another frame.” That’s exactly how I’ve chosen scripts ever since. I never wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be an actor.

It did average business, and it could have been better. I’ve learnt a lot, and so has Saurav (Das). We could have marketed the film differently – it was a father-son story, and we marketed it as a rockstar’s film. The film could also have been a little shorter. We’re going to fix these mistakes the next time we produce a film.

If I get the opportunity, of course I will. This is where I grew up, where I earned my first bread, butter, and chicken tandoori. I’d give my life for it. Think about it – name me one state in India that has mountains, snow, forests, a river, an ocean, red soil, and the world’s biggest mangrove forest, all in one place. We have all of it. The rest of the Indian film industry should come here and explore it.

Yes, there will be competition. Bangla cinemar pashe daran – I think that’s rather silly. Amra jani amra kothay dariye acchi. But we don’t do enough about it. We need to fix that.

I’ve grown up a lot in the last few years. I never really knew who I was, but I’ve at least understood that there are certain things I need to work on, let go of, and face. These last couple of years have given me that time and space to understand myself – to let go of habits and arrive at the person I wish to be.

Absolutely. Every person has shades of grey. At least once a day, you look in the mirror and know where you’ve gone wrong. I have my own justifications, but I know exactly where I’ve been wrong, and where I’ve been right. People are quick to judge, but no one has stepped into my shoes and walked the paths I’ve walked. So first do that, and then judge.

I wanted to play cricket for India; I couldn’t. I wanted to play the drums at Wembley Stadium; I’ll probably never get to. That would be an achievement.

Because that’s how our world has conditioned us – “boys don’t cry.” Amra etai shune eshechi. I don’t subscribe to that, though. I’ve gone to a psychiatrist. I’ve taken therapy. It’s helped me a lot. We only really talk about what women go through with mental health, which is ok. But men go through instability too, and we just don’t talk about male mental health.

I lost my father when I was 21. I started working at 16, earning at 17, and by 19 I was taking on responsibility for my family – no one really talks about that. It’s still difficult, taking care of so many people. Carrying those responsibilities, a man goes through a lot – EMIs, due dates, and people who judge you without paying your bills. And I have my desires too.

I’ve failed so many times, and I’ve learnt from every failure. Men cry. I cry. On my bad days, I miss my daughters and I cry. That’s okay. Why should I hide that just because I’m a man? I don’t buy that anymore. This is who I am.

We see you on screen, the glamorous side of you, but your inner journey isn’t something we usually pause to think about.

Honestly, I don’t want anyone thinking too much about it, and I don’t want suggestions from anyone either. Respect is the only thing I actually work for. In fact, the only thing all men want is just a bit of respect, and we’ll do anything.

------------------------------------------

For ghazal singer Talat Aziz, Friday, October 2, was like any other day at home. In the evening, he was watching television in the living room of his Juhu duplex apartment, while his wife Bina was upstairs and their sons were in their rooms. Within minutes, however, the family found itself fighting for survival as a fire rapidly engulfed their home.

“I think there was an electric short circuit. And the funny part is that it was one of the ACs that wasn’t even on at that time,” says Aziz.

What followed was a terrifying 15 minutes that he says he will never forget. “I’ve never seen a fire spread so fast. In 15 minutes, the whole house was engulfed in black smoke and raging flames.”

The family had fire extinguishers, but there was little they could do as the flames spread rapidly. Aziz and his sons were on the ground floor, while his wife Bina was trapped upstairs in the bedroom.

“My sons and I could not even go up the stairs to rescue Bina. She was in the bedroom, locked. But then she managed to escape through the bathroom window. My son who was on the ground floor outside, spotted a ladder that had been kept there because construction work was underway in the building. He took the ladder and put it against the wall. Thankfully, it was exactly the right height. Bina managed to squeeze out of the bathroom window and then they brought her down.”

The family eventually made it out, covered in soot and struggling to breathe. “It was a horrifying fire and all of us had a miraculous escape. My sons were running around. We were all black, with the soot all around.”

The ambulance arrived and the family was rushed to hospital. Doctors found that they had inhaled significant amounts of smoke and carbon monoxide and admitted them to the ICU for observation. “They wanted us to be monitored to check if everything was okay and wanted to keep us for another day. But since we were fine, we asked to be discharged on Saturday afternoon.”

The living room and dining area have been completely gutted. Glass, furniture, paintings and belongings were destroyed. “The whole apartment is black and burnt down. I haven’t been able to see everything properly. There are some paintings left upstairs, I think, but I don’t know in what state. Everything is just black and burnt down,” he says.

Yet, amid the devastation, Aziz says he is trying to hold on to what matters most. “Yes, it’s been traumatic. We still have to process it all. We have lost stuff in the fire, but the very fact that we came out alive, that’s important. That’s the biggest. Anything could have happened. It was a major fire. I am still trying to recover. We hadn’t slept the whole night for the last two nights.”

In the middle of the trauma, however, Aziz says he has been deeply moved by the response from friends, neighbours and well-wishers.

“We have been staying at a hotel and on Monday we will temporarily move into a fully furnished four-bedroom apartment in Santa Cruz that our friend who is in Hong Kong offered us. They have said we can stay there as long as we need to, till the time everything is sorted out.”

The offers of help have come from across the music fraternity. “The goodwill is amazing,” he says. “Sonu (Sonu Nigam) just called me from New Zealand or Australia, wherever he is. He said, ‘Talat ji, my house is yours, you can come and stay.’ Anup Jalota also called to offer help, while several neighbours invited us into their homes. I am touched by all the love. The outpouring of love and concern is unreal. I’ve got millions of messages. I can’t even reply to all of them. We had not told anyone, but the fire department put out the whole story on Saturday. After it was out in the news, people haven’t stopped texting.”

“From today we are starting the process of cleaning and rebuilding. There’s so much to be cleaned first. Debris has to be taken and thrown out. I have asked the building authorities to conduct a fire audit of the entire building.”

He is grateful for the speed with which emergency services responded. “Everyone has come forward to help and I’m really grateful to all of them. Even the authorities were so quick to respond, which I’m really, really grateful for. The fire department, the police, the ambulance — within 15-20 minutes they were there. The whole building would have been gutted if they didn’t arrive on time.”

