Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; September 1, 2020)

If there’s one celeb who knows how to shut up naysayers upfront, it is Neha Dhupia. She takes them head on, on social media. In fact, social media toxicity is one aspect which many celebs have to deal with.

“I’m happy there are accounts which have been banned. Ten years from now, the world will have a stronger voice. Also, why should we write ‘This person got trolled’? Why give them so much encouragement? How can anyone sit in front of their computer, give a woman rape or death threat, or any sort of threat, and then go out and share a table with his mother and sister for dinner? Put out their names and find who they are,” says the actor.

Giving a recent example of how she had to field trolls, Dhupia reveals it was in fact on her birthday.

“I put out a statement, and I got six and a half lakh hate comments. I spent half the day trending, and the other half with people making fun of me, and saying why am I trending. Is it my fault that I was born? Am I telling you to go around and make hashtags of my name? No,” adds the actor, who is currently busy with her audio show.

With the raging debate around how much do connections really help people, actor Suchitra Krishnamoorthy had recently questioned Neha. “I mean how did #nehadhupia suddenly get all these talk shows except that she is #karanjohar s new bestie...” she’d written.

Reacting to this, Dupia says, “Nobody has the right to question my friendships with whoever in the business.”

Amid the outpouring of hate against Koffee With Karan, Neha Dhupia on launching the latest season of podcast with similar treatment
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; August 26, 2020)

Neha Dhupia, who is gearing up to launch the fifth season of her celebrity podcast series No Filter Neha, says it will stand out from previous editions. "We are recording on Zoom, with 20 people working on the back-end. A face-to-face conversation is more intimate, but we have to adapt," says the actor-host, who will open the series with Saif Ali Khan.

A breezy show that has stars spilling the beans on their professional and personal lives, No Filter Neha shares similarities with Koffee With Karan in terms of theme and treatment. With Karan Johar's chat show being slammed amid the ongoing insider-versus-outsider debate, Dhupia believes her podcast has always employed an empathetic gaze. "Harmless banter on shows has been widely dissected, but that can't be the reason to change our format. In this season, the conversations will revolve around celebrities making sense of the new world we are living in and will focus on their time with family."

Recently, the actor was trolled on social media after Suchitra Krishnamoorthi alleged that she got a talk show because of her "chamchagiri" to Johar. Dhupia, who responded to her claims with a strongly worded post, reflects, "[It's strange that] people who don't know me have an opinion on my life! [Ideally] they shouldn't get away with sitting in front of a laptop and taking jabs at others. Or one must not pay heed and move on."

Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; August 12, 2020)

Actor Suchitra Krishnamoorthi’s Twitter conversation with Neha Dhupia about ‘chamchagiri’ has created quite a flutter. It started with the former tweeting, “Peeps its not #nepotisminbollywood one shld aggravate against but chamchagiri. I mean how did #nehadhupia suddenly get all these talk shows except that she is #karanjohar s new bestie and #femina Missindia 2002!! - shes no blood relative or star kid is she,” (sic).

Dhupia replied: “Dear ma’am, this is possibly the most distasteful and disgraceful tweet I’ve ever read (trust me I have read a lot) to reduce a friendship of many years, that you know nothing about speaks volumes of you.”

When we ask her further about this ‘chamchagiri’, Krishnamoorthi says her tweets are ‘self explanatory’. “I don’t want to fan it further. I wanted to make a point, I did that, nothing against Neha or anyone personally. Like I said, if you are talking about Tesla (vehicle manufacturer), you will take Elon Musk’s (co-founder and face of Tesla) name, right? I have nothing against anyone,” she says.

Since she hinted at how connections help people in the industry, we ask the 44-year-old whether it’s all about that or talent plays an important role too. “It’s a combination of both. There are so many factors, one can’t pin point on something. It’s what corporates call ‘networking’. It’s quite the same. But especially in the field of arts it must not be so specific, people with talent should get more opportunities,” says the actor.

Krishnamoorthi later tweeted that she was trolled for saying what she did. “i knew i would get trolled... Ofcourse nobody survives without talent. But do hear what a lot of people are saying... Its groupism that thrives (i used the word chamchagiri) (sic),” she wrote.

