Unveiling Kangana Ranaut's killing machine avatar from Dhaakad, director on how the movie will introduce Bollywood to genre's immense potential
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; July 9, 2019)

Only months after dabbling in action with Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi, Kangana Ranaut has thrown her weight behind the actioner, Dhaakad. Director Razneesh Ghai points out that Bollywood is surprisingly starved of female action heroes, leading to the genesis of the stylised entertainer. "There is a big void when it comes to female-oriented action films. I haven't heard of a lead heroine in an out-and-out action entertainer in a contemporary space. That's why we wanted to explore this genre," reasons Ghai, who forays into Bollywood armed with years of ad filmmaking to his credit.'

Tight-lipped about the movie's premise, all the director is willing to let in on is that the script is the result of 10 months of brainstorming between writers Chintan Gandhi, Rinish Ravindra and him. A subsequent meeting with Ranaut in May set the ball rolling on the project. "She is an intelligent actor who understood that there is an opportunity to attempt something completely different. We are constantly having brainstorming sessions with her, and her ideas have further elevated the film."

Ghai adds that given the genre it belongs to, the film will be physically demanding on the leading lady. "I'm not a fan of gravity-defying action sequences, so we will show realistic action. Since the film has many action set-pieces, we are looking at stunt coordinators with different skill sets. We have already met action directors from Hong Kong and Thailand for the Gun Fu [a mix of guns and martial arts] sequence."

Having locked in on the script and his leading lady, the director has now progressed to doing recces before the project goes on floors early next year. "We are planning to shoot in Thailand, pockets of Europe, mainly Budapest and Prague, and in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. We will also have one schedule in North India. Kangana is currently busy with Panga; once she gets time, we will work out the schedule."

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 15, 2017)

When Mirror had caught up with Priyanka Chopra during her five-day break in Mumbai last month, the 34-year-old actress-filmmaker had admitted that even though she travels the world for work, she hasn’t taken a vacation longer than three days in the last 15 years.

She’s currently in Prague on another workation, living it up like a tourist with friend Vinita Bagdadi when she’s not at a brand shoot. She spent Monday morning at the Vysehrad — the historic Prague fort built in the 10th century. Within the castle, she also dropped by the Basilica of St Peter and St Paul. Then, with her four-member team that includes make-up artist Yumi Mori and stylist Tanya Taylor, the actress gorged on a burger and wine at an open-air restobar by the Vlatava river.

Sunsets were reserved for a walk across the Charles Bridge which is lined with 30 statues and statuaries, most of them in the baroque-style, originally erected around 1700 BC but now replaced by replicas.

PeeCee shared a picture of herself with a statue and captioned it, “Making new memories”.

What’s her dream destination? “Kashmir! There’s no place like Pahalgam. I shot there for Saat Khoon Maaf and I’d love to be there again,” pat comes the reply.

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 24, 2017)

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 9, 2017)

A day before her 30th birthday, Shraddha Kapoor flew off to Europe on a vacation with her friends, Ankita Choksey, Fazaa Shroff Garg, Rohan Khatau, Viraj Kapur and Karan Raj Kohli, after a pre-birthday bash with her family and close friends at her Juhu residence. The first stop was Berlin.

The group strolled the streets of the German capital, going over the Oberbaum Bridge which crosses the river Spree and wandering into Konzerthaus Berlin, a concert hall in the Gendarmenmarkt Square in the central Mitte district, and taking in the exhibits at the Pergamon Museum in Museum Island and Checkpoint Charlie — the bestknown Berlin Wall crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War.

“Shraddha is having a great time and in constant touch with her family. She’s been doing some shopping too, picking up a jacket for dad, Shakti Kapoor, and other gifts for the whole family,” informs a source.

From Berlin, which they explored on electric scooters, they’ve now moved to the Czech capital, Prague, and enjoyed breakfast there at the Mistral Café, a hip eatery with Modern European dishes in the menu. She will be returning to the Bay this weekend.

Meanwhile, Shraddha’s dog, Shyloh, has been moping around, sitting outside her room, waiting for her to return. Earlier when she was shooting for the emotionally intense Haseena Parkar biopic, after an exhausting day on the sets, she would spend time with Shyloh. “It always rejuvenates her. She spends at least 15-20 minutes everyday after returning home with her puppy,” adds the source.

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; September 9, 2016)

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 3, 2016)

Anushka Sharma is shooting for Imtiaz Ali's next alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Prague and her cricketer beau Virat Kohli flew down to the Czech Republic capital to spend some quality time with her. And while the star couple has famously taken their reclusive ways out of the country as well, trying diligently to avoid being clicked together; they were unwittingly outed on the social media by a cricket buff.

