Open your Instagram account, and chances are your feed is filled with reels of Akshaye Khanna’s entry sequence in Dhurandhar. Since the Aditya Dhar-directed actioner released on December 5, the actor has been unanimously praised for his intense performance as Rehman Dakait, standing out in the all-star cast of Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, and Arjun Rampal. Now, his entry song, FA9LA, created by Bahraini hip-hop star Flipperachi, has gone viral. And here’s the kicker — it was an impromptu dance by Khanna.

Vijay Ganguly, who choreographed the number, tells mid-day, “The song is a celebration of Akshaye’s character being crowned as the Sher-E-Baloch. Originally, he was supposed to enter, walk through the dancers, and sit on the throne. Seeing the scene’s mood and the dancers’ performance, the fantastic actor that Akshaye is, he said he would dance a bit when he walks in. None of us knew what he was going to do. Akshaye entered the scene, took it from that point, and spontaneously performed.”

Even as he looks back on it, the choreographer is amazed that FA9LA was shot in barely two hours in Ladakh. For that, he credits Khanna’s precision.

“It was the first shot we took that day, and it was perfect. Then we did a close-up, and we were done. Akshaye knows exactly what he has to do in a scene and plays with it,” shares Ganguly.

Shooting in the high altitude of Ladakh is tricky, dancing more so. The choreographer shares that Khanna was suffering from high-altitude sickness during filming.

“Akshaye would carry a small oxygen cylinder with him. When we were shooting this song, his oxygen level had dropped. So, after every shot, he would put the oxygen mask on. He did the sequence unflinchingly, and then went home.”

Before Dhurandhar, Ganguly worked on Chhaava that featured the actor as Aurangzeb. Even though their interaction was limited on the historical drama’s set, it was enough for the choreographer to understand the actor’s undivided attention to his craft.

“Akshaye didn’t have any dancing to do in Chhaava. When he is on set, there is not much interaction outside of work. He is completely immersed in his character, thinking and trying to see what more he can do to enhance his scene.”

A film about courage is on its way to those who live it every day. On November 17, the makers of 120 Bahadur announced that the Farhan Akhtar-starrer will be screened for the Indian Armed Forces, paramilitary forces, war veterans, and their families across under-served regions in the country upon its November 21 release. The initiative will be executed by PictureTime, which will take its mobile theatres to remote terrains to screen the Razneesh Ghai-directed war drama.

Sushil Chaudhary, founder and CEO, PictureTime, says the team has been working on this plan over the past one-and-a-half years. Ladakh, Sikkim, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are among the regions they are focusing on. Chaudhary notes that it was a tough feat to pull off as some regions sit at the intersection of limited infrastructure and strict military protocols.

“In Andaman, we are using an Indian Army auditorium in Port Blair. Accessing the other islands may happen later, around December. We were attempting Lakshadweep too, but we couldn’t do it,” he shares.

Securing permissions from the Army, Air Force, and Navy required months of coordination. “We reached out to each of them separately,” he informs.

For the team, the most symbolic venue would have been Chushul village in Ladakh. It is where the Battle of Rezang La — on which 120 Bahadur is based — took place.

“We were planning to have the première in Chushul. But this year, winter has arrived almost a month earlier than usual. So logistically, [setting up a cinema] there is a huge challenge. We may be able [to set up] there by November 30,” explains Chaudhary.

Actor Ranveer Singh’s upcoming film Dhurandhar has hit an unexpected roadblock after a mass food poisoning incident on its Ladakh shoot. On Sunday, August 17, more than 120 crew members fell ill and were admitted to SNM Hospital in Leh, officials confirmed.

“Our doctors were called in for the emergency as the patient rush was very high. By the end of the day, we had about 120 admissions. All were treated and are stable, though five remain under observation,” said the hospital’s medical superintendent.

Doctors reported symptoms of acute gastroenteritis, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting. The district administration assisted in transferring some patients for treatment and crowd management. Food samples from the set have been sent for examination, with reports awaited.

The incident, which occurred after meals arranged on the set, left family members of crew scrambling. “My sister, along with her children and sister-in-law, was among those affected. Thankfully, the hospital staff supported us throughout,” one relative said.

While most patients have since been discharged, the film’s makers are yet to release an official statement. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.

August was meant to be go-time for Salman Khan’s Battle Of Galwan. In July, mid-day had reported that an elaborate set was being built at Mehboob Studios in Bandra for the first leg of Apoorva Lakhia’s directorial venture (Cameras ready for action, July 20). However, the plans have changed at the last minute. It has been learnt that the war drama’s Mumbai schedule has been called off, and the project will now roll in Ladakh between August 22 and September 3.

The decision apparently has to do with continuity concerns, among other things. An insider says, “It’s a creative decision. The makers want to start directly with the action scenes. Also, Salman sports a distinct look, and for continuity purposes, there couldn’t have been a 30-day gap between the Mumbai and Ladakh stints. Apoorva felt that the sequences would need to be shot in succession. So, for now, the film’s Mumbai schedule is postponed indefinitely. They will take a call in the last leg whether a song sequence or patch work needs to be done in the city.” The dismantling of the Bandra set has begun, adds the insider.

Battle Of Galwan will chronicle the India-China military clash that took place in June 2020, with Khan stepping into the shoes of Colonel Bikkumalla Santosh Babu. While rumours suggest that the film has hit a roadblock with the Ministry of Defence due to its subject, the source denies it, stating, “The film is about a soldier’s bravery. It’s not villainising another country. The makers wouldn’t have announced the film without permissions in place.”

Salman Khan plays Colonel Bikkumalla Santosh Babu in ‘Battle Of Galwan’. The soldier was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra in 2021.

After months of preparation, Battle Of Galwan, Salman Khan’s next project — based on the chapter about Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu in Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh’s book India’s Most Fearless 3 (2022) — is finally ready to go on floors.

The actor will begin filming in the first week of August at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studio. A source close to the production reveals that the design team is currently building a set, which will be ready by the end of the month. The shoot will continue for 10 to 12 days, after which the team will shift base to Ladakh.