Neeraj Kabi played the character of Mahatma Gandhi in the TV show Samvidhaan more than a decade ago, but the actor believes the Gandhian way of life holds extreme relevance, especially today. “His relevance will remain for generations to come. Such a human will never become irrelevant,” he tells us on Gandhi Jayanti today.

The actor attributes his relevance to his six qualities: ahimsa, satyagrah, sacrifice, leadership, humanity and equality.

“He treated them as weapons, not as a gentle way of meditation. Just as you need weapons for war and train a soldier with those weapons, the training has to be there for these too,” Kabi insists, adding, “If you want to get the highest version of every human being on this planet, then you need to follow these six Gandhian rules.”

Neeraj Kabi feels the young generation is already exhibiting the power of Gandhian principles, as proven by the student protests at Jantar Mantar earlier this year against NEET paper leaks. “The baton of change was carried forward by the youth of the nation during the freedom struggle, and even today, they brought about a change by majorly sticking to non violence and working towards their goals,” he says.

While Gandhi preached non-violence, the Hindi film industry today is increasingly showing violence on screen and it is also emerging a success with the audience. Mention that to Kabi and he says, “Just as you have smoking and drinking, violence in cinema has become like a drug that people go to enjoy because sensibility levels are going down across the world. The only way to mark the success of a country is not GDP, it’s about where you have taken your citizens to reach their higher versions. And our levels are going down, and we are becoming insensitive. Violence has become the drug, and we are supplying that drug through cinema. Gandhism is the antidote to that and we need to understand this quickly before it becomes a shame for us.”

However, he asserts that he isn’t against violence being shown on screen, but it needs to serve a purpose. “There needs to be a higher sensibility that we should have as an artiste. If you make films only to create money and therefore you're making violence, then it's a dichotomy, because then you're going against not just Gandhism, it goes against art itself. Unless your violence is leading to something much bigger in your story, and you are able to use violence as a genre to give away something much more powerful, like it was in Schindler’s List, that makes sense, otherwise not. People look up to cinema and then you inspire them the wrong way,” he ends.

With the public interest in her life, Shehnaaz Gill often becomes the subject of nasty rumours and reports too. The actor, last seen in the Punjabi film Singh Vs Kaur 2, has faced linked up rumours and has often been the subject of trolling. But she has quite a fun take on how to deal with such rumours.

“The ones making headlines, I can understand their intention as they want views, warna wo bechare news kaise bechenge agar kharab headline nahin lagayenge. If I have a slip of tongue and that becomes the headline, I just pray ki becharon ko views aa jaye meri wajah se. Itni achi baaton se to kuch faayda nahin hua hai, par kisi ka to bhala ho,” she quips.

Ask her where this quirkiness comes from and she says, “Khoon Punjabi hai na, to comedy karti nahin hun main, comedy lagti hun. People find it fun and they like it. I don’t try to do it, it just comes naturally.”

Elaborating on how she manages to stay true to her nature and not get influenced by the voices around her, Shehnaaz Gill says, “I have never let someone overpower me and tell me how to talk, walk or behave in front of the media. I was told a lot of things, but I believe, jo ho wahi raho. If you stay true to yourself, people will accept you, otherwise the whole industry is that way. They can rather watch them but you. Everyone is different and has their individual personalities, and they should stay true to that.”

The impact of being true to herself has been that people relate to her more. Explaining with an example, she shares, “On one single day, I was at the airport and two people said the same thing to me. Ek tu aur dusri Shraddha Kapoor, in dono ladkiyon se milne ke liye hum marr rahe the. Once was a coincidence, but twice the same thing got me curious. I asked them why they took both our names in the same breath and they told me, ‘Aap jo ho waise hi rehte ho, aap apni bhasha ko pyaar karte ho and wo bhi waise hi hain’. I thought that if two people are thinking that way, how many people would be thinking the same too.”

But does she feel Punjabi media treat her better than Hindi media? “Punjabi media used to treat me casually too, but I don’t know what changed. Now everyone there comes and hugs me and tells me that they will give me special treatment because I have won their hearts. Hindi media gives me love too, but there is a different connection I feel with them,” she responds.

The actor goes on to add, “When people tell me that they feel inspired from my journey and they relate to me, I feel so special. I have received so much love that even I feel I must have done something right.”

The success of Mirzapur The Movie at the box office has given rise to a new way of filmmaking with projects looking at making a transition from OTT to the big screen, and director Gurmmeet Singh acknowledges that impact.

“We did not seek this pressure going into the film that this is almost like one of a kind feat. It was good to be slightly ignorant that OTT to movie transitions haven’t done well before, even abroad. But all kudos to the fans they came in large numbers to theatres, and them liking the film is sone pe suhaga,” he says, feeling grateful for the love coming their way from the audience.

However, the success came with certain backlash too, including the slamming of Rasika Dugal’s character online for her choices in the film.

Addressing that, Gurmmeet Singh says, “Social chatter becomes so much of our truth, and hate tends to travel faster. There is that lineage of patriarchy all through the system for so many years. So that will take its own time to die away and get balanced.”

The film also ran into legal trouble for the use of Shoorveer song during a violent scene. While Singh says the producers are better equipped to respond to the future course of action, he insists, “Nobody wants to hurt anybody's sentiment, the film actually wanted to entertain. The intent behind the song was to give a banging track with a lot of energy and aggression. We never wanted to make this into anything controversial or hurt anyone’s sentiment. So, we were also taken aback that there was this sort of uproar in a certain section.”

Mirzapur The Movie brought all the cast members from the series back except actor Vikrant Massey. Actor Jitendra Kumar stepped into his shoes as Bablu bhaiya for the film.

Ask Singh if it was because of failed negotiations or Massey opting to exit, and he says, “It’s a creative world, so everybody should have the choice to do what they want, go where they want, express what they want. Every time an actor or an artiste wants to go in a direction in his career, they should have the choice to do it. Even in the future, if someone wants to walk away, nobody should feel compelled that they are tied down to something due to past associations. We’ve moved on now to a different world perhaps.”

