Showing posts with label Kim Kardashian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kim Kardashian. Show all posts
Exciting that Diljit Dosanjh was putting out a song celebrating something I have been championing-Chandrika Ravi
2:41 PM
The desi face of Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS, Chandrika Ravi, talks brown beauty, rejection from India, reclaiming the tag of sex symbol and playing Silk Smitha in an upcoming biopic
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; March 15, 2026)
When Chandrika Ravi appeared in Diljit Dosanjh’s music video Saanvle, the word itself was evidently the message that both Ravi and Dosanjh were making. The title translates to “dusky”, which is an uncomfortable word that has existed in Indian beauty culture. In the video, Ravi stands exactly for every contradiction that the word offers. When she sits down for a conversation with Sunday mid-day, she starts with why the project felt personal.
“What got me the most excited about the project was that someone like Diljit, having the global impact he has, was putting a song out celebrating something I have been championing for as an Indian actress for years. The visibility, especially for young girls, that they are beautiful as they are and our brown skin should be celebrated was what I needed growing up.”
It is a simple idea, but for Ravi it has been a long fight. Long before she became a viral sensation or a global face of Kim Kardashian’s shapewear brand SKIMS, Ravi was a young woman growing up outside Melbourne, convinced her future needed to be better. “I come from very humble beginnings. I was born in a small town outside of Melbourne to immigrant parents born in Singapore. But I had always told everyone around me that I was going to move to Los Angeles and be an actor, without knowing how or when I could do it,” she says.
Ravi had already been training in dance and acting since the age of three, but Australia’s film and television industry felt limited in ways she couldn’t ignore. “I was starting to feel a lot of discouragement in Australia because they simply weren’t writing parts for people of colour. I took the leap of faith and booked a ticket with whatever money I had, packed three suitcases and left for LA with USD 500 in my bank account and a dream. It’s the best decision I have ever made. I learnt resilience and determination as a person. As an artiste, I have trained with the best, and have learnt the ins-and-outs of the industry.”
But the journey toward confidence did not arrive without bruises. Some of the deepest ones came from the place she felt most connected to — India. “India broke me. It was essentially the Indian film industry that broke me as a person and performer. I was devastated,” she says.
The pain, she explains, was not about failure. It was about something far more difficult to accept. “It was a very hard concept to grasp that my talent wasn’t enough to be cast in something in India. That ultimately, the colour of my skin would dictate whether or not I got a part. Having trained my whole life on my craft, and having represented India and Indians on a global stage, it felt like I was constantly being rejected by my own people. I had to keep reminding myself that I had to keep fighting, not just to prove my worth, but for the other young boys and girls who grew up feeling like they too weren’t good enough because of colourism,” she says.
If Ravi speaks openly about rejection, she speaks just as openly about pride. “A constant reminder has been how much my skin colour and features are celebrated in America. I love when people ask me if I’ve come back from a vacation because my skin looks sun-kissed, but it’s my blessing of being born as an Indian woman.”
The larger point, she says, is about resisting a culture that constantly tells women they need fixing. She says, “In a world where women are especially picked apart and constantly made to feel like they have to be a certain way with beauty standards constantly changing, I am proud to still stand strong with my decision to not alter my appearance and embrace how God made me.”
In the age of paparazzi nicknames, Ravi has acquired one she finds both amusing and flattering: Chandrika Kardashian. The comparison emerged around the same time she became the first Indian woman associated with Kim Kardashian’s brand SKIMS. “It’s very flattering, I’ll take it!” she laughs, “She is confident, hot, and has great style!”
For Ravi, the irony isn’t lost. “Being associated with a name and a brand that is synonymous with being sexy — as an Indian woman sometimes does not feel real, especially when I was always told I was undesirable because I was so different.”
For her, being called desirable now feels like an inversion of the rejection she experienced earlier in life. She says, “Curves, long hair, strong features, and a glowing tan. Being called a sex symbol is a label I embrace with open arms. Being seen as desirable for being authentically myself in a country where I once fought to even have a seat at the table is a battle well fought. Being seen as desirable after being born in a Western country where I was told for years that I was not attractive enough to be in front of the camera means I became the representation I needed growing up of a confident, sexy Indian woman who was unapologetically herself.”