“The Mehboob Studio schedule is crucial as [the team] has to shoot some of the early character-building moments there before the team heads to Ladakh for the high-octane action. The art and production design team has been working round the clock to recreate the textures inside the studio. It’s a detailed set that will add authenticity to the story,” informs the source. Khan will join the cast and crew from day one.

A unit insider adds, “The Ladakh schedule will be intense as it involves combat training, night shoots, and simulated battle scenes. Salman has been in prep mode for the role since May.”

He recently wrapped the promotional shoot and look tests for the film, just days before unveiling its first look.

At 59, Salman Khan is not shying away from action. His last three films — Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (2023), Tiger 3 (2023), and the recent Sikandar — have been actioners, and his next, Battle Of Galwan, will be a test of his physical prowess. As he sits down for his first interview with mid-day since Sikandar’s release, the superstar admits that training for the film has been taxing.

“It’s physically intense. With each passing year, month, and day, it becomes more challenging. I have to invest a lot more time now. Earlier, I could get into shape in just a week or two, but this time I’m running, kicking, punching — doing it all. This film is on another level physically, especially with the shoot [slated to] happen in Ladakh, at high altitudes and in freezing water,” he begins.

For decades, the superstar has been the poster boy of fitness for his male fans. But as he trains for director Apoorva Lakhia’s war drama — which is based on the 2020 Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese troops that saw them employing hand-to-hand combat, and using sticks, stones, and clubs to fight — he says that maintaining peak fitness is not easy.

“One cannot be that ripped all the time, 24x7. When there’s a role, you adjust your fitness accordingly. But every day, you have to eat right and work out. The older you grow, the harder you need to work because it’s not as easy to do this anymore. There are no shortcuts.”

In the past month, Khan has focused on the Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL). While the actor was the brand ambassador last season, this time, he has stepped up as an investor. The decision stems from his desire to make off-road motorcycle racing popular, with an emphasis on safety.

“In every small town, every village, there are kids attempting supercross on streets, which is dangerous not only for them, but also for the people around. We didn’t have any infrastructure where they could compete. In this sport, you’re going to fall, but be as safe as possible. Wear your padded gear,” he says. There’s another reason he wanted to back the sport. “Everything here is cricket, cricket, cricket! There’s nobody in this field, so I thought I should get into this.”

In March, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju praised Salman Khan for going to Arunachal Pradesh in 2019 to promote adventure sports as part of the Fit India Movement.

Mention Rijiju to him, and the actor says, “He is like a brother to me. He wanted me to go there to encourage the youth. Also, the family of Matin [Rey Tangu], who featured in Tubelight [2017], is close to Kiren. That’s how I got into it.”

Last week, as Salman Khan unveiled the teaser of his next, Battle Of Galwan, to cheers from his fans, another movie on the same subject quietly released on YouTube. Writer and director Nitin Kumar Gupta’s LAC Battle of Galwan, starring Rahul Roy, is a dramatized account inspired by the military confrontation that took place between India and China in June 2020, in Ladakh. While Gupta originally wanted the film to hit the screens on June 15, 2023, it has taken the project more than two years since to see the light of day.      

“I wanted the martyrs’ families to see the film in theatres,” says the director. But that was not to be. The movie, shot in November 2020, was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in June 2022. Gupta says that in August, the CBFC screened the 83-minute single-shot film for the Additional Directorate General of Public Information committee of the Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces personnel in New Delhi. It was followed by a screening for the board in the same month. In September 2022, the CBFC handed out many changes in the war drama."

Gupta recounts, “They asked me to remove LAC from the title, delete references to the actual location, and reduce violence by 33 per cent — essentially asking us to dilute the reality of hand-to-hand combat our soldiers faced. The most painful was when they asked us to remove the photos of the 20 real-life martyrs from the end credits. These photos were already in public domain, with their names released by the government.”

He adds that the makers had pre-emptively taken many steps before LAC Battle of Galwan rolled. “We had changed the martyrs’ names to protect the families’ privacy; we didn’t mention China directly to avoid diplomatic issues, and based our story on verified sources.”

The team submitted the modified version in September 2022. Gupta rues, “There has been no official reply from the CBFC since. For three years, I knocked on every door. The film’s digital rights [rest with] Vikram Jadhav, who is an American citizen. It was his decision to release it on YouTube on July 5.”

mid-day reached out to CBFC chairperson Prasoon Joshi, who didn’t respond till press time.

Rahul Roy, whose character in the film is inspired by Colonel Bikkumalla Santosh Babu, suffered a brain stroke during the shoot in November 2020. He was initially admitted to a military hospital in Kargil, before being airlifted to Srinagar and subsequently to Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.

Salman Khan's latest body transformation has his fans saying “Bhaijaan is back in form.” It is a marked shift from the body-shaming he faced after an appearance in Vancouver, earlier this year.

Reliable sources tell mid-day that Khan has been following a strict fitness routine to achieve the look for his next, Battle Of Galwan, in which he plays a soldier. 

“He’s been doing high-intensity interval training [HIIT] combined with volume sets, focusing on one muscle group per session, six days a week,” says a source. 

The source adds, “He trains without air conditioning or fans to trigger mild dehydration, and speed up fat and water loss. Each session lasts an hour and includes resistance work along with brisk outdoor cardio.”

His diet has also been reworked. It now includes home-cooked meals focused on lean protein, vegetables and just one spoon of rice a day, while completely cutting out processed carbs and alcohol.

“He’s completed a look test and photoshoot. Training will intensify further during the Ladakh schedule,” the source concludes.

Portraying a jawan on screen entails intense preparation. Salman Khan is finding that out, having dived into the prep for his next with director Apoorva Lakhia. In the yet-untitled war drama, Khan steps into the shoes of late Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of the 16 Bihar Regiment, who was killed during the India-China Galwan Valley clash in June 2020. mid-day has learnt that the superstar kicked off his physical training from early June, focusing on two areas — general fitness, and high altitude acclimatization. And who is training him? Well, Khan himself.