Actor Ajay Devgn and filmmaker Rohit Shetty recently announced the release date of their return with the comedy franchise Golmaal’s fifth instalment next year. Arshad Warsi, who has been a constant in the series in each film, remembers working with the team fondly.

The actor recalls a joke he made during one of the parts, sharing, “During one of the Golmaal, we were all standing in a line and it just came out of my mouth that I want every actor's film to do well, because whoever's film doesn't do well, they come and join this line,” he quips.

Family entertainers and comedies have made a comeback this year and Warsi was part of two such films with Welcome To The Jungle and Dhamaal 4. Ask him about it and he says, "I like comedies and I enjoy them. I like when comedies do well as it's very difficult to write comedies, very few can. I just have an issue with sex comedies. I can't get myself to do that."

But not every actor feels comfortable being part of ensembles that such comedies feature. “Welcome To The Jungle took ensembles to another level. Half of the industry was there. Everybody who didn't have a job was there,” Arshad quips.

However, the actor insists, "A secure actor is a secure actor, be it in a solo film or an ensemble. An insecure actor will always be insecure, that is the nature of an actor."

He adds that the OTT medoum has made more actors feel more comfortable being part of multi-starrers: "I am not a part of the industry, I am not a nepo kid, so it is tough for people like me to make it. If there was no OTT, I would probably have been jobless and so do a lot of people."

In 2026, Arshad Warsi also completed 30 years in the industry, and he marks it with the most releases in a year throughout his career. Apart from the two comedies, he did the web series Pritam And Pedro, was recently seen in Ghamasaan and will close the year with Shah Rukh Khan-starrer King.

“I am enjoying it because the films are doing well. It would have been the worst landmark if none of them did well. But so far, we are doing well. I never expected this. None of it is in my control. I am just riding on the high wave, but I am not worried,” he says.

Who does not remember the greenish-blue-eyed newcomer who made her Bollywood debut opposite Salman Khan soon after passing out of school? Sneha Ullal shot to fame with Lucky – No Time For Love, making her debut at just 17 opposite Salman, who was 39 at the time. The actress, who recently visited Goa, spoke to Goa Times about her journey since then, the kind of roles she now wants to explore and her enduring love for the state.

While the film brought her instant recognition, acting was never something she had originally planned to pursue. Looking back, Sneha says aspiring actors need to be prepared for much more than just the craft. “It’s not just about the talent. It’s so much more,” she shares, advising those looking to enter the industry to “be mentally and physically prepared.”

Sneha has maintained that the comparisons with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan never bothered her, saying she was too young to be affected by the attention. Today, she is more focused on the kind of work she wants to take up. “I am more than ready to give everything a go if opportunity presents,” she says. The actress is now keen to explore challenging roles, particularly characters that take her away from the conventional glamorous image.

“I would love to do something like the recent hit Obsession or something really unglam. A more serious role. Non-smiling. And very fierce. A lawyer maybe or a doctor. Grey’s Anatomy style,” she adds.

She is currently working on ArdhNayak, a festival film set in rural Bihar in the 1950s, apart from a Telugu horror drama. For Sneha, the focus now appears to be on exploring different shades as an actor and taking up roles that allow her to move beyond the image associated with her debut.

Goa continues to hold a special place in Sneha’s life. “I have always loved Goa. No matter how many times and places I fly to, Goa feels liberating. Mainly because I love beaches and driving between dense plantations. Fortunately, parts of Goa still have that vibe,” she says. She says she has always preferred the quieter side of the state.

“I do love the quieter side of Goa. Having said that, I have never come to Goa and abused it. I have always been amidst the lush greens or chosen a beach hotel and just lay still,” she shares. In North Goa, Morjim remains her preferred destination. “In the north, I prefer Morjim as it’s quieter and I find privacy, and I like a few beach-facing properties there,” she says. And while she has already explored parts of the state, Sneha says there is still more to discover. “Next time I visit, I will discover more of Agonda,” she adds.

Sheetal Sharma’s Santacruz living room doubles as a home, archive and costume lab. Copper curios and family photographs share shelf space with hefty books on Chanel, Givenchy and Prada. His team gathers here to dissect scripts and build characters. At present, the room is occupied by a mythological drama set before the Ramayan.

“I don’t like working in production-house boardrooms. They feel very cubical,” says the 44-year-old, dressed in his own uniform of white linen shirt and olive-green trousers. “Here, there’s open space to think and bounce ideas around.”

There is a new object in the room too: the National Film Award he shares with Deepali Noor for the costumes of Pushpa 2 - The Rule. Sharma initially assumed the email announcing it was a scam. “With so many online scams around, I didn’t even open the link,” he laughs. A call from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting eventually convinced him otherwise. On September 22, he received the honour from President Droupadi Murmu in Gujarat.

Cinema was never the plan. Raised in a military family between Jammu, Amritsar, Pathankot and Mumbai, Sharma first enrolled in hotel management, “because I wanted to be a chef.” Dyslexia made the mathematical side difficult, and he left after 18 months.

An aptitude test guided him towards creative work. Graphic design proved too geometric; fashion finally stuck. At the Wigan and Leigh college of fashion and management in Mahalaxmi, he learnt to sketch, cut, stitch and embroider, before studying period costume for theatre in Britain. Then came the 2009 recession and a return to India without a job.

His real education began on Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely, where a tiny budget meant Sharma did almost everything himself. “I ironed garments, distressed fabrics and learnt to navigate Mumbai’s wholesale markets.”

He still does. Crawford Market, Mangaldas Market and Chor Bazaar are as useful to him as any fashion archive. For Pushpa 2, Rs 150 second-hand saris bought off the street were cut up and transformed into printed shirts for Allu Arjun and the supporting cast. Sixteen blue saris were used to a create look for Arjun in one dance sequence alone.

Sharma reads a script closely, and likes to pick apart every detail. He annotates it line by line, inventing histories that may never be spoken on screen: how long a character’s hair might be, whether they would have a tattoo, how much money they possess, what they would realistically buy.