The next chapter of Ravi’s career may also be her most ambitious. She is currently co-creating and starring in the official biopic of cult screen icon Silk Smitha, popularized by Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture [2011]. “What drew me to her story was how misunderstood she was,” she says, adding, “What she did, no one has ever been able to recreate. The command of attention she had with just a glance in your direction. The number of films she starred in less than two decades. The confidence she had to be seen as a sex symbol at a time where it was seen as taboo. The amount of turmoil she was facing in her personal life yet she was still able to have constant box office hits.” In many ways, reclaiming Silk Smitha’s story is also Ravi reclaiming her own.
When the stars are woke: More celebrities are speaking up for social justice, while also trying to stay popular
8:28 AM
THE TIMES OF INDIA (September 15, 2019)
Celebrities aren’t what they used to be. Not long ago, they were bland ambassadors of their movies, music or sports. Their social concern was limited to causes that offended no one — a green marathon, or a cancer awareness ribbon.
Then a few, like Angelina Jolie, Bono and Madonna took up humanitarian causes around the world. This made for riveting pictures, the world sighed in sympathy. But even then, they steered clear of anything contentious in their own country, like racial justice or social equality. Famous women regularly insisted that they weren’t feminists.
But now, a new generation of woke celebs has blown away those conventions. Look at Beyonce, confident, compelling and feminist. Emma Watson declaring that trans rights are human rights.
Priyanka Chopra proudly calls herself feminist, and her pal Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is editing the September issue of Vogue dedicated to female changemakers. It’s cool to care, and wear your earnestness on your designer sleeve.
And why not? We live in an image-driven world. When even politics is seen as entertainment, why shouldn’t entertainers, who are used to constant attention, direct that attention to causes they care about. They have influence, and they want to influence public conversation.
Some celebrities do have skin in the game, beyond holding up signs and mouthing platitudes. Deepika Padukone is sincerely focused on mental health work, after her own struggle with depression. Kim Kardashian not only professes to care about prison reform, she is training as a lawyer to do more about it.
Of course, there are still limits to what they can do. In the US, footballer Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the US national anthem to protest police brutality, and the reverberations have not ceased. In India, Aamir Khan can talk about children’s causes all he wants, but one mention of religious intolerance, and the trolls descend on him, threatening dire consequences. All the celebrities who spoke out against powerful men in the movie industry have faced immense pushback. No wonder that the bulk of celebrity activism still confines itself to safe causes — you can’t expect a celebrity to not care about popularity.
And so, many of them still confine themselves to causes that don’t challenge any real power. For instance, feminism was once a movement that cared about women’s collective emancipation, not just individual “icons” making whatever free choice they want. But in recent years, advertisers and PR machines have embraced a feel-good feminism, and social media is full of a shallow “yass, kween slay” rhetoric. In these times, it’s an effective way of brand-building, garnering attention and approval. It doesn’t get into mundane issues like wage equality and childcare, but is all about body positivity and sassy clapbacks. Barring a few, celebrities rarely talk about caste or class inequality, or injustice against minorities.
Celebrity activists also invariably mess up, failing their own causes. Priyanka Chopra bills herself as a feminist and goodwill ambassador for peace. But she was attacked for her cheery selfies from the Holocaust Memorial, for behaving like a badwill ambassador for war when she cheered on a military strike, and then accused her Pakistani questioner of “venting” and embarrassing herself. J K Rowling has been accused of being trans-phobic. Emma Watson faced the fire when she endorsed a skin-brightening product. Katy Perry spoke about “this strange race to be the most woke”. As she put it, “they want you to stand for something, but once you do, and if you don’t do it perfectly, they’re ready to take you right down.”
This isn’t fair to them, or the cause they are espousing. We might enjoy the idea of putting people up on pedestals and dragging them down, but celebrities are human too, evolving their views under constant public scrutiny. Sure, their opinions are often basic. But perhaps, instead of sneering at them to prove our own ideological purity, we might do better to help them widen and deepen their own views. Anyone who is willing to walk back on their mistakes and learn, is worth applauding.
The test is not about whether a celebrity is woke or not, it is whether they make an effort to stay conscious of unfairness or prefer to sleepwalk in their privilege. And dismantling social injustice is not the burden of icons and stars, it is a collective effort.
Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh's Italy shaadi venue is a big celeb draw. Here’s why
8:17 AM
Celebs who said 'I Do' in the picturesque Lake Como
ANI (BOMBAY TIMES; November 13, 2018)
It’s not difficult to understand why Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh chose northern Italy to get married. This stunning corner of Europe has attracted everyone from showbiz royalty like David Bowie and George Clooney to ‘nouveau’ celebs like Kim Kardashian. No place captures the breathtaking natural beauty, history and undoubted glamour of the region than Lake Como, which has been a luxury gateway for aristocrats and the wealthy since Roman times.