That’s not surprising considering the superstar has been a fitness enthusiast for decades. A source reveals,

“Salman has refurbished his two gyms — a sprawling one at his Khandala farmhouse, and a smaller one at his Bandra apartment — to suit the current requirements. He trains for four hours daily and is undergoing circuit training focusing on different muscle groups. The exercises are designed to build strength, endurance, and cardiovascular improvement, the latter being important for high-altitude travellers.”

Lakhia has apparently slotted a look test for early July, and the first schedule for August. In the window between the two, the leading man will begin altitude training as a chunk of the film will be shot in Ladakh.

The source adds, “The training includes periodically exposing the body to higher altitudes, thus giving it time to adjust to the lower oxygen level. Oxygen saturation level can be achieved at home through altitude simulation tents, chambers, or hypoxic masks. Salman may join an altitude training studio because at 59, he needs to be fighting fit to shoot combat sequences in Ladakh.”

For years, after 3 Idiots was released, Rajkumar Hirani would bump into people at various places, and somebody would come up and say, ‘I studied medicine, but I’ve quit and am now learning music.’ Someone else said, ‘I’m becoming a writer.’ That even sometimes would scare him and he would think - ‘I hope they succeed. Otherwise, they’ll come knocking on my door one day saying, 'You taught us the wrong things'.

Rajkumar Hirani, however, admits that the film gave a lot of people the courage to pursue what they wanted to do. He says, "I always tell people there’s a difference between passion and obsession. Sometimes people feel passionate about becoming something - like a music director or an actor - and they think, ‘This is my passion.’ But passion alone isn’t enough. I keep telling them, passion is just a desire to be someone. Obsession is what matters. Are you putting in the effort every single day to hone your skill and craft? If you’re obsessed - if you’re getting up every morning and working towards your goal - then pursue it. That’s when you’ll succeed. Passion without effort won’t take you anywhere."

Rajkumar Hirani says that 3 Idiots is one classic example of a problem that exists in every household. There’s always a rift between parents and children about education. The resonance of this issue is very strong, and every household needs a solution to it. He feels that’s why the film resonated so well with people.

He explains, "Most parents could see, ‘Haan yaar, maybe we’re pushing our kids too much.’A lot of parents used to come to me and admit, ‘Maybe we’re pushing our children too much, and we shouldn’t.’"

3 Idiots origin story is somewhere in Rajkumar Hirani's own life. He says, "When I look back at my own life - when I was in school - I think I was a very, very average student, struggling. Kahan yaar, yeh mujhe trigonometry samjha rahe hain, mujhe samajh nahi aata. Kuch nahi samajh aata tha! I was very average, and then I went to college. I wanted to get into an engineering college, but that never happened. I couldn’t secure admission anywhere. So, I ended up studying commerce. But commerce didn’t interest me. Education, in general, was never interesting for me, you know. Commerce college was just 3-4 hours in the morning, which gave me a lot of time to do theater. I started doing plays - directing, acting, writing - and that gave me immense joy. I realized I was spending hours doing that every day. My dad noticed it too, and he said, 'You know what? This is what you really love. Go do this'. This was a very difficult thing for a parent to say back then, especially in a small town like Nagpur, in a conventional, middle-class family. For him to say, 'Okay, leave my business' - my dad used to sell typewriters - and encourage me to pursue cinema, was unheard of at the time. But he guided me. He said, 'Go to film school. That’s where you can learn. Learn the craft'.”

When he got into the film institute, everything changed for him. He started getting scholarships and excelling at every level because he was enjoying what I was doing. He says, "That’s what we try to convey in the film: don’t push kids to do what they don’t want to do. If you chase something you truly enjoy, you’ll naturally excel at it. And if you excel at it, you’ll succeed. Rather than saying, 'Let’s do an MBA' or 'Let’s do finance because it pays well', but not enjoying it, you won’t excel, and success won’t come. That’s where the idea came from. We ended up coining the phrase - Chase excellence, and success will follow. Don’t chase money, because success doesn’t work like that. The process of writing is a long journey. You spend so much time thinking about the subject, reading about it. These ideas start forming in your head. You think, 'Okay, let’s say this', or 'Let’s put it this way'. It’s a journey where you create all these things."

The character of the professor in 3 Idiots is one of the most memorable characters. But when it was offered to Boman Irani, he didn’t want to take on the role as he had already played the Dean in Munnabhai MBBS.

Hirani recalls, “He said it’ll look like the same. I said, but let’s do it differently. Physicality also will change. I said that you’re bald in that; we’ll give you curly hair in 3 Idiots. You didn’t have a mustache; we’ll give you a mustache. Let’s change your physicality first and do it differently. Boman really worked hard to create the character."

Then Boman thought of some school teacher he used to have who used to dress up in a particular way. So, Boman went and designed his own clothes for the character. He went to a tailor in Dadar and remembered how his professor used to wear his pants up to the chest. He also added a lisp to his character. He had certain people in his mind - his professor, some other people - their mannerisms, the way they walked, and everything.

The three actors who played the 3 Idiots were not Raju Hirani's first choice at all. The first set of people were actually much younger and were all new actors at the time. They had selected three actors and auditioned them separately. But somehow, when they were put together, they were not gelling well. There’s a certain chemistry between people, and somehow that wasn’t happening.

Hirani recalls, "And during that time, I remember Vinod (VVC, the producer of the film) had offered a film to Aamir. And Aamir asked him about the film he was doing. While Vidhu Vinod Chopra told him that the film is not good for Aamir as it was a much younger role, Aamir said, ‘Let me hear the script.’"

Rajkumar Hirani recalls, "So I remember going to Aamir's house, and I read the script to him. His first concern was also, ‘How will I look young? It’s a good script, but how will I look young?’ But somehow, when I met him, I felt Aamir has a very innocent, childlike face. I said, ‘If you can lose all this muscle’ - at that time, he was playing Ghajini and was very broad - ‘then you can look like that.’ We just took a chance. We took a leap of faith. He said, ‘Okay, I'll lose it.’ He lost all the weight and muscle and transformed himself. Then one trick we played was that we decided to cast the other actors a little older. You can’t have Aamir alongside someone who’s nearly 17. So, there’s a kind of suspension of belief that happens. Once you get into the story, you don’t really realize it. With Aamir and all these experienced actors coming in, it became a little easier. It’s always easier to work with experienced people than with newcomers."