Sometimes the clue comes from life. “Gangubai’s sunglasses in Gangubai Kathiawadi were inspired by women I spotted on Mumbai local trains, pairing saris with goggles. Her white wardrobe drew upon the scant historical description of Gangubai as a woman who wore white and plenty of gold. One sari I sourced was an 80-year-old piece from Jodhpur, woven with real silver thread.”

The clothes had to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s sets and light too. Sharma recalls how, on Kesari Chapter 2, a miniature of the courtroom helped the departments decide whether charcoal coats would photograph better than black. In Imtiaz Ali’s Main Wapas Aunga, clothes became a direct narrative device for Ishar Singh Grewal, the elderly protagonist played by Naseeruddin Shah, who has Alzheimer’s disease. A traditional Chand Bali earring changed size between scenes, while one outfit shifted from white to red without changing its tailoring, signalling the character’s growing memory loss. His private costume archive in Govandi now holds pieces from several films, kept with the producers’ permission: Shah Rukh Khan’s black kurta-pyjama from Raees, jewellery made for Vicky Kaushal in Chhaava and other remnants of characters whose lives ended when the cameras stopped.

For Stree, a vintage shawl found in Chor Bazaar became Shraddha Kapoor’s maroon embroidered jacket. When costumes from the first film could not be traced, Sharma says, “My team recreated them for Stree 2, re-dyeing and reprinting fabrics and even recreating materials that were no longer available.”

That obsessive eye does not make Sharma particularly interested in fashion trends. He cheerfully admits that contemporary terminology can escape him and prefers the permanence of a trench coat or Patiala salwar to whatever happens to be fashionable that season.

It may explain why his work rarely feels like celebrity styling. On Animal, where he joined after four previous costume designers, Ranbir Kapoor ended up in the linen shirts Sharma himself favours. “On set I was told, ‘You made him like you,’” he recalls. Nor does he believe cinema must always dress people exactly as they dress in life.

“Films also need to sell aspirations,” he says. “We are city people, so we might say, ‘Who does stuff like that?’ But in small towns, people really adore those things. They aspire to go to college looking like that. In the end, films are selling dreams.”

His own taste remains considerably less grand. If he ever starts a clothing label, Sharma says, it will be “easy and breezy”, built around simplicity rather than trends. Which seems fitting.

After years of making clothes speak for everyone else, Sharma is happiest when his own clothes speak the least.

From trusting her instincts to choosing the filmmakers she wanted to work with, Preity Zinta has rarely been one to follow the rulebook. On the Bombay Times Lounge, she looks back at the choices, lessons and experiences that have shaped her journey — from Dil Se and Veer-Zaara to the films she picks today. Here’s a glimpse into her candid reflections, some cherished memories and a little PZ wisdom.

TaIking about trusting her instincts over industry expectations, Preity says, “I was choosy from the start. Now there are so many more stories to tell, and OTT has a big role to play. I started with Kya Kehna and then I did Dil Se, where I had a 15-minute role. Everyone told me, ‘Your career is over. Pehle toh aap pregnant teenager ka role kar rahe ho and now this small part’. People will always want you to come across a certain way, hence, it’s very important that you cut the noise out and do what you want to do. I wanted to work with Mani Ratnam sir, Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala, so I did Dil Se. I’ve never followed what should be done, I have always done my own thing. I believe that if you find success, then it’s great. If you face failure, then you only learn from it.”

If you’re really feeling something, then it translates. If you’re trying too hard to do a scene or manufacture an emotion, even that will show. In commercial Hindi movies especially, you are shooting something, and suddenly, you have to break into a song. And because I never went to a formal acting school, I wanted to understand the reason behind certain things. The directors used to tell me, ‘It’s not how you look when you do a scene, it’s how you feel when you do a scene’. If you feel it, it’s there. Film is a director’s medium, so over the years I have learned that when in doubt, just follow the director blindly.

Now I’m more instinctive when it comes to my career choices. I try to live in the present. They say, ‘Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is the future, today is a gift’. That’s why we call it the present. For me, it is about what I’m feeling currently. I recently did a film called Batwara 1947, which was very intense, and Vibe was a huge contrast. Also, whatever work I do, has to be worth my time. You have different expectations at different times in your life. When I started out, it was about survival. I had to earn that respect. Now, it is not about survival, but about how I am creatively feeling about a role. I have to leave my kids behind when I come to shoot here, so it has to be worth my time.

Veer-Zaara, any day. I remember when I first met Yash Chopra, I said, ‘Good evening, Mr. Chopra’. And he said, ‘Mr. Chopra? Where have you come from?’ He was so wonderful and he went on to treat me like his daughter. He would feed me such good food on set when we were shooting in Punjab and other locations. After that movie, he never called me Preity, he always called me Zaara.

Madam H from Vibe.

Sonia from Armaan. She’s so politically incorrect that she’d be totally cancelled.

That’s a tough one. Shah Rukh in the first half and Saif after the break. They both would be very good.

Hindi cinema doesn’t have a great track record, at least of commercial success, when it comes to projects around the generation of freedom fighters. Not many movies have been made, fewer still have connected to the larger audience. Is there any point in making more movies on characters such as Mahatma Gandhi? Anubhav Sinha says yes, that filmmakers have a responsibility to keep making these films, in the hope that maybe the next one will work, or the one after that, or the one after that...

I feel there should be one or two films made on Gandhi every year, for the next hundred years. His contribution to the modern history of our country is just amazing. The weaknesses he shows, the strength that he shows, the tough decisions that he takes…

I was telling my son ki Gandhi woh aadmi tha jo kehta tha ki tum log jhagda band nahi karoge toh main khana nahi khaunga. Toh mera beta hasne lag gaya. Bola toh? Toh maine kaha log jhagda band kar dete thay. Ek baar nahi hua, kai baar hua. Ye uss aadmi ka power tha. Ambedkar ke, Gandhi ke views sabko maloom hain. Par jab Constituent Assembly banti hai toh woh Nehru se jaakar kehta hai ki Constitution inse likhwao. Because yeh desh ko behtar samajhte hain. Desh ke vanchiton ko behtar samajhte hain. Aur woh aadmi jo criticize karta tha, woh aisa karne ko agree kar deta hai. Woh Congress party join karta hai. Yeh bade unique log thay. Ambedkar ho, Gandhi ho, Patel ho. Yeh baat toh sach hai na ki Patel ko vote zyada mile thay aur Gandhi ne kaha ki nahi Nehru. Toh woh step back kar jaate hain, aur aapko kahin bhi Gandhi aur Patel aur Nehru ke beech mein koi animosity ya koi sarcastic remark kahin dekhne ko nahi milta. Ye bade unique log hain! Patel, Nehru, Gandhi, even V P Menon. Inn logon par toh itna zyada kaam hone ki zaroorat hai. Bhagat Singh. Bose. Matlab aapas ke itne contradictions...