Lake Como is steeped in romance, and, no place over there captures its romantic essence better than Villa del Balbianello, a stunning Italianate villa that began life as a monastery more than seven centuries ago. Later this week, the villa will play host to what is the culmination of Deepika and Ranveer’s six-year romance. Surrounded by family and selective friends, the two will tie the knot in two separate ceremonies; a Konkani ceremony in celebration of Deepika’s Kannada heritage and a second Sindhi do in tribute to Ranveer’s background.
Security is, understandably, almost water-tight. However, the villa was open to the public until late on Sunday when it was put on lockdown for the remainder of the week. The only way to get inside was by hiking up a gruelling two-and-a-half kilometre trail that meanders its way through a peninsula that juts out from the eastern shore of Lake Como. The hike allows access to a ‘service’ entrance where a number of commercial vehicles had arrived bringing everything from flowers to scaffolding.
The ceremony will take place inside a surprisingly intimate dwelling that overlooks the Villa’s breathtakingly beautiful landscaped gardens with its roman statues and ancient flora. What truly sets apart Lake Como and the Lombardy region in general is the incredibly comfortable co-existence of the old and the new. Most hotels in the area are housed inside buildings that are hundreds of years old but have been faithfully and carefully updated with the latest modern amenities with no compromise made to the history of the property.
I am not trying to compete with Kim Kardashian-Alia Bhatt
8:01 AM
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; March 22, 2017)
Bollywood celebrities have been using digital media to communicate with fans, some of them even launching their own apps. Alia Bhatt has taken a different route by coming up her own experiential game.
Called Alia Bhatt: Star Life, it bears uncanny resemblance to Kim Kardashian’s casual free-to-play role playing game released in June 2014. Ask Alia about the similarities and she says, “I am not trying to compete with Kim. Celebrities like Britney Spears and Demi Lovato also have games on a similar platform. The genre of Alia Bhatt: Star Life happens to be first in Indian market and is my way to connect with fans.”
The actress adds she is “pretty competitive”. “I have a hectic life, so I want to play games to relax and calm down. I am a competitive person and when it comes to competition with my father [filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt], we both try to outdo each other.”
As far as her big screen commitments go, Alia will next be seen in Ayan Mukerji’s sci-fi film, Dragon, for which she teams up with Ranbir Kapoor for the first time. The shoot will kick off only in August.
Talking about her three-month break from work, she says, “I hadn’t planned this, and honestly, I didn’t want to squeeze in something [a project] just for the sake of it. I am going to utilise my free time to learn things that I don’t usually get time for, like singing, dancing, cooking and playing with my new cat, Edward.”
We Bhatts are not normal people, we don’t have normal conversations-Alia Bhatt
7:58 AM
Alia Bhatt makes a few assertions and clears a few presumptions about herself, while making a Diwali wish
Upala KBR (DNA; October 28, 2016)
In the time I’ve known Alia Bhatt, she’s come across as sharp, sure and keenly aware of herself. And the girl is all of 23. It’s surprising how little rankles her. And this Diwali, she doesn’t just make a fervent plea for her four-legged friends, who don’t find this season so festive, she explains her Kardashian obsession, too...
Why is it important to have a noise-free Diwali?
Diwali is the festival of lights. It’s about being happy from within and about spreading love and light from within, with your loved ones and your family. Light a candle or a diya, spread colour by wearing bright clothes and rangoli, do a puja, be grateful and thankful for all the good things, but apart from that when you are lighting these noisy crackers, you are taking a very simple and basic right of a living being that does not want to hear these sounds. Diwali goes on for a week to 10 days and crackers are lit during weddings, too. It’s non-stop. Forget what it does to our air, that toh is terrible, but bursting crackers is something these poor animals can’t overcome. They have nowhere to go and can’t even shut their ears with their hands like we can. I have put cotton wool in my cat’s ears and it’s really sad because they get sick. At least my pets are at home and I can shut the windows for them, but the noise is still deafening! What about animals on the road? And it’s not that I haven’t lit crackers as a kid, but I’d use the noise-free ones like the phooljharis and anaars. Crackers are not good as it adds to pollution and it’s like burning money. Moreover, animals give us so much joy, so why can’t we do the same for them?
You keep saying you love Kim Kardashian and that you would like to do a show like Keeping Up With The Kardashians...