Rajkumar Hirani says, "If you look at older films, they often wallow in self-pity. Gaane bhi waise hi hote thay - bahut saare self-pity wale. Usmein hota tha - baap khaas raha hai, maa kitchen mein rehti hai, aur behen ki shaadi nahi ho rahi. It was kind of a spoof on that - ki iska ghar humein black and white filmon ki yaad dilata tha. What we didn’t realize was that it might come across as a little dark, and some people might not like it. I still remember someone walking up to me and saying, 'Aap hamara mazak uda rahe ho'. That’s when it struck me. I said, 'I had never seen it like that', but yes, it could be sensitive to some. The idea was just to add a little dark humour about how Indian cinema was portrayed back then."

"Cinema is a reflection of its time. For example, 1947 ke baad unemployment tha - lead hero unemployed hota tha, gareebi hoti thi, khana nahi hota tha. Then times changed - gold smuggling became a theme. Later, underworld dons entered storylines. Over decades, storylines have evolved."

Talking about the Delhi to Ladakh journey, he says, "It's always the script that drives everything. As I said, I love Delhi in terms of its locations and interesting things, so we wanted to set it in Delhi. From Delhi, we wanted to show a journey where they’ve lost a friend and have to find him. First of all, it felt like, where would a person like Rancho go? He would go to a serene place, cut off from the world, because he went to college just for knowledge, not for degrees. He was there under someone else's name, so he would hide away and do his business quietly - do his research, become a scientist, and run a school. That place seemed like Ladakh. At one point, we had considered a location in Sikkim. We even scouted it. But setting it in Sikkim made the journey from Delhi too long. We would have had to set up the film in Calcutta, and Delhi felt right. So, we took this route: they would start from Delhi, go to Shimla (where he used to work), meet Jaaved Jaaferi’s character in Shimla, and then continue to Ladakh. That seemed like an obvious route to take."

Abhijat used to live in the US, and Rajkumar would go there to write with him. One day, they bumped into a person there who constantly talked about new brands.

He recalls, "Abhijat and I are quite uninterested in the way we dress. Abhijat even had a really old car. This man looked at us and said, 'Aap log aise rehte ho? Kuch brands pehna karo'. He even talked about starter brands. We still laugh about it. He said, "I’ll introduce you to some starter brands'. I asked, 'Yeh starter brands kya hote hain?' Abhijat and I believe that we have one life, so we should make great films, travel, and do what we love. He gave an amazing line - 'You have one life; live it up - try all brands'. That night, we laughed so much, and I decided Kareena’s boyfriend’s character should be the total opposite of Aamir’s Rancho. Rancho doesn’t believe in materialism, so we created a contrasting character whose entire life revolves around brands and prices."

Hirani recalls that hum science se hai scene had 32 takes. He says, "I remember a funny incident, and while we were shooting that scene, Aamir would always laugh during the narrations. Every time we reached the line, 'Hum science ki taraf se hain', he would crack up. On the shoot day, it took 35 takes because after every take, Aamir would laugh, then Madhavan would laugh, and then Sharman would laugh."

--Ranchhoddas Shamaldas Chanchad - Rancho, whose real name was Phunsukh Wangdu - is quite an unusual name. How did they come up with this? He says, "We always wanted to create quirky names so the characters would be remembered, rather than giving them very standard names. It was Abhijat Joshi who came up with this name."

The wait for Farhan Akhtar’s next film has been a long one. The filmmaker-actor’s highly anticipated film 120 Bahadur is nearing completion as the team prepares to wrap up the final leg of the shoot. After an elaborate schedule in Ladakh, the cast and crew will embark on a 15-day schedule, starting next week, to bring the film to its final stages.

Set against the backdrop of the Indo-China War of 1962, 120 Bahadur is inspired by the heroic tale of 120 Indian soldiers, who courageously defended their post against an army of 5,000 Chinese troops. Known for his meticulous approach to filmmaking, Akhtar and director Razzy Ghai have left no stone unturned in recreating the historic event with authenticity.

A source close to the production revealed, “The Ladakh schedule was physically and emotionally taxing for everyone, but the landscapes brought the story alive. Farhan has been hands-on, ensuring every detail reflects the bravery and sacrifices of these soldiers. The more dialogue-heavy portions of the film will be shot in Mumbai, which will be a quick schedule. The logistics are being figured out, but it will start next week and be wrapped before mid-December.”

The film is expected to release in mid-2025, with an ensemble cast including real-life army veterans in pivotal roles.

Be it the authentic depiction of the uniforms, ranks, operation procedures or avoiding over-the-top dialogues, Lakshya remains that rare Bollywood war film that manages to escape stereotypes and create a subtle yet impactful war narrative. “Lakshya is not loud, it doesn’t have jingoism. All the details are accurate, be it the uniform or the operations procedure.It also explored the impact of war on a soldier and the people around him,” said Brigadier (retd) Gautam Ganguly in an earlier interview

As Lakshya completes 20 years, we reflect on this film on Kargil war and how it has stayed relevant over the years.

Soon after Dil Chahta Hai, Farhan Akhtar was deliberating about what to do next and had a discussion with his father Javed Akhtar about some of his ideas. Javed shared that he was working on a story about a young boy who joins the army, not just professionally, but in an attempt to find his true calling and understand who he is through that process.

Farhan says, “This was just a story idea, but the core of it really spoke to me. In a large way, that’s what filmmaking did for me. Until I started making movies, I didn’t really know that it is what I wanted to do. I started it when I realized that my love for filmmaking is tremendous. So the germ of that idea was something that I could connect to. Of course, he sat down and wrote the screenplay, which is there for everyone to see. But it really started with a conversation.”