When Instagram user and Virat Kohli fan Henil Rao asked for a picture with the cricketer, Anushka happily turned shutterbug. The fan then shared the picture with his followers on Instagram, excitedly captioning it, "With the new master blaster, thank you #AnushkaSharma for the lovely picture taken by you."

Makes us stare at our screens wistfully and sigh... nothing escapes the internet. What a time to be alive!

MUMBAI MIRROR (August 22, 2016)

MUMBAI MIRROR (March 3, 2016)

Kareena Kapoor's holiday pictures from the scenic Prague had us amazed since the actress seemed to have taken off on a holiday with her gal pals and not with hubby Saif Ali Khan, a first of sorts. Turns out, the Begum is in the quaint city for a photoshoot. All's well that clicks well, then

 
Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 17, 2015)

The sight at the YMCA grounds in Chennai on 12-12-12 will remain etched in Rinku Kalsy's memory.

The Mumbai-born, Amsterdam-based filmmaker has made a documentary on Rajinikanth's fandom called, For the love of a man. Kalsy recalls brushing shoulders with a ground packed with Rajini worshippers, who had gathered to felicitate the actor. The South superstar was making his first appearance after taking ill earlier that year. "It was also his birthday, dubbed 'double diwali' in Tamil Nadu," shares Kalsy.

The event began with a screening of select scenes from Rajni's films, received by 6,000 singing-screaming-and-dancing fans, some of whom were proud Rajini impersonators. As expected, a frenzy broke out when the actor came on stage half-way through the event. In his hour-long speech, the 64-year-old assured his fans of his recovery, and blamed his illness on smoking. He urged his fans to quit the habit, like he had. And they did. "One of the three protagonists in my film, Ravi Anna, is a rickshaw driver. He heads one of the oldest Rajini fan clubs in Saidapet district, Chennai. He'd smoke three packs a day and hasn't lit up since that day," says Kalsy, who tried to reach out to as many fan clubs as possible. Chennai alone has 1,50,000 with 500 members each.

Kalsy, who is currently editing the final cut of the film, stumbled on the subject when friend Joyojeet Pal, regaled her with stories of kids wanting to be on-screen characters of Rajini "when they grow up".

"His influence got me curious. When I heard that Enthiran was to release, I packed my camera and took the first flight to Chennai," she says. Pal, also a big Rajini fan, agreed to produce the film.

With no knowledge of Tamil, Kalsy was ready to rely on translators. She felt a couple of months would be enough to wrap up the film. Four-and-a-half-years on, she has picked up elementary Tamil, and has decided to move base to India. She vividly remembers her first brush with the Rajini mania in 2010 when she arrived in Chennai to catch the first-day-first-show of Enthiran. "A reluctant cabbie drove me to Albert Theatre, a single screen dressed up with a 60-foot cut-out of the actor. People were pouring milk over it; performing a ritual called palabhishekam. Below it, an aarti was in progress while revellers danced and sang."

Flipping through newspapers to find more on the actor, Kalsy was struck by an inconspicuous news piece about a fan club in Sholinghut, Vellore, where 500 Rajni fans had climbed a mountain on their knees (all bleeding severely) to reach a temple where they performed a puja for Enthiran's box office success.

Kalsy had found another protagonist. Gopi, a gas delivery boy, headed the fan club. In 2005, when Chandramukhi released, he was only a foot soldier in the club. He was offered a promotion if he could print and paste 1,500 posters of the film across the city. "Gopi, who was broke and couldn't afford the cost of printing, sold his one-room kholi in Mylapore overnight for Rs 1 lakh (it was valued at thrice the price), where he lived with his parents and sister," says Kalsy. The family was homeless for two weeks, but it was a small price for the honour earned among fellow fan club members.

Rajini himself, however, is oblivious about the sacrifices his fans offer. "Rajni sir has always told them to regard their family above everything. He only supports the Narpani Mandrams, which are groups dedicated to social work carried out under his name," says Kalsy. Rajni fan clubs have hence been the first to reach out to survivors of natural calamities and to distribute books to the under-privileged.

The docu, pitched at a documentary incubator in Prague, Docedge in Kolkata and selected for the Viewing Room at NFDC's Film Bazaar, also crowdsourced Rs 4.8 lakh to fund post-production. It has also been selected at the EDN (European Documentary Network) forum for broadcasters in Thessaloniki in Greece. Kalsi isn't certain of a theatrical release, and plans to tow the usual festival route.

"But I'll surely screen it in Chennai. I think I owe it to the fans," she says.