We have to understand that we are not making glucose biscuits. These are films, and these films live. A glucose biscuit is consumed with a cup of tea and it’s over. Then you buy a new packet. This is a different ball game. This is an art form. And every film, every such film will leave an impact on X number of people.

And slowly for all we know that X number of people will swell into a much larger number, which it should and it will. So just because two films on Bhagat Singh did not work, it doesn’t mean that the audience is not interested in him.

And also, those films were made with people who were in their thirties. When Bhagat Singh started, he was 17. He was born in 1907. He died in 1931. 24 saal mein toh phaansi ho gayi thi. Toh 17 saal ke ladke ke saath Bhagat Singh kab bani? Jab tak aap 17 saal ka Bhagat Singh nahi dekhenge, aap Bhagat Singh ko samajh hi nahi sakte.

Those are the predicaments of the cinema being run by corporations, right? See, any art form is very intimate, very personal. But cinema is so capital intensive that it becomes a corporate-run art form. So it will have these hiccups and roadblocks. But that still doesn’t mean that the next Bose should not be made or the one after that should not be made – or the one after that should not be made. It is our responsibility as filmmakers to keep on doing it because these people have played the most significant part in the making of India that we live in and that we chant about. We will never be able to contribute to India like they did.

True. And we do not; we do not have this argument about the other side of the spectrum. So are you telling me that if a film about Air Force warfare doesn’t work, we should stop making films about Air Force warfare? No! It didn’t work. The next time it will work. Maybe the time after that.

Yeah, yeah. Maybe in 2047, a Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose film will work. We have to keep making it. And it’s not easy to make these films. It’s very difficult to make these films. But that’s the game. That’s the business of films.

But why shouldn’t they? I am not opposed to it. There are people who believe in Godse. They should make films about Godse. There are people who believe in Savarkar. They should make films about Savarkar. There are people who believe in Nehru. They should make films about Nehru. These people, whether it’s Godse or Savarkar – they have a place in history, right? They have a definite place in history, and their stories should be brought to the table.

We should not live on WhatsApp myths. There should be a biopic on Godse. There should be a biopic on every such person who played a part in the making of this nation. Because we can have these n number of dining table conversations about them, but we have a responsibility to acknowledge them, to recognize them, to talk about them, to know them. I’ve just ordered a book by Savarkar. I want to read Savarkar. I want to know Savarkar. And why shouldn’t I?

I think they were all human beings. I’m reasonably certain that they all made mistakes. But there was something going on between 1915 and 1950. There was something going on, and there were significant things going on. People losing lives, people changing history’s course. According to me, there are 200 films between 1915 and 1950. 200. 200 films minimum.

The Komagata Maru ship tragedy is not explored yet. A whole lot of things, like even Bose. Bose’s days in Germany when he goes to meet Hitler, there’s a film there. You can agree, disagree with anybody. That’s besides the point. But there are at least two movies there. There’s maybe more. What happened in Singapore?

What was Bose doing in Singapore? There’s a story there. There’s a film there. I would love to make a love story between Nehru, Gandhi and Patel. I think it’s a love story. It’s a beautiful love story.

Yeah, There’s... In my office, in my room, there’s only one picture on a wall, which is Gandhi. And for a reason. I try to visit every place that Gandhi visited. I go and sit there alone. I went to Bhitiharwa where he started his first Indigo Revolution. I sat there for two hours. I was sitting in the cottage that he made with his own hands. I sat under the tree that he planted. I… sort of spent time with him. One thing I miss terribly is that I never met him.

That’s a very hagiographical film.

Yeah. No, there’s no other film on Gandhi, actually, and there’s none that treats Gandhi as a human being, which this film is doing. Just as a human being. I mean, we forget that the first time Gandhi ever got political, it was a rather racist cause. In South Africa, he was saying, ‘Don’t treat Brown people like Black people. Treat them like White people.’

But then he corrects himself. By the time he comes back in 1915, he’s a different man, and between 1915 and 1948, he’s a different man. And he’s changed over time. He’s constantly improving himself and at the same time not rejecting his mistakes. You read his autobiography, he talks about his stint with non-vegetarianism. He talks about that night when his father passed away.

By the time he wrote this book, he was a Mahatma already. He didn’t need to write all that. He didn’t need to write all that. His non-vegetarianism was between him and his friend and could easily have been buried. You and I wouldn’t talk about it today. But he wrote it in his autobiography. And that’s when I... And it comes on the fourth page or the sixth page, and I was like, “Whoa. What a man.”

We haven’t seen a film of that kind about Gandhi, the kind of truthfulness and faithfulness he has in his narrative about his own life without being worried of, uh, its interpretations.

He wrote what he lived. That’s a lot of courage. I was recently reading something that Marcus Aurelius said – that nobody knows you fully well. There are 17 sides that are inside of you. Nobody knows you. Even if you don’t know yourself very well. Then why should you worry about what people think of you? Because they don’t know you. And Gandhi explores himself in that book, and, he says everything that he knows about himself.

Some of the pictures are dark, some of the pictures are bright, but he puts them out, and he allows you to interpret him in the manner you choose to.

The first thing was that I... The first thought that came to mind was, how can I steal this story? (laughs). Can I... Should I ask him? Can I? Because he had come over. He comes over home quite frequently in the night, sometimes for dinner, sometimes for post-dinner coffee or ice cream, and we sit and we talk about films and life and the world. And one of these days, he told me that story, and I actually considered asking him, ‘Do you want... Do you mind giving this story to me?’ But then I didn’t, because he was so passionate about it. So, I thought I’ll get associated with it as a producer.