“We were scouting for locations, and I had expressed how I’d like to do the shoot. After Humayun’s Tomb, we moved to Hauz Khas and then to Tughlaqabad Fort. Since these were tombs and forts, we could not play the song out loud. The actors had to lip-sync. In the morning, nobody knew we were shooting, but by evening, the crowd arrived, knowing that Hrithik and Preity Zinta were shooting. We wanted to take a shot of Hrithik dancing in the sunset, but it was not possible due to the crowd. To this day, people come to me and say, Oh! You did Agar Main Kahoon,” says Vaibhavi Merchant who choreographed the song.

“Films or any pieces of creative work are created at a particular time in a person’s life, within a specific societal context, and (according to) the cinematic environment of that period. To gauge anything by the standards of 20 years later is always, I think, a mistake. Having said that, I look back at it with the fondest memories. It was extremely challenging and difficult to put that film together. We had some kind of youthful exuberance inside us as filmmakers, and Hrithik and Preity as actors. None of us had done this kind of film before, and that energy translated on screen.” — Farhan Akhtar

- Hrithik asked gentlemen cadets to teach him how to execute training shots and what to look out for.

- While the hairstylists were not on board with the Hrithik’s haircut initially, Farhan insisted that he wanted Hrithik’s hair cut same as the other cadets. Farhan wanted Hrithik to look like one of the cadets from the IMA.

- A major chunk of the film was shot in Ladakh at 13,000 feet altitude.

- All the actors attended a boot camp in Ladakh and the movie was filmed for five months in Ladakh.

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Yes and no. I think some things get better as the child grows up and some things become challenging. I find that Nihal vocalises and articulates better now. He is also open to reasoning so much more than he was when he was a toddler. Toddlers tend to be very temperamental, and you don’t know why. In some ways, he does keep me on my toes but he is also very self-sufficient. That’s how I used to be as a kid too. I remember very clearly… I had my own ecosystem. While it was great to play with friends, if I was at some place where there were no friends, I was completely happy to entertain myself.

I think part of it is nature and part of it is nurture. There is a certain disposition that comes as a result of what we inherit in our DNA. When I was just four or five years old, I lived at a farm in Punjab with my septuagenarian grandparents while my parents were in Russia. So, for two years, when I used to come home from school, there was no company because our farm was a kilometre away from the village. I used to just hang out with dogs, goats and chickens. I was always good at entertaining myself and I think that’s something that is either inherent in Nihal or he’s probably picked it up.

I believe in quality over quantity when it comes to spending time with Nihal. There’s no point in me just sitting next to him and staring at my phone. So, the first rule is I leave my phone behind. I try to involve Nihal in whatever I am doing but I don’t perform for him. That’s how our parents brought us up. One doesn’t always have to make puzzles or play with Lego; he does that with my husband (pilot Rishi Attari). The thing we do together is what I am anyway doing as part of my chore list. I ask him if he would like to help me load the laundry or bathe the dogs or pack my bag. If he is busy playing, I may have to ask twice. He then stops what he is doing and comes and hangs out with me. We chat and do the chore together. He asks about the washing machine’s spin cycle or something else. I think that is a very valuable time because we are engaged and we are doing something productive. I also love travelling with him. We always reach the airport early. But when we are there, he is not sitting with me saying “mamma mamma”. He would be doing his own thing, looking at planes or something, within my range of vision. And, he can make a toy out of anything. We have a rule. We never take toys along when we travel.

But then how is the child learning something new from the environment? Like last week when we were in Kazakhstan, he was using a tea bag as a plane and kept ‘flying’ it. On another trip, he took the hotel slippers, put his hand inside them and pretended he was flying a jet. He devises his own entertainment.

We’ve all made those mistakes. I think free play is really important. Nihal also reads a lot of books. He has been reading independently for some time now. We started reading to him when he was a year and a half, even if it didn’t make sense to him at that age, so books are a big part of his life. When we were at a café-cum-bookshop in Mumbai recently, Nihal went and found himself a book that was relevant to him. It was a collectible book on the story of Star Wars and he just read it the whole time. He has watched the Lego Star Wars which is a super funny and an interesting animated TV show based on the Star Wars universe.

I am very militant. I have not introduced sugar in Nihal’s diet because we have banned sugar at home. It was a bit of a tough battle because I had friends and family who would point out that we all have had sugar as children. But my argument is that I have spent my life fighting an addiction to sugar. I have to eat one bite of brownie and then I can’t stop myself because it’s dopamine and it’s completely addictive. My husband and I are on the same page on this, and we have been very particular. From the time Nihal stopped formula milk, he was given plain milk with no additives. We carry small tetra packs while travelling, so I can easily give milk to him anywhere. If Nihal goes to a party and somebody offers him cake, he sometimes has a little or sometimes he does not, depending on his wish. We don’t keep sugar or sugary foods at home but we have left it up to him when he is out. In fact, some of my cousins would secretly feed him sweets. But he isn’t a kid who asks for sweets because he hasn’t developed a taste for it.

Screen time is limited to when we have a long flight or long car drive. When we are not travelling, the only screen he sees with us is the big screen at cinemas. Delhi has some lovely kids’ cinemas now. We try to watch a film with him at least once a month. But at home, we don’t watch TV, so he doesn’t either. I think ultimately kids will do what you do.

Our goal is to sleep 11 hours. Nihal is in bed by 7.30 pm come what may and he wakes up at 6.30 am. On weekends and holidays, it may go up till 8.30 pm but never later than that. When someone tells me that their kid slept at 10 or 11, I am speechless. Sleep is so important for children. The growth hormone is released only in deep sleep. Unfortunately, Indian kids are among the most sleep deprived as per a research discussed in Kerry Bajaj's book 'Sleep, baby, sleep'. And, kids usually stay up late because they wait for their father to come home.

In fact, we are very strict about a fourth S too which is a seat belt. Nihal has never travelled without a car seat. I think most people don’t realize how dangerous it is for a small child to be in a car crash without a seat belt or a car seat. The highest fatality and risk of serious injury is to children who are not belted.

I don’t know if I’m strict, but I just feel that it’s important to be regimented. My mother was very particular. Even now, when she comes to stay with Nihal when I am travelling, his schedule runs like clockwork. The lights are out by 7.25 pm and he is up perfectly on time. He is so happy and chirpy when we leave for school.

