Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 29, 2020)

Rhea Chakraborty made her Telugu debut in 2012 with Tuneega Tuneega following a brief career with a music network, and then got her Bollywood break the following year in Mere Dad Ki Maruti, produced by Yash Raj Films’ youth wing Y-Films. The studio retained her in Bank Chor, and her filmography also includes Sonali Cable and Dobaara: See Your Evil, which slipped through the cracks. The Bengaluru-born actress was last seen in Mukesh Bhatt’s Jalebi (2018), an adaptation of Bengali film Praktan (2016). The film was roundly panned by critics and limited Chakraborty’s prospects in the industry.

Despite the lukewarm responses to her films, the actress was often the centre of controversies. The one that made it to the glossies was about how she was trolled for a photograph she shared on social media. It featured the actress sharing a warm embrace with director Mahesh Bhatt, urging netizens to assume that the two were dating. Bhatt later said in an interview that he was appalled by the assumption and said unapologetically, “I am only responsible for my relationship with this child. If somebody wants to superimpose their perverse mindset, then that is their problem, not ours.”

Rajput and Chakraborty met in 2012 when they were both signed on as YRF talent. Rajput was working on Maneesh Sharma’s Shuddh Desi Romance, while Chakraborty was working on her Hindi debut. Rumours about their relationship sparked only after they were spotted holidaying together in Ladakh in August last year. The buzz grew after the two began sliding into each other’s Instagram posts and were often clicked together by the paparazzi while exiting restaurants and gyms in Bandra. But it was only after Rajput’s death last month that Chakraborty admitted to having been in a relationship and living with the late actor. It is also rumoured that the two were also looking for a property and had plans of getting married later this year. 

A writer-director and his dialogue writer wife talk of creating characters through the lockdown as their only link to the fictional universe they know as reality
Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; April 5, 2020)

It was during the making of the 2013 film, Mere Dad Ki Maruti that Neeraj Udhwani and Ishita Moitra first met. Udhwani had written the story and screenplay and Moitra, the dialogues. They started off as colleagues, moved to being friends and married three years later. "Because we started off as colleagues, we are able to maintain a working relationship despite the personal equation," says Moitra, 36. Udhwani's directorial debut, Maska, starring Manisha Koirala, premiered on Netflix last week. He is also writer for the show, while Moitra has worked on the dialogues.

Maska is the story of following your dreams and in a sense, Udhwani's ode to the Irani cafés he grew up around in King's Circle, Matunga. "Pop culture tells us to follow our dreams. But millennials believe they have untapped potential. Social media adds to this feeling of, I am not doing enough. Maska takes a look at this," says Udhwani about the show that looks at a young man who ditches a family-run Irani café to pursue his acting dream.

Moitra's upcoming project is Amazon Prime's Four More Shots Please, which is in its second season. She says, this time, the show focuses on the four women protagonists navigating Mumbai. "It's bolder, sassier and deeper. We have peeled a few more layers off everyone."

The couple says they have taken the Coronavirus lockdown well, given that they are habituated to working from home. Udhwani admits, "I admire her focus. She is a trooper. For the first few days, I watched the news 24/7 and was convinced that the world was going to end. It's after the appreciative messages for Maska that I am in a better place."

The trick, they say, for couples who work together, is to put work before everything else. This means they offer honest feedback and treat each other like they would a colleague. "For Maska, I asked him to give me the screenplay only when it was locked, so I could write the dialogues. It's not like, we live together so, here is one scene, read it!" says Moitra, and Udhwani laughs, "But yes, we do talk about work all the time. So, I say, what's for lunch? And then, 'what are you planning to do about so-and-so bit in the script?' There are no breaks from work."

Like the rest of Mumbai, the couple is waiting for the lockdown to end and see under-progress projects come to fruition. Moitra has written the dialogues for Shakuntala Devi's biopic starring Vidya Balan, and Udhwani is lead writer for cricket-inspired drama, Inside Edge Season 3. "This is not our real life. This is a dream. Real was what was before the pandemic. The only link we have to that life is writing and creating. We will do that till we wake up."

Sangeeta Yadav (HINDUSTAN TIMES; January 28, 2020)

Actor Rhea Chakraborty didn’t have a single release last year, but that doesn’t bother her a tad. She wouldn’t do films “just for the sake of being visible”. The 27-year-old, who has been a part of films such as Mere Dad Ki Maruti (2013) and Sonali Cable (2014), talks about how she feels as being tagged as “a bubbly actor” and her bond with her rumoured boyfriend actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Was it a conscious decision to not take up projects in 2019?
Yes, I have been very choosy about my projects. After my first Hindi film, Mere Dad Ki Maruti (2013), where I played a girl from Chandigarh, I was tagged as “a bubbly girl” and was offered similar roles. People told me, ‘you can’t do intense characters’. Some said ‘you look too commercial’, and I would wonder what a ‘commercial look’ is. A few films came my way last year, which I could have done to be visible, but I don’t want to take up anything for the heck of it. The industry confines us in boxes, but we have to prove that we are women of substance.

2020 looks quite busy, already. What all is in the pipeline?
I’m very excited about my next film Chehre starring Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi. I’m doing another big feature film and a web series.

Besides work, there’s news about your link-up with actor Sushant Singh Rajput, especially after you posted a picture with him on social media. So, what’s your relationship status, now?
We’ve been very good friends for many years. I am fond of working towards our shared goals, like starting our new NGO, and travelling. If there is anything else between us or not, this isn’t something that I want to disclose yet.

You seem to be venturing out into other areas as well. Tell us more.
I’m opening a gym along with a friend. I’m also starting an NGO with Sushant and my brother to provide free education to needy children. As actors, we do have certain powers. I want to use them for the right cause.

You recently shifted to a new house with your parents in Mumbai. Was it tough to find the right one?
It’s tough. When my parents go house hunting, they don’t take me along. People think that actors create havoc, party late and maybe do drugs as well. They are the same people who ask you for a selfie, want to pay you money to come to their wedding and pretend like they know you. But they don’t want to let out their house to you despite charging double the amount.