The fact that he was looking at Gandhi in such a personal humanist vision. A man who could make mistakes.

While action has been central to Tiger Shroff’s identity as an actor, he doesn’t believe being known as an action star has limited the kind of roles he can explore.

“In the action genre, there are many sub-genres. We have action thrillers, action dramas, action love stories, and horror being quite a big genre now. The scope is endless. I surrender myself to my directors and my writers to help bring their vision to life. I don’t think it’s limiting at all. I’m blessed to have an identity as an action hero in an industry where there’s so much competition and very few people get accepted by the audience so early on in their career,” he says.

Tiger says his upcoming films, including Lag Jaa Gale (with Janhvi Kapoor), an untitled film with Vidyut Jammwal and another being directed by Remo Dsouza, are also allowing him to move beyond the familiar territory of playing the conventional hero.

“I’ve been pretty much playing the hero most of my life from the beginning of my career. I’m fortunate that I am getting a chance to explore darker shades in my career now,” he says, adding, “I can’t choose which film I’m most excited about now because each one of them is so different. If you guys liked me in War, you will like me in Lag Jaa Gale. It is anti-hero; there is darkness and unpredictability all in one. That’s something very unlike me. I really pushed myself in terms of being an actor for that film. I hope that comes across.”

The actor, who has been a fitness icon since the start of his career, admits that his approach to fitness has evolved with age. At 36, he is more conscious of recovery, wellness, and maintaining his physicality rather than constantly pushing himself to the extreme.

“A few years ago, I used to be quite extreme in my approach in terms of my physicality and training. Nowadays it’s more about the recovery and wellness. There are days where I like to go extreme and go all out; however, you should respect your body and know its limits,” he explains.

Talking about the pressure to look perfect all the time, he says, “I really enjoy doing what I do. Pressure is a privilege, and I’m blessed to have that privilege. I thrive on that pressure, and it’s my strength.”

Known for her work in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Jawan, actress Aaliyah Qureishi has lately been inundated with pap attention. Her recent photos with Vijay Varma evoked curiosity and led to speculation that the two are dating.

In an exclusive chat with Bombay Times, Aaliyah says, “There is someone special in my life right now and I’m very happy. Not that there’s anything to hide, but I think it’s lovely to have something that is yours and a relationship that you can nurture and enjoy, without having to constantly define or explain it.”

Soon to launch her music album as a singer, Aaliyah, who goes by the music alias Jhalli, acknowledges that Vijay has also been a great support in her musical journey.

She says, “I’ve been working on this album and through it all, Vijay has been a great creative and emotional support. I’d just like to keep that part of my life a little private. I’ve always felt that some relationships are more meaningful when you’re able to experience them away from the public gaze and simply allow them to grow and be enjoyed for what they are.”

She explains that their connection is rooted deeply in the way they relate to creativity and the artistic process.

“We both have very individual creative journeys, but there’s a shared understanding of what it means to follow an instinct, to be curious about something, and sometimes, to pursue an idea simply because it feels meaningful to you, even if it doesn’t fit neatly into what is expected. I think we encourage that instinct in each other. There’s a certain freedom in having someone who understands the heart of creativity, and I think that allows us to challenge and inspire each other in ways that are soulful and creatively enriching,” she shares.

The Mumbai girl also revealed that her passion for music and movies came like it does for every child who wants to grow up and be a performer.

“I used to sing and would be forced to perform for guests whenever we had people over. I have always loved music. The first song I wrote was when I was in fifth standard,” she says, adding, “I just want to give both my babies (acting and music) equal attention. One thing I really love about my music is that I get to tell my own stories, unlike acting, where I get to tell other people’s stories.”

It’s safe to say that Harshvardhan Rane’s career hasn’t followed a conventional trajectory. After making his mark in Telugu cinema, the actor moved to Bollywood with Sanam Teri Kasam (2016). The film failed to make an impact at the time but found a second life with its 2025 re-release, becoming a theatrical success and putting Harshvardhan back in the spotlight.

The actor, who went on to do films like Haseen Dillruba, Dange, Savi and, more recently, Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat, tells us that he never had a roadmap and had to constantly navigate his way through uncertainty.

Asked if he ever felt like giving up during those difficult phases, Harshvardhan says his circumstances made him stronger. “Having perseverance is something I think I was born with, while circumstances forced me to become bold and strong. My philosophy is that nothing is given to you; you have to find your own path. When you enter a jungle, you can’t expect a map, so it is pointless to complain about not having one. A jungle, by definition, is where you don’t know what will happen. So when I talk about circumstances, I mean finding your own way through every ordeal.”

He insists that quitting was never really an option. “Giving up is a luxury which I never could afford. It is a quirk of the privileged,” he smiles and adds, “So, let’s say, fortunately I am not privileged.”

Harshvardhan’s next project, Ram Gopal Varma’s Police Company, has him step into the role of a character inspired by Mumbai encounter specialist Daya Nayak — a casting choice, he admits, that even people who have known him for years would never have imagined. For him, the role is an opportunity to challenge the stereotype.

He says, “I feel actors get easily stereotyped. I believe actors are capable of doing romance, comedy and other things. I’m playing the role of Daya Nayak — nobody could have thought that I’d be playing this part in a Ram Gopal Varma film.”

What seems to excite Harshvardhan equally is the filmmaker he is working with. Having watched RGV’s distinctive cinematic language over the years, he says witnessing his process from close quarters has been an eye-opener.

“RGV has blown my mind with his artistic nature on set. There is a strange quality of following something extremely cinematic and breaking the mould. So there is this full tug of war, this push and pull between going cinematic and breaking the grammar. I love that process.”

Orry has put an end to speculation about his reported association with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War, clarifying that he is not part of the film and has no plans to pursue acting. He says the buzz stemmed from a conversation with the film’s casting team. “It came up in conversation two years ago. The casting person had reached out, but it ended up not going anywhere,” he says.

Orry adds that he chose not to correct the speculation as it gained momentum. “I allowed the rumour to fly, because why not? I love chatter,” he says.