I think the best way to teach our children is by being good role models. We are anyway by default the first role models of our children and we should aim to be the best possible ones in the which we conduct ourselves. I think my strongest habits, including my commitment to fitness, are the ones that I imbibed from my parents. My father wasn’t this overweight man sitting on a chair and asking me to go work out. He was a fit person who exercised every day. When I was around 15, he told me to exercise daily. When I resisted, he issued a parental diktat. Then it became a part of my life, just like it is part of my father’s life. He is 75 now and still cycles daily. Nihal also does what I do. He goes cycling and running with me. He has been cycling without training wheels since before his third birthday. He was with me (watching from a car) when I cycled to Ladakh two years ago.

I also consider it important to be level-headed all the time as children are very observant. I’m aware that he’s watching me at all times so I am conscious of how I react when I have been triggered by someone or something. I know that my son will do what I do, not what I tell him to do.

Schools should certainly do that for three reasons. One, it is more affordable and more environment-friendly. Two, it is better for the neighbourhood because people who live near

schools can’t even go in and out of homes because of traffic jams during school pick and drop timings. Three, I think children become exposed to a certain elitism when they see somebody coming in a particular car. I have heard of instances where children going to fancy schools want to be dropped at a distance so that no one can see which car they are coming out of. So, apart from sustainability and traffic management, I think uniformity is extremely important or some will be more equal than others.

Fitness has indeed been a very big part of my life, but it was not that I only had to be a good athlete. Being in the top two percent in my class was non-negotiable at the same time. It’s not one thing or the other. And, I did manage. I changed 14 schools and I have never not been in the top three of my class, including college, master’s and law school (she obtained a law degree three years ago). So, the desire to excel has to be ingrained. One can’t be casual about grades and then complain when the child reaches Class 10. One has to ingrain a desire to excel and then hopefully everything will happen on its own. But the desire will not get ingrained automatically.

Shame is typically associated with the fact that it is always considered the woman’s fault though scientific evidence tells us that the causes of infertility are equally divided between male and female issues. The shame often stems from the fact that at some point you are trying to cover up the infertility in the male. Fertility is a loaded gun against women. I have been very open about the fact that my son was an IVF child. Sometimes, couples suffer from unexplained infertility despite all tests being clear. These things can happen to anyone and for a variety of reasons so why be all secretive about it. I think we as a society spend too much time hiding things that are irrelevant in the big picture. Having a child is all that matters. Kaise hua, kya farak padta hai (how it happened, who cares).

He goes camping. He does what we do. For him, it is not a choice. It is part of his life.

Overwhelming, thankless, exhausting and in small parts, rewarding every now and then.

When the child occasionally says “Mamma, you smell like roses” and “Mamma I love you” — he has been doing that a lot lately — that’s very rewarding. What’s also rewarding is getting to hang out with moms and discussing that we are all in it together; we are not alone. I wish more women would talk about how challenging motherhood is. It shouldn’t be this big lie that it is all going to be amazing and beautiful. It is very challenging. It is very overwhelming and it’s very exhausting and you constantly are plagued with feelings of inadequacy. Ultimately, we are all struggling.

Why? They shouldn’t. We should normalize saying that it is challenging; it is difficult and frustrating. This is why a support group of moms is super important. You need moms who tell you "we are dying as well" and then you feel less dead. I have a gang of mom friends. We meet every week. Three of us are working moms. Homemakers have unique challenges and so do working moms. We should normalize talking about the troubles we face.

The train came to a screeching halt at the Mwanza station, a beautiful port city at Lake Victoria. It was around 12 noon and 30 to 40 people entered Talat Mahmood’s compartment. He was surprised and a bit worried too. Why was he being stopped from reaching Dar es Salaam for his next show?

“All that they wanted was a show to happen in their town as well. They were such huge fans of Talat but were very upset as to why our itinerary didn’t include Mwanza,” explains an excited 92-year old Nandi Duggal. He was Talat’s first concert manager for his debut world tour in 1956.

The charming star obliged and gave an impromptu performance for Mwanza at their local cinema, which was packed beyond 400 seats, and people had carried their own chairs from home to accommodate the entire crowd. Talat was the first playback singer from India to start world concerts and his three-nation tour to East Africa in 1956 was a resounding success that inspired his colleagues to start touring as well. It was alleged that he started touring only because of a reduction in film offers. On the contrary, he was the biggest singing star when he kick-started world concerts.

In 1968, when the world was engulfed by Beatlemania, the West Indies experienced Talat-mania. He was given a thunderous reception in Trinidad. As the door of his aircraft opened, there was an open limousine waiting for him at the red-carpeted tarmac. People lined up from the airport to his hotel, waving flags, throwing flowers and wearing badges of his name.

What happened on the day of his concert at Skinner Park in San Fernando was unprecedented. It was an open-air location with a capacity of about 7,000. Talat found it difficult to enter backstage. Police on foot just couldn’t manage the rush. Mounted police had to be called in. Helicopters above had to guide the police below. The immediate impact of his West Indies tour was that it boosted record sales at music stores across the region and kick-started a new reality TV show in Trinidad. This was called ‘Talat Mahmood Singing Competition’ in which young singers would compete in singing Hindi film songs. The same year, Talat received a letter from the heart of Times Square at 1481 Broadway Studio. He had been invited to the popular talk show called the ‘Joe Franklin Show’. He was introduced as the ‘Frank Sinatra of India’.

This comparison was re visited when both crooning legends passed away barely five days apart in 1998. It was an amazing moment at the TV studio when an all-American audience watched Joe speak to a suave singer from India, while his songs in Urdu played in between their conversation.

When the state of Minnesota invited him in 1973, they officially founded the India Club in his honour. It was the same year that India was facing an acute drought. So, Talat performed and raised funds in Minnesota to help people back in India. His tours to the United Kingdom were a landmark. The highlight was performing at the esteemed Royal Albert Hall (RAH) in London in 1979. As Talat stepped on stage, being one of the first three Indians to perform at RAH, he reminisced about the audience he had met in East Africa in 1956 and how the next generation of those same families were now part of this audience in the UK.

