Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 17, 2018)

Fashion and Kareena Kapoor Khan go hand-in-hand. So it is not