Orry insists acting is not something he wants to pursue. “I don’t want to act. I don’t like acting. I tell everyone I love my reality so much that I don’t want to have to put myself in someone else’s shoes and play some character. That’s just not something I want to do.”

Having watched actors and friends in the industry closely, Orry says he is aware of how demanding the profession can be. “Acting is not an easy job. I’ve seen that firsthand and I’ve seen that with my friends who are at the top of it. Imagine if you’re not at the top of it, if you’re not from that world, you don’t even have the skill or you’re fighting to get a role. It’s very hard,” he says.

For Orry, fame itself is not a motivation to enter the profession. “A lot of people associate acting with fame. But I’m already famous and I did it without acting,” he says, adding, “I really am at the level of fame I want to be.”

Mini Mathur, who won Alliance, came away from the experience with a reassessed relationship with ageing, vanity and the life choices that shaped her journey. The reality show pushed her to let go of the control and polish that usually accompany a public appearance and embrace a more unfiltered version of herself.

She said, “When you have a camera on you 24/7, you can’t look your best all the time, and I actually embraced that for the first time. I watched a couple of episodes and thought, ‘Sh*t, Mini, you’ve never looked worse.’ It was hard because I was absolutely stripped of everything. But I felt liberated. I learnt a lot about ageing and vanity on the show. Every time I have presented my best version to myself, it has been about how I look. The moment I stripped myself of vanity and everything to do with lines and wrinkles, there I was with the trophy. The real me has value.”

The experience also changed how Mini viewed the choices she made before entering the entertainment industry.

She shared, “I always felt that I entered the industry late because I did my post-graduation and then worked for two years. I felt that somehow all of that was a waste of time and perhaps wasn’t valued enough. But today, I feel proud that every single maths problem I solved and every passion I pursued in life matters. It brought me to tears to realize that all those years I spent thinking, ‘Damn, I should have started 10 years earlier,’ had actually come to something. It’s never too late to learn, apply what you’ve learnt in life and win.”

In a previous interview, soon after winning Alliance, Mini had shared, “I didn’t need this show to revive my career or get millions of followers. I went in because I wanted to challenge myself. I have a 30-year television career behind me, and I didn’t want to do anything that would put what I’ve built over three decades in jeopardy. So, I realized that the only way to play the game was to be my most authentic self because anything else I did would have been called out. I don’t like toxicity, arguments or loud physical displays of aggression, so whenever that happened, I moved away from the situation. But I always put my point across without having to shout anyone down in public. I’m happy that somebody who’s not the reality-show winner stereotype actually won. I’m sure there were other people who were equally deserving, but I fought them tooth and nail, physically and mentally.”

The physical and confrontational nature of the game also brought her face to face with what she sees as a male-centric understanding of power.

She says, “I detest this whole male paradigm that equates power with men, brawn and testosterone-laden bodies. Every time those alliances were formed where a big guy met another big guy and one token girl was included, I thought, ‘I ain’t playing in nobody’s shadow.’ I haven’t come this far in my life in anybody’s shadow. I didn’t come here to play safe. I wanted to be my own power centre and play my own game.”

Age became another assumption Mini refused to accept. Being told that a woman her age had never reached so far in a reality show only reinforced what she considers an outdated view of women over 50. 

She shared, “This is 2026. Women are no longer making achars at 50. At 54, I’m at my sharpest and physically fittest right now. I want to break this mould that women over 50 are weak, don’t deserve space of their own, have to live in the shadows, be nurturers and givers, and that somehow their best is over. Hopefully, my win is a message that you can have main-character energy at 50 and reinvent yourself at any time. You don’t have to be 30 to compete with 20-year-olds.”

Celebrity chef Ranveer Brar, who has previously shown his acting skills in Modern Love Mumbai (2022) and The Buckingham Murders (2024), is all set to shoot an international film with a UK-based director.

Planned to roll early next year, the yet-to-be-announced project will see Brar play a biryani chef. “(My character) travels from India to Saudi Arabia where he opens a restaurant in his daughter’s name and then moves to England,” Brar tells us on his visit to hometown Lucknow.

He says the project reflects a larger shift he sees coming in the way food is portrayed on screen.

“Earlier, food (as a category) was limited to recipes. Then it became travel content, reality shows, some short films and social media reels. The food fiction space was vacant and fairly unexplored. But there are so many stories in our culture that revolve around food. In the coming times, I see a lot of stories being made around food. Ab asli food ki kahaniyan kahi jaayengi,” he tells us.

On the short film, he adds, “There is an 18-minute short film Rampher Ki Kulfi with two kulfiwallahs played by Sanjay Mishra and Sharib Hashmi in Old City of Lucknow. It is directed by Lucknow-based Archit D Rasstogi. I came on board as a presenter and it has been screened in various worldwide film festivals. I do feel food and fiction is the next step in content and the audience will also connect to it as we all relate to such stories.”

It was most recently screened at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF 2026) in June and will next travel to International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA), Toronto. The film also stars Bhawana Pandey.

Brar recalls that some food-stories based Indian films like Bawarchi (1973), The Lunchbox (2013), Daawat-e-Ishq (2014) and Chef (2017) have been made but they are far and few.

“I am encouraging young writers and makers to come up with content related to food storytelling which I will love to associate and produce. I am already working on this front as we stories all around us – they just need to be tapped in short or long story-telling format,” he says.

Apart from his films, Brar is also gearing up for his next book and a reality show. “My book is on tandoor cooking and it has gone in print. I have also shot a celebrity reality show Yess Chef for YouTube, and we are gearing up for the next season of MasterChef India which will go on floors probably in December,” he ends.

After Kalki 2898 AD (2024) won two National Awards, including Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Best Production Design, director Nag Ashwin calls the wins “special”. The recognition marks his second National Award after he was previously honoured for Mahanati. Speaking about the honour, Ashwin says awards were not on his mind while making the film, but he always believed its production design deserved praise.

“Usually during making films, I don’t think of what awards it will get but for Kalki, I always felt that it should get in production design. We were doing some extremely impossible things and I’m very happy that it got that recognition,” says the filmmaker.