He started the show with one of his favourites, ‘Hain sabse madhur woh geet jinhe’ from the film Patita (1953). For the next song, Talat said, “This Ghazal was released in 1944 but it still sells like hot cake.” The ghazal was ‘Tasveer teri dil mera behla na sakegi’. The audience at the RAH wanted an encore but Talat apologised. The persuasive audience eventually got their way. Amidst the whistles and claps, Talat repeated the last stanza from his song , ‘Zindagi dene wale sun’ from the film Dil-e-Nadan (1953).

Looking at the huge footfall of his shows in the 1980s, he was given special state honours. The mayors of two cities in the US – Cleveland and Euclid – conferred on him a special citation for bringing their Asian American communities together. By this time, Talat also added the Middle East countries to his tours. The absolute humility of this living legend at the age of 60 was on display when he apologized to his audience in Dubai for his concert starting late. “It’s late but I promise you that I will make sure you hear the best from me and you will feel no loss of time.” This show was at the newly launched Al-Nasr Leisureland in 1984 which was sold to capacity with about 12,000 people.

Award-winning singer fondly recalls her experience of working with him in his troupe. “I used to wonder what made him so great. Even if he missed a note, every word had so much emotion and truth.” Despite slowing down with age, he gave in to the undying demands of his global audiences and performed till at least 1994.

The writer is Talat Mahmood’s grand-niece

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In 1962, when the war with China broke out, there was little or no comfort for Army jawans, with thin air and cold wind cutting through the bones.

The feeling of warmth and love was far away. But for a while, they had the comfort of a caressing voice. Talat Mahmood sang for the soldiers, in person, in Ladakh. The soldiers were touched. Their hearts were filled with emotions as Talat sang one soul-stirring hit after another. “Singing was an ordeal there. The air was too thin for breathing but in a gasping manner, I managed. I had to perform with such thick gloves that playing the harmonium was a new experience”, recalled Talat.

His voice was an immediate balm for the troops. “They loved us for we sang of their sorrows, hopes and fear. But they also wondered as to how these ‘softies’ of the film world could climb up the Himalayas simply to entertain them. But they didn’t know that we also loved them for their bravery and marvelled at their courage. They had left their home, friends and family to go up the treacherous terrains of our frontiers simply so that we could live in peace,” expressed a grateful Talat.

On a humid afternoon in Delhi with clouds playing hide and seek, actor Amit Sadh joined HT City on his bike as he completed the first phase of his month-long biking trip — Motorcycles Saved My Life. And the journey, he reveals, has been far from easy.

“On the very first day, after being on the bike for over 10 hours, I asked myself, ‘Why am I doing it?’ But then I passed a beautiful canal. The breeze, the sunset, a nice terrain to ride... I had answers to all my questions,” says the 40-year-old, who left Mumbai on August 25 and has crossed Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, Delhi and Chandigarh, enroute to Leh (Ladakh).

“I have a knack of putting myself in danger,” quips Sadh, who has faced several life-threatening situations in his 25 years of biking. “In 2017, I was on my way to Manali, for which one has to cross Chang La (situated at an elevation of 17,688 feet). At that time, it was fully covered with snow and the temperature was minus 17 degrees. Nobody travels on that route during that time... As soon as we left, my bike slipped and then my friend’s bike slipped, followed by a puncture. As a result, we had to stay for a night there because the vehicle could not get fixed. Thankfully, the locals helped and we could move the next morning,” he recounts.

Sadh took a liking to adventure activities when he was just about five years old. Now, any free time he gets, he is ready to vroom. “That’s how much I love bike riding. It’s also my way of connecting back with life. I’ve not even finished this trip and have already planned my next one,” the Jeet Ki Zid (2021) actor says.

Passion aside, he also ensures he’s adequately prepped. Sadh, who has been to California Riding School, shares, “I’ve been to schools around the world to learn how to ride on mud, in snow etc. So, it’s also about testing my skills. While the reason for riding can be emotional, when I am on the bike, I keep my emotions aside and execute with discipline, knowledge and instincts to minimize the risk.”

Reflecting on all the biking expeditions he has been on so far, Sadh says these experiences of riding through different terrains and meeting new people have made him the person he is today. Citing a recent example, he shares, “On my way to Delhi this time, I met a truck driver at a dhaba and he told me about his life and I told him about what I’m doing. More than anything, these experiences keep me grounded. They make me fall in love with everything around me. They teach me discipline and resilience. I’m a product of all these experiences.”

This one!

In 2017, when I got stuck in Chang La

Train as much as you can. Learn about your bike before you go on a trip.

Start with places around you, within 100-200km

Mongolia

Every trip to Ladakh

First day of this trip. I rode the bike for 10 hours

Travelling for more than 200-300km a day

photos: Dhruv sethi/ HT Concept: Monika Rawal Kukreja

(L-R) Sunita, Shubham and Kirna and Dhiren Vira, a family from Dadar, had gone on a road trip to Leh Ladakh on June 29. HT PHOTO

Mumbai: On Tuesday, film actors Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani quote-tweeted a message on Twitter about a Mumbai family which had gone missing in the flash floods in North India. One of the family’s frantic relatives, who knew the Bollywood celebrities, had requested them to amplify a message put out by a cousin on all social media platforms, and Aaryan and Advani had immediately obliged.

Within a few hours, there was a response from a local, saying the family was safe and sheltering at a military camp at Sissu near Manali. “We got a call from someone called Siddharth, who said he had spoken to the local police after reading the tweet,” said Dipin Shah, a relative of the family. “He confirmed that the family was indeed at the military camp.”

Dhiren, Sunita, Shubham and Kirna Vira, a family from Dadar, had gone on a road trip to Leh Ladakh on June 29 and were to return on Monday morning. “They made a call to us on Saturday to inform us that they were stuck four kilometres before the Atal Tunnel en route to Manali because of a landslide,” said Dipin, Shubham’s cousin. “On Sunday, they video-called to tell us they were safe and had spent the night inside the car. We advised them to keep the car unlocked and to not turn on the heater. But after that call, we were unable to get in touch with them.”