She sticks to what she said, and adds “it’s not correct to penalise children and make them feel ashamed of their parents and lineage.” “This whole nepotism thing started about star kids. It’s reverse bullying. That’s not the issue. I felt the narrative was getting very crude, and I wanted to put my perspective,” she tells us.

After actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, she finds social media to be toxic, because of the trolling . She says, “I went off it for a few weeks, it felt like I was on a toxic overload. You go back to it, you get sucked into it, whether you like it or not.”

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi’s daughter Kaveri, who is studying music at Berklee, is back in Mumbai and under self-quarantine
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 20, 2020)

On Thursday, around noon, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi tweeted that her daughter, Kaveri, is back from Boston amidst the global Coronavirus scare. Speaking to Mirror, the actresssinger informed that Kaveri who is studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, was stuck in the US following the Indian government’s directive barring the entry of overseas citizens of India from March 13.

“The college had shut down around March 10 and the kids were asked to vacate their dormitories. Kaveri was staying with family-friends in Boston. She has just got home,” the relieved mother shared. “She was stuck for just six days, but it felt like a year. But the government has been amazingly supportive. We constantly got responses to all our queries. I also want to thank our doctors, airline and security personnel and everyone else working round the clock to keep India safe.”

Kaveri has now put herself under self-quarantine. “She was tested at the airport and is absolutely fine, but she is a responsible girl,” asserted Suchitra. When asked if her 19-year-old daughter faced any difficulty in transit, she replied, “No, Kaveri said that everyone at the airport was compassionate and lovely. Hats off to the way things are being handled!”

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 27, 2020)

At the 39th annual Filmfare Awards, Shah Rukh Khan made history, walking home with two Black Ladies. He was adjudged Best Actor for Baazigar in the Popular Awards category and also bagged the Critics’ Award for Best Performance in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. For the first time, two Filmfare acting awards went to the same performer. He was understandably ecstatic. “I’m a sportsman, I love awards. I’ve kept every trophy and medal I’ve won, even one for a balloon race from kindergarten,” he exulted when we met, with trademark SRK humour.

According to Shah Rukh, Kundan Shah’s coming-of-age romcom was his first anti-hero film. “Sunil is a failure, he flunks his exams and loses the girl. He lies, cheats and doesn’t bounce home with a silver cup,” he reasoned, but conceded that the character, despite the flaws, was lovable and he could identify with every shot and emotion. “I was thinking of Gauri (his wife) all through, from the time Sunil meets Anna till he proposes to her, only to realise she’s in love with someone else. At one point, I almost hated Deepak Tijori (he played Chris who wins Anna).”

Recently, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, who played Anna, admitted that she auditioned four times before Kundan finally settled for her and with refreshing candour acknowledged that she was pretty clueless through the making of her first film. “When the song 'Woh Toh Hai Albela' required her to drop a tear on camera, there was a mad scramble for glycerine. But Kundan knew exactly how to extract the right emotions. He told me to imagine that one of my sisters was gone and after that the tears wouldn’t stop flowing,” she laughed, remembering how she’d hang out with Gauri during the long outdoors in Goa, and once, when made to wait four days, cribbed endlessly about wanting to be with her boyfriend. “I was reprimanded and told a heroine didn’t talk about having a boyfriend, definitely not one like Shekhar Kapur,” she recounted, breaking into peals of laughter.

Suchitra agreed that she was probably cast because she looked the part and Kundan would often ask her that apart from showing up on the sets what else could she bring to the role and she’d tartly retort, “I don’t know, you tell me.” Twenty-six years later, she marvelled at how innocent she’d been and how well her director had captured her 19-year-old naivety on screen.

Prod her on her co-star and she remembered Shah Rukh as someone very focussed, regaling everyone on the sets with stories from the sets of his other films. “He would give Kundan two options for every shot, it’s one of his best performances. He went on to become a superstar while I stopped acting and moved on to singing. My first album, ‘Dole Dole’ released after Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa opened on February 25, 1994. I’d wanted to sing for the film too, but those days actresses did not do their own playback,” she rued. Shah Rukh and she continued to bump into each other, as their children were in the same school and she is still overwhelmed by the outpouring of love she gets for the film which the makers wanted to call Albela but couldn’t get the title.