Sometimes, I just speak frivolously and don’t really mean it. People would probably not watch my movies after watching a show on my life! (Laughs) We were chatting one day and I was guessing how much money it would make if we did a show on our lives because the Bhatts are crazy in a sweet way. We are not normal people, we don’t have normal conversations and we don’t lead normal lives.
Kim was recently robbed in Paris. Did that encounter scare you about how unsafe the lives of celebs are?
I felt unnerved when I read about it. We tend to take some things for granted and then reality strikes. It’s scary that something like that can happen. The lesson here is that you never know what can happen when and to who. But luckily, everybody came out unharmed.
Priyanka Chopra keeps up with a Kardashian on her birthday
8:23 AM
The actress brought in her 34th birthday in 'buzzy' New York dolling up with Kardashian's makeup man and hair stylist
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 19, 2016)
ABC's showrunner and
Quantico creator Joshua Safron hosted a bash on Saturday to bring in
Priyanka Chopra's 34th birthday in New York. The actress looked radiant
surrounded by her American co-stars and her Hollywood manager-mentor
Anjula Acharia-Bath whom she thanked for her support with a peck on the
cheek. Also present was US-based designer and one of her close friends,
Prabal Gurang, who told PeeCee he was snapchatting her images live. She
blushed and coyly hid behind him.
Just before she had flown out to the US, PeeCee had told Mirror on July 2, that like every other birthday, she'd be shooting on the special day. “I'm returning to living in New York after 20 years. I schooled in the city for a year when I was 14. New York is like Mumbai in many ways, the energy is the same, and with my mom (Madhu Chopra) and brother (Siddharth Chopra) by my side, I won't miss home,“ she'd smiled.
The actress began filming Quantico, which has moved from Montreal to the Big Apple for the second season, on July 5 and will continue shooting till March 2017.
On Saturday, while cutting the cake, PeeCee announced that it was the beginning of her first birthday weekend in the US. By the time she returned home, dawn was breaking and she exclaimed, “As New York awakes, I sleep.“
The next day, bouquets and cakes poured into her American home, but the actress had to take off for a day-long magazine shoot. Her hair was styled and her makeup done by the duo who work with Kim Kardashian (inset), Mario Dedivanovic and Lacy Redway. With her pouty lips, beach waves and facial contouring, the resemblance with the reality TV star was uncanny. “With the stunning birthday girl,“ the stylists cheered, as they completed her look.
PeeCee had admitted to Mirror that this is the best she has ever looked in her life because normally her idea of fashion is bed hair, ripped jeans, a plain ganjee and a jacket!
Just before she had flown out to the US, PeeCee had told Mirror on July 2, that like every other birthday, she'd be shooting on the special day. “I'm returning to living in New York after 20 years. I schooled in the city for a year when I was 14. New York is like Mumbai in many ways, the energy is the same, and with my mom (Madhu Chopra) and brother (Siddharth Chopra) by my side, I won't miss home,“ she'd smiled.
The actress began filming Quantico, which has moved from Montreal to the Big Apple for the second season, on July 5 and will continue shooting till March 2017.
On Saturday, while cutting the cake, PeeCee announced that it was the beginning of her first birthday weekend in the US. By the time she returned home, dawn was breaking and she exclaimed, “As New York awakes, I sleep.“
The next day, bouquets and cakes poured into her American home, but the actress had to take off for a day-long magazine shoot. Her hair was styled and her makeup done by the duo who work with Kim Kardashian (inset), Mario Dedivanovic and Lacy Redway. With her pouty lips, beach waves and facial contouring, the resemblance with the reality TV star was uncanny. “With the stunning birthday girl,“ the stylists cheered, as they completed her look.
PeeCee had admitted to Mirror that this is the best she has ever looked in her life because normally her idea of fashion is bed hair, ripped jeans, a plain ganjee and a jacket!
Katrina Kaif is India’s answer to Kim Kardashian-Akshay Kumar
7:58 AM
Upala KBR (DNA; November 26, 2015)
Akshay Kumar appeared on a new chat show and told the
host why he thinks Katrina Kaif is India’s answer to Kim Kardashian
West. Butt, naturally...
The show, Born Stylish, hosted by designer Pria Kataaria Puri will premiere on Colors Infinity this Saturday and that’s where you will see Akshay present his case. As he answered a series of questions that best described his style, one question stumped him: Who he thinks is the Indian Kim Kardashian West? At first, Akki couldn’t recall Kim’s face.
He did however remember her internet-breaking backside and used his hands to gesture the shape of her derriere. Was Pria talking about the same person? When she nodded, he instantly replied, “Katrina Kaif”. Pria laughed, calling his gesture a “typical Punjabi move!”
