Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 9, 2018)

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 30, 2016)

Ever since they broke-up in January before rekindling their romance after a two-month split in March, India’s cricketing captain Virat Kohli and actress Anushka Sharma have maintained a stoic silence on the subject of their relationship, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to their personal lives again. Anushka has gone a step further, refusing to interact with the media if any questions about her cricketer beau are posed.

However, social media and their respective fan clubs have been buzzing about the couple’s hush hush plans to bring in the New Year with an engagement.

On December 24, Virat and Anushka landed at Dehradun’s Jolly Grant airport and took off to Narendra Nagar where they checked into the Hotel Ananda spa and resort, a picturesque Himalayan getaway tucked away in Rishikesh, 17 kms from Dehradun. The receptionist of the hotel admitted that rumours have been flying, thick and fast, about a possible ring. The couple brought in Christmas together, with Anushka reliving childhood memories. Her mother is a Garhwali and Dehradun was a frequent vacation home for the Sharmas. She was snapped feeding a peacock and performing poojas at temples with Virat and a pandit. On Wednesday they visited an ashram in Haridwar.

On December 29, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, and Anil with Tina Ambani, arrived in Uttarakhand, giving rise to fresh speculations of an engagement on January 1. The new arrivals also checked into Hotel Ananda. However, when Mirror contacted Anushka’s spokesperson, they informed, “The rumours surrounding Anushka and Virat’s engagement are untrue. They are on vacation.”

“Many are saying that Virat is set to become the brand ambassador of Uttarakhand tourism and was personally invited by Chief Minister Harish Rawat. The CM wished him and Anushka a happy stay in his state. A grand bash has been planned for New Year’s Eve which will be attended by all the celebs in town,” added the source.
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BOMBAY TIMES (December 30, 2016)

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli, whose relationship has literally been through a rollercoaster ride through the year, are finally catching up on lost time. The couple is relishing a yoga retreat in Uttarakhand with snow-capped mountains all around them. They headed to Dehradun last weekend. Anushka, who has been sporting a Rudraksha mala lately, has been spending time feeding peacocks. Her cricketer beau has also been sporting a similar accessory. Given that the two are spending New Year's Eve with the parents from both sides, buzz is that marriage could be one of the topics of discussion at their dinner table although there has been no confirmation of the same. They've moved from Dehradun over the last 48 hours to Tehri, where her parents were waiting to join them. Let's hope there's some cheer around the corner then!
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Much fanfare and buzz suggest ‘it’ couple, Virat, Anushka to exchange rings on Jan 1 in U’khand
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; December 30, 2016)

Barely a year after Anushka Sharma and her cricketer beau Virat Kohli took a ‘relationship break’ supposedly over a ‘should we wed, shouldn’t we wed’ disagreement, there are strong rumours that the lovebirds will exchange rings at a private ceremony in Uttarakhand on January 1. The couple is holidaying in Dehradun, where Anushka’s grandmother lives.

Photos of Virushka at the Anant Dham Atmabodh Ashram in Haridwar with Maharaj Anant Baba, who is the actress’ family’s spiritual guru, surfaced online yesterday, lending credence to the buzz about an impending wedding. They reportedly performed a havan and had a long meeting with Baba before returning to their hotel. The arrival of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, and business tycoon Anil Ambani at the Dehradun airport last afternoon also sent gossip mills into a tizzy.

While the actress’ spokesperson maintains the rumours are not true, sources tell us a low-key engagement ceremony is slated to be held at Ananda Resort in Narendra Nagar, Tehri-Garhwal. Virat’s actor-friend Angad Bedi (Pink fame), who is currently vacationing in Delhi with ‘close friend’ Nora Fatehi, is expected to join them today. So will cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar and his family, claim sources.

Families of the couple are already at the venue, we hear, and preparations for the roka are in full swing. A source informs the family pundit of the Kohlis has picked a date in February as auspicious for the wedding. “Though it’s a little too soon, the idea of a Valentine’s Day wedding is irresistible to most,” adds the source.

Though it was earlier said that Anushka-Virat will live in together once Virat’s five-BHK flat in Worli (Omkar Heights building) is ready, well placed sources tell us that he will get possession only in 2018.

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 27, 2015)

Subhash Ghai reveals that Karz was conceived out of a need to retaliate against a comment he'd heard from the film fraternity that while he was an excellent director who could make blockbusters of crime thrillers like Kalicharan and Vishwanath, he had no sense of music. The observation haunted him and was the inception for this musical thriller which, 35 years after its release, still has six year olds crooning, "Om Shanti Om."

With the thought of a musical in his mind, Ghai stumbled upon a 1975 American supernatural suspense thriller, The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, directed by Cafe Fear maker J. Lee Thompson. "I didn't understand the film but I liked the idea of a mother recognising her son's soul even in a different body," reminisces the filmmaker, who, holding on to the thought, took off to Ooty alone, returning after 20 days with the first draft of Karz, which he narrated to his screenplay writer Sachin Bhowmick.

"Sachinda thought it was a good murder mystery in the mould of Vishwanath and Kalicharan. He was surprised when I told him I wanted to make it like a musical thriller. When he suggested I stick to doing what I was good at, I told him that I was good at many things, people just didn't know it. He smiled and asked for a second draft," recalls Ghai, who went back to Ooty to figure out how to integrate a musical theme into the plot and found his answer in Om.

Having studied Vedic science, he knew that Om was one word which vibrates in the soul. In a moment of epiphany, he decided to create a musical note which would be the soul of the film.

After completing the second draft he narrated the story to Laxmikant-Pyarelal, telling them he wanted them to compose the music. "But you are known for your traditional Indian scores, I want a more westernised orchestration," he told the duo, who accepted the challenge and came up with the first song, "Dard-E-Dil, Dard-E-Jigar", a ghazal penned by Anand Bakshi, which Rishi Kapoor aka Monty sings when he sees Tina (Munim) and falls in love with her at first sight.

"While we were recording this song, I asked Pyarelalji to give me some theme tunes. He played six of them for me on the piano. I picked number three, a haunting tune which played through the film as the script and music travelled together," says Ghai.

Besides music, he also used Hindu mythology and the concept of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh being reborn as different avatars to tell a story of intrigue and murder, revenge and retribution which continues beyond death, into another life to climax at the same Kali temple where Part 1 ended. Rishi was Ghai's choice for Monty, the reincarnation of Ravi Verma, because "he's a great dancer and lover, and one of the best actors we have".

He was paired with an innocent Tina Munim. Ghai named her character Tina and told her to simply be herself.

The biggest casting challenge was Kamini. "I didn't want a conventional vamp to play the sly princess... the elegant countess, I wanted Simi. But she wasn't ready to accept a performance-oriented role because it had grey shades. It took two months to convince her," he admits.

Three decades later, Karz is unforgettable for Simi's class act and Rishi Kapoor's cult song, "Om Shanti Om". Ghai wanted to travel through Om to the film's theme and while his music directors loved the idea, they were at a loss to come up with a happy song about a man in love which began with the words "Om Shanti Om" and moved to "Mere Umar Ke Naujavanon" in the second line. But like their director and lyricist, they proved equal to the task and were rewarded with the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. The trophy vindicated Subhash Ghai whose innate sense of music was never questioned again.

In 2008, Karz was remade by Himesh Reshammiya as Karzzzz. Quiz Ghai on it and he says once he sells the rights of a film, he never contributes, interferes with or even sees the remake. "It's a deal between two companies, my job is over once I sell the rights," he reasons, admitting he has never wanted to remake any of his films. "But a sequel to Karz is a definite possibility."