“The film ended after 'Woh To Hai Albela', the second half was just a wrap,” Shah Rukh had explained, adding that the distributors would have loved it if it had ended with him telling Anna after the weddings, “It’s okay, I never loved you” with a brave smile. “Then the mother would have come up, put a hand on my shoulder, nodded understandingly and it would have become another Sagar,” he laughed.

But he was not ready to play the stereotypical sacrificial hero so they toyed with three endings. In the first, he’s standing dejectedly on the bridge after Anna is gone, when a girl walks up and stands beside him. When he asks her disinterestedly what she’s doing there, she tells him that his best friend Yezdi had promised to meet her there at 6 pm. With a gleam in his eyes Sunil tells her, “No, Yezdi won’t be coming at 6 pm but at 7 pm and he’s asked me to take you out for an icecream,” and waltzes off with her.

In another scenario, he goes down in church, walking on all fours—a quirk that never found its way into the film, like the pebble glasses and buck teeth that Shah Rukh had in mind for a podgy Sunil—but for the first time falls flat on his face. The symbolism was too obtuse for the distributors who preferred the third, more commercially viable conclusion, wherein a Juhi Chawla dances into the frame and asks him for directions to the church. He offers to take her along, lugging her bags, when she spots a shooting star and he tells her airly that “yahan toote taare girte rehte hain” even as the two criminals enter the frame to break the third wall assuring the audience that Sunil will be fine. While many saw it as the beginning of a new romance, for the hero himself, Sunil could have got lucky this time… Or maybe not. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, that was the title, right?

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; January 13, 2020)

Following in mother Suchitra Krishnamoorthi’s footsteps, Kaveri Kapur found her calling in music. The youngster, who made her debut with the single Did You Know in 2016, has achieved what few artistes in their teens can boast. Turns out, Kapur has collaborated with A R Rahman for her next single, Reminisce.

Talking to mid-day, the singer reveals that the duo recorded the number a few days ago, with the maestro in charge of the musical arrangement of the track. “I got to fulfill my lifelong dream of working with my musical mentor, A R Rahman,” gushes the youngster, who has reportedly been training under the Oscar winner. “His brilliance when it comes to music is beyond many, and to have his input and support for my second song was a milestone of my musical career.”

The single, she informs, is part of her deal with the Sweden and Los Angeles-based label, SNAFU, that will see her write, compose and sing four creations.

Only two songs old in the industry, Shekhar Kapur’s daughter admits to being nervous about working with the musical genius. But once she set foot inside the studio, Kapur says that her apprehension made way for awe as she saw Rahman hard at work, polishing her track. “He would often confuse me during the recording to bring out different emotions in my singing. He offered a lot of technical advice as well, such as focusing on my diction. We talked about everything from spirituality to my life at college. Though he is a musical genius, he is so easy to talk to.”

Dhaval Roy (DNA; August 14, 2019)

Suchitra Krishnamoorthi’s first reaction when Randhir Ranjan Roy approached her to star in Ek Haan, a new drama based on the life and times of author Saadat Hasan Manto, was, “Why do you even think I can do this? I will never be able to pick up the Urdu lines!” However, the director persisted and right enough, the actress loved the script written by Neha Kargeti. “The play is about a Kashmiri journalist who visits Manto and through his stories, comes to terms with her own reality and identity. We have used some of his original works, and they are deeply moving,” Suchitra says, adding that the character graph drove her to it as well. “Initially, you can’t figure out much about Wazira but as the story progresses, you discover what her agenda is,” says the actress, who will also be seen as a nagging housewife and a prostitute in the outing that will play at the Royal Opera House, Girgaum, tomorrow at 7.30 pm and on August 17, 7.30 pm, at St Andrew’s Auditorium, Bandra West.

For Suchitra’s co-actor, Shekhar Suman, the difficult format as well as the controversial and iconic part was the poison he was looking for. “After playing Sahir Ludhianvi in Ek Mulaqat, this was the natural corollary. I was looking for something extremely edgy and different, not the commercial stuff going on in the name of theatre these days. Also, straight lines are never welcome for me. They have to be crooked, only then it becomes a challenge.”