He gave wife Twinkle Khanna all the credit for styling him. Pria complimented his perfect red carpet looks and he said, “I am checked by my wife before I leave the house. If something isn’t right, I am kicked by my wife!”
A shocked Pria refuses to believe Twinkle could ever kick him. His instant retort? “She kicks me on my funnybone!” Touché!
Kim Kardashian cancels her India visit due to visa issues
7:52 AM
DNA (November 21, 2014)
Kim Kardashian, who was all set to appear on Bigg Boss 8 draped in a sari, will not be making it to India after all.
Sources say that her trip to India has been cancelled. “She was supposed to be here only for a few hours, enter the house and chat with Salman Khan about her experience. She was to shoot for it on November 22. However, the trip has been cancelled due to some visa issues. She was to travel enroute from Australia to India and could not sort out the visa issues in time.”
Her appearance in Bigg Boss 8 was to be this weekend’s highlight, now the makers will have to think of something else!
Kim Kardashian's one day appearance on Bigg Boss 8 to cost Rs 85 lakh?
8:04 AM
Vinod Talreja (DNA; November 18, 2014)
Kanye West’s wife, reality show star Kim Kardashian
has been confirmed to make an appearance on Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss 8
this coming weekend.
The deal was struck a few days ago with Kim finally signing on the dotted line and giving her approval for the stint. The move is being seen as a desperate attempt on the channel’s part to boost falling TRPs as this season has got them their lowest numbers compared to the last few ones.
Kim, a global reality show superstar recently grabbed headlines for showing off her much talked about butt on the cover of a magazine. She is reportedly asking for a fee close to Rs 85 lakh for her one-day stint on Bigg Boss 8.
There is also news that she will be arriving with her huge staff and entourage that will include her personal bodyguard, make up artist, masseur and perhaps one of her sisters, Kourtney or Khloe!
Kim Kardashian to make an entry in a saree in Bigg Boss house?
8:06 AM
BOMBAY TIMES (November 17, 2014)
Bigg Boss 8 contestants are in
for a huge surprise. International reality television star, Kim
Kardashian, currently in the news for posing in the nude, is set to
enter the house on November 22, that too draped in a sari! “Kim has
expressed a desire to be seen in the Indian attire,“ says a channel
source. Her itinerary and duration of stay in the house has been kept a
secret. The 34-year-old mother, model and fashionista lives an
uninhibited life under the glares 24x7 through her show, Keeping Up With
The Kardashians.
--------------------------
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 17, 2014)
Her naked derriere on a magazine cover is the talk of the town but when American reality TV star Kim Kardashian enters the Bigg Boss house on November 22, she will be draped in a saree.
The 34-year-old wife of rapper Kanye West and star of the long-running show Keeping up with the Kardashians, is coming to India next weekend and will head straight to the Lonavala set of the Indian show. Once there, she will spend a few hours with the inmates of the house. However, that is not the only thing on Kim's agenda. She will also launch her new perfume line in India during the trip.
A spokesperson of the channel confirmed the news, saying, “Kim is fascinated by the concept of the show and attempts were made in the past to get her. This time she said yes as she was going to be in India for her fragrance launch. The deal was sealed quickly.“
While the spokesperson remains mum on the monies, a source told Mirror that it's an “astronomical amount“.
While in Mumbai, Kim will be put up in a plush suite of a South Mumbai hotel. She is travelling with her entourage and security. The Gateway of India is a must see in her itinerary. “Kim clearly stated that she wants to enter the house wearing a saree. She's also heard a lot about the show's host Salman Khan and is eager to meet him,“ the spokesperson added.
Kim is often accompanied by Kanye and their 16-month-old daughter North on her trips. But the Indian sojourn will be a solo trip as the trans-Atlantic trip will be “too much travelling“ for her young child. Kanye's packed schedule did not allow him to accompany her either.
Why Bigg Boss wants Kim Kardashian
7:55 AM
Neha Maheshwri Bhagat (BOMBAY TIMES; November 15, 2014)
Keeping up with its trend of
getting a controversial international
celebrity, Bigg Boss is apparently now trying to rope in Kim
Kardashian. The reality star is currently in news for her topless
pictures, shot for a magazine, that have gone viral. “Discussions are on
and details are being worked upon,“ says a source. The previous seasons
have seen Australian batsman Andrew Symonds and Sunny Leone (season
five), Pamela Anderson and wrestler The Great Khali (season four) and
Jade Goody (season two).
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