Worried, Dipin and his cousins created a message and shared it on various social media platforms on Tuesday. The message went viral on Facebook, various WhatsApp groups, Instagram and Twitter. On Twitter, after the tweet was quote-tweeted by Bollywood celebrities Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani, news came in that the family was safe.

“Despite all our efforts, we have still not been able to establish direct contact with them,” said Dipin. “But we at least know that they are not missing. Kiara and Kartik were kind and quick enough to help us amplify the message. It is because of their tweets that a load was taken off our shoulders.”

Another family from Kandivali is also desperately trying to reach its relatives, Vatsal and Priyal Shah, who had gone on a trip to Spiti Valley and were to return on Sunday. The family said they were stuck in Manali but were safe. “They are in Manali,” said Parag Shah, uncle of Vatsal and Priyal. “On Monday morning, they called and said they were safe but shifting to a different hotel. However, since that call, there has been no contact. We are worried because it’s been more than 36 hours. We are trying the hotel numbers and other possible local contacts as well.”

In the past two days, an interaction between a western disturbance and the monsoon trough led to extremely heavy rainfall over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana, causing landslides, flooding and widespread damage. The unusual interaction of a western disturbance with the monsoon trough can be devastating, as witnessed during the 2013 Uttarakhand floods.

Amaal Mallik’s discography is dominated by soft, romantic ballads — be it Kaun tujhe in MS Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), or Soch na sake in Airlift (2016) or Chal wahan jaate hai (2015). Taking his love for romantic numbers forward, the musician has dropped a new composition, Mohabbat, today. The song holds a special place in his heart as it is an homage to the late Yash Chopra, and Shah Rukh Khan, who together shaped the language of romance for generations of audiences.

“I have been an ardent admirer of the filmmaker-actor duo. Their movies and songs have influenced my music. My love for romantic songs stems from the melodies in Shah Rukh Khan’s films. That’s why my latest track serves as a small tribute to these legends,” he says.

Keeping in mind how Chopra would shoot his numbers against the backdrop of mountains to glorious effect, he decided to film his ballad in Ladakh.

“To capture the essence of a classic Bollywood song, we shot Mohabbat in the mountainous landscape of Ladakh. With chiffon sarees and picturesque locations reminiscent of Yash-ji’s films, the song replicates the essence of old-fashioned romance,” says Mallik, who served as the composer and singer on it.

The best holiday I’ve had was in Italy, and one can never get tired of Rome, where every corner has a story to tell. Tuscany, on the other hand, is the perfect place to unwind — read a book, laze through the day, and enjoy the fresh food and outstanding wine. In India, Kashmir is among my favourite places.

 

Trekking in Ladakh has been one of the most calming experiences of my life. Apart from that trek, among my most memorable holiday activities are bungee jumping in Australia and scuba diving in the Maldives.

Recently, I went to Vietnam. It was an overcast afternoon in Hoi An, drizzling at times, and we had been walking through the Old Town for a few hours. And just when my hunger pangs were growing, we found ourselves in front of Banh Mi Phuong — an unassuming takeaway joint recommended by the late Anthony Bourdain. I cannot forget the first bite of that absolutely fresh baguette filled with many wonders. It felt like I had discovered new sensory experiences.

Arrested Sheezan Khan’s family — (from left) mother Kehkashan, and sisters Falaq and Shafaq — address reporters on Monday

Mumbai: A day before television actor Tunisha Sharma was found hanging in the washroom of co-actor Sheezan Khan’s green room on December 24, she had allegedly shown a picture of a noose to her fellow actors. Her mother had been alerted about it and urged not to leave her daughter alone, claimed Khan’s family on Monday.

Sharma, 20, and Khan, 28, played the lead roles in the serial, Ali Baba Dastaan-e-Kabul, which was being shot at Bhajanlal Studios in Naigaon. They had been in a relationship when the serial went on air in August, but apparently broke up in early December.

Addressing a press conference on Monday, Khan’s family said Sharma had shared the noose picture from her cellphone with co-actors Parth Zutshi and Ayush Shrivastava. When they asked her about it, she passed it off as a joke. Khan, who learnt about the noose, called Sharma’s mother Vanita the same day and asked her not to leave Sharma alone.

“Despite that, Tunisha came to the set alone on December 24 and was found hanging hours later,” said Khan’s sisters Falaq Naaz and Shafaq Naaz, both TV actors. Statements of Zutshi and Shrivastava have been recorded by the Valiv police.

Khan, who was among the three persons who had rushed Sharma to hospital in Naigaon, was arrested the same day based on Vanita’s abetment complaint.

Khan’s family alleged that they had asked Vanita time and again to address Sharma’s obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) issues. Vanita had told reporters on Friday that her daughter suffered from OCD. Khan’s family said on December 16, Sharma had suffered a panic attack; she was admitted to a hospital in Borivali and administered saline. They claimed Sharma had panic attacks every time she came in contact with a person known to Vanita.

Sharma, they claimed, was close to them as she had a strained relationship with Vanita. “She had not gone back to her Mira Road home since December 21,” said the sisters.

The sisters said instead of focusing on mental health issues, they were subjected to charges of ‘love jihad’ and ‘conversion’. Allegations by Sharma’s mother that she was forced to wear a hijab and speak Urdu were baseless as her serial role required that.

The family called Vanita’s allegations of Khan slapping Sharma baseless. “Vanita has been in and out of our house. If my son had slapped Tunisha, she should have questioned him or at least brought it up with us,” said Khan’s mother. Alleging that her son was falsely implicated, she asked if Vanita was waiting to see her son commit suicide in jail.

Sheezan Khan has moved the Vasai court for bail. His plea will be heard on Saturday. Khan was sent to judicial custody last Saturday, with relief against cutting his long hair till Monday. The Thane jail authorities submitted every inmate’s hair has to be cut as per the prison manual, and only Sikhs are exempt. The matter will be heard on Tuesday.

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