Challenging play
Speaking of challenges, for the My Wife’s Murder actress, pulling off the lines in Urdu convincingly was the biggest task. “Even my Hindi isn’t that great, so, learning Urdu and getting the nuqta right was like studying Maths, which I was really bad at,” Suchitra laughs. However, she did nail the nuances. But not without the team and Shekhar’s help. “His command over Hindi and Urdu is so strong,” she states, adding, “He really helped me.” On his part, Shekhar tells us, “I must give her the credit for not knowing the language and then becoming so good at it. She asked to be corrected, unlike actors who are resistant and think they know it all. Suchitra was open to suggestions and got it right to near perfection!”

Fascinating qualities about Manto
Even though Ek Haan is an original play, the story is fact and fiction. “It’s kind of a love story — an emotional and mature one and not typical at all,” says Shekhar.

Though the actor hasn’t read all of Manto’s works, he is familiar with a chunk of it, including Toba Tek Singh and Kali Salwar. “He was always there in the recesses of my mind. I just had to look back and pick up the threads,” he states. “Manto wrote about the hypocrisy that prevails in our society. He would always be vivid in his descriptions,” he continues. But it was the frightening details penned by him that Manto needs to be revered for, Shekhar observes. “It was the stance he took and the temerity to write what was right that makes the character so interesting. It was his fearlessness that was the most fascinating part. He didn’t toe the line or follow a regime,” he elaborates.

Suchitra hails Manto for being a feminist. “He treated women better than they treated themselves! He didn’t judge or label them but empathised with them at a time when women were not even treated as people. He was also nihilistic because of the dark times he lived in. He said it as he saw it and experienced it. There was neither glorification nor judgment,” Suchitra points out.

Actors Shekhar Suman and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi revisit the life of prominent writer Saadat Hasan Manto in the upcoming play, Ek Haan
Samiksha Mishra (MID-DAY; July 28, 2019)

It doesn’t take much to step into the chappals of Saadat Hasan Manto: round glasses, a spotless white kurta, a lit cigarette or a pen hanging from his lips. When we meet actor Shekhar Suman, he’s nailed the look. But, when we speak to him, we understand he’s also got under the skin of the character. After playing the role of poet and lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi in Ek Mulaqaat, Suman will play Manto in Randhir Ranjan Roy’s upcoming production, Ek Haan. It follows Manto’s interaction with Wazeera (played by Suchitra Krishnamoorthi), an Indian journalist, who travels to Pakistan after the Partition to interview him.

“Manto is an enigma,” says Suman. “His stories, the characters he created, can be a part of himself or can be his imagination. But, the uncertainty and the mystery behind the writer of the profound stories intrigues me. This is also something we deal with in the play through Wazeera, who has come to interview him, and thinks that the characters Manto has written are about Manto himself. Manto needs to be reinstated, and it is our duty in our creative pursuits to take it upon ourselves [to do that].”

The play is mostly in a simplified version of Urdu. “People still know about Manto, but hardly anyone knows of Wazeera,” says Krishnamoorthi. “She was deeply affected by Manto’s stories. I am not very good with the language, still I took up this role because of the carefully structured character.”

The play is set in the 1950s, when Manto moved to Pakistan and deals with the pathos and turmoil that stayed within the hearts of people after the Partition and how difficult it was for everyone to settle into the new way of living. “Toba Tek Singh is also a short part of the play,” says Suman. “I get to play Toba. Manto was deeply scarred by Partition, and he left India even though he loved Bombay. Out of that pain of separation came the beautiful story of Toba Tek Singh. In the play as Manto, I play various characters of Manto. The intensity behind his compelling stories makes Manto one of a kind and, thus, even more challenging and exciting for an actor.”

While Suman has been busy with plays, Krishnamoorthi has been focusing on other things. “I haven’t done anything lately as I was giving all my time to my daughter,” she says. “But now, I think I am ready to work and explore again. And, the script was so challenging and fresh that I couldn’t resist it. Also, theatre and music are my roots and it just feels like I returned to my roots.”

For Roy, this is his second play as director. “Manto’s stories can make anyone shiver. The play explores various aspects in his life through his characters. When you listen to Suchitra ji speak, you can imagine a woman speaking Urdu in the 1950s. The texture of her voice is just perfect, and while casting the character, that was all we needed. Similarly, after Ek Mulaqaat, the kind of command over language that Shekhar ji has is perfect for a character like Manto.”