Reflecting on the win, Ashwin says the team shared the joy despite being in different places. “We were all in different places but overall I think we all felt an immense gratitude and joy for the recognition,” he says.

The film featured an ensemble cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Kamal Haasan, among others. Ashwin credits the film’s “great actors” for pushing him to be sharper and ensuring that the story and scenes were “up to the mark”.

“Rather than overpower the story, I feel it helped me be sharper on my feet and make sure that the story or the scenes really were up to the mark, to justify the great actors who were playing these roles,” he says.

Recalling the film’s most challenging sequences, Ashwin points to the climax featuring Ashwatthama (Amitabh) battling Bhairava (Prabhas) in Bujji, the three-wheeled AI car, as well as the Mahabharata portions. “It was really a complicated sequence because the action had proper story beats and had to keep improving. And also the Mahabharata sequences,” shares the 40-year-old.

Ashwin also feels the response to films across scales is encouraging. “It’s very exciting as stories now, whether they are small and intimate or larger than life, have somehow seemed to have found their own stable audience and I’m really hoping that this trend continues,” he says.

He adds that Kalki’s success has also inspired filmmakers to explore the genre, although that means he will have to reassess some of the ideas he originally developed years ago. “Kalki has inspired many more to follow this genre... what was original seven years ago while writing it, I’ll have to assess and reimagine sometimes,” he says.

With the film’s box-office success followed by National Award recognition, Ashwin says the focus for its sequel, Kalki 2898 AD – Part 2, will remain on the story rather than expectations. “After the box office success and now the award recognition, what we will strive to do is to still be honest to the story. And make a film that can stand the test of time,” he says.

For Ashwin, that honesty begins with the reason a filmmaker chooses to tell a story in the first place. “I feel the stories that directors want to tell... from inside... not because they need to make their next film or are trying to write something according to the trend. The want to make something should be blind and relentless. I feel only those work, at any point of time,” he concludes.

Last month, reports that comedian-actor Jamie Lever was marrying actor Yashvardhan Ahuja, son of actor Govinda, surfaced online after AI-generated fake wedding videos began circulating.

While Jamie initially found the reports funny, things became uncomfortable when people began believing the videos and contacting her father, actor-comedian Johny Lever. “Initially, I found it funny. I was like, ‘Oh my God, look at this!’ I was sharing it with my cousins and everybody was laughing,” she recalls.

But what began as something she could laugh about soon took a different turn as the videos continued circulating. “It was shocking. It got really uncomfortable when my dad started getting calls from people abroad saying, ‘Johny, you fixed your daughter’s wedding but you didn’t tell us. We are highly offended,’” she shares. The calls eventually made the situation difficult to dismiss as just another internet rumour.

“Then my dad was like, now I’m getting out of hand where people are taking offence that you didn’t send an invitation for your daughter’s wedding. Now you need to please publicly clarify that this is not true,” Jamie recalls.

With more AI-generated videos continuing to surface, she felt the situation had gone beyond something she could simply laugh off. “I think the matter was getting a little out of hand because way too many videos started circulating and I was like, now it’s getting a little, like it’s not a laughing matter at all,” she says.

Jamie believes the link-up stemmed from her professional association with Yashvardhan. The two are working together on Sajid Khan’s Hero Ki Horrorine, a horror-comedy.

“We have already announced that Govinda ji’s son Yashvardhan (Ahuja) and I are going to be in a slapstick. And that’s probably why the whole link-up thing started,” she says.

Talking about the film, she adds, “We’ve just gone all out, all crazy, full slapstick. So it’ll be, again, a fun ride that comes out in Jan.”

For the 38-year-old, the episode also reflects the tightrope comedians increasingly have to walk when dealing with audiences who can be quick to react to what they see and hear.

“I think people are becoming overly sensitive. Anything you say, any joke you say, there is an immediate criticism or an immediate opinion about it on social media,” she says, adding, “I play safe when it comes to my comedy so that I don’t offend anyone. This is a full-time responsibility. Comedy is a 24-hour job.”

For Bollywood actresses, motherhood often comes with an unwelcome spotlight on their bodies. While becoming a mother is a personal milestone, actresses often find themselves facing public scrutiny over everything, from weight gain and post-pregnancy changes to how quickly they “bounce back”.

Katrina Kaif is the latest example to face trolling and commentary around her appearance after embracing motherhood. In a candid chat with Bombay Times, Parineeti Chopra, who welcomed son Neer last October, questions why a woman should be expected to “get back in shape” soon after childbirth.

The Amar Singh Chamkila actress says, “I have done an incredible thing of creating this human being, which not every woman in this world gets to do. So why do I have to get back in shape right after childbirth?”

She draws a parallel with the way people treat other changes to their appearance, pointing out that nobody expects someone to immediately undo the physical effects of a holiday. “I will get back in shape because I want to do it, not because I produced a baby and I need to get back into shape. There is this understanding that human beings need to have. If I could go on a holiday, eat a lot of food, put on weight, get tanned, get a haircut, maybe get a tattoo and come back – will you say, ‘Now your holiday is over, you need to remove your tattoo, you need to grow your hair again and remove that tan immediately?’ No, right? So when I’ve had a baby, why does the evidence of the beautiful experience need to go immediately?”

For Parineeti, the issue goes beyond body positivity and into the larger question of why women are constantly expected to explain or justify changes to their bodies. “And secondly, who are you to ask me? You cannot keep asking women this question; it is insane. Did you ask the woman who birthed you this question? No, right? Let’s not even waste time on these discussions. It is ridiculous to me.”

The actress says that motherhood has not altered the way she approaches her career. If anything, it has reinforced a philosophy she has followed for years — balancing work and personal life, with family taking precedence.

“I’ve always lived this half-and-half life. I don’t watch content. I don’t live a very filmi life, and I don’t spend too much time at work. I do a pure 50-50. I work for like three or four months a year. The rest of the year, I’m doing other things. So that doesn’t change. In fact, it reinforces my belief – that my family comes first and work comes second to it. That will never change," says the actress who's seen in Netflix's mystery thriller Shaque: Trust No One.