Both Krishnamoorthi and Suman are immersed in their characters. Where Suman is working on internalising the role and going deeper into it, Krishnamoorthi is working hard on her diction. “The play is colloquial, it is understandable and has a plethora of emotions. Hopefully, it will stir the audience and make them go home with the essence of Manto,” says Suman.

WHEN: August 15, 7.30 PM
WHERE: Royal Opera House, Charni Road; 23668888
ENTRY: Rs 750 – Rs 3,000
TO BOOK: www. bookmyshow. com

Papa Jackie Shroff goes on to describe Salman Khan as a ‘child’ and John Abraham as a ‘nephew of Dolly’ whom he has known since his early days
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 12, 2019)

Jackie Shroff who was last seen in J P Dutta’s war drama, Paltan, now plays an intelligence chief in John Abraham’s upcoming spy-thriller, Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW). “It’s a responsible role and I needed someone like Robbie (Grewal, director) to make me look and sound different after 200 odd films,” says the 62-year-old actor.

Pointing out that he’s worked in some big-budget films about the country, like Karma, Border and Khalnayak, he quips with a smile, “I wear khakee in my heart.” Strolling down memory lane, he goes on to reminisce about JP Dutta’s 1997 film Border based on the Battle of Longewala during the Indo-Pak war in which he played Wing Commander Anand ‘Andy’ Bajwa, saying that when he was crouched double in the Hunter-fighter plane, he realised how India’s Air Force pilots may look like aam aadmi, but in combat situations they become Iron Man. “It’s a crazy feeling, wriggling into a confined cockpit and flying out into a danger zone. Hats off to these real heroes who do this job, day in and out,” he says, the awe evident in his voice.

This is the first time the veteran actor is sharing the screen with John Abraham and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and he’s already wowed by his co-stars. “Suchitra ji is Saraswati, such a beautiful voice… A single mother and a lovely lady, she has so much love and not a trace of malice for anyone,” he raves.

He met John for the first time on this set but he knows his aunt Dolly from his early days. “I love the family’s genes. John works silently but staggers you with his intensity when you are facing the camera with him,” he says.

Another big release is Ali Abbas Zafar’s period drama Bharat in which Jackie plays father to Salman Khan. They are reuniting after nine years, having worked in films like Bandhan, Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye, Kyon Ki and Veer. “I met Salman during his growing up years while filming Falak whose dialogue was penned by his father, Salim Khan saab. He was this young kid on the set showing me his workout regime. He still loves me a lot, it’s evident to all, which is why he offered me this emotional role,” Jackie asserts, adding with a smile, “Salman’s still a teenager for me, a child, his eyes shining with his love for me and reflecting his awe. In my eyes he will never grow up.”

Moving on to his own son, Tiger, Jackie admits he’s proud to see the way the young actor has worked his way to the top. “God is kind, what else can you expect from your child! Tiger is setting an example for other kids to follow. He sleeps by 10.30 pm and is up by 6 am… He respects people and focuses on his craft… He steers clear of malice and is a man on a mission. Even for a porcupine his child is soft, so I won’t say more,” he chortles.

However, with a little bit of prodding, he points out that his son has a solid fan base. “Children love him and so do mothers, and grandmothers. I hope it always remains that’s way,” he beams with paternal pride.

Tiger recently told Mirror (December 5, 2018) that he has bought an eightbedroom apartment in Khar for the family. Jackie nods and describes it as an “emotional moment”, quick to add that they never wanted it. “But Tiger thought we should have a house and has been slogging to make the dream come true,” he says still moved by the gesture.

Meanwhile buzz is, Tiger has found his ladylove in Baaghi 2 co-star, Disha Patani. The duo is frequently spotted on dinner dates and even attend parties and galas together. “He found his first friend who is a girl at 25, till then he never looked around. They share the same passions, dance and workout together. She comes from a family of army officers, so she understands the value of discipline. Who knows they may get married in future or remain friends for life, for now they are just friends,” he asserts.

The conversation moves to daughter Krishna and Jackie maintains that though many acting offers have come her way, she is not interested in facing the camera. “Krishna learnt filmmaking for two years and made the documentary Black Sheep. Then, she taught kindergarten kids for a year, going on to assist on Tiger’s Munna Michael and teach basketball at a sports academy,” he informs. Right now, the natural born athlete is into Mixed Martial Arts. “She’s the student of the year in sports,” he signs off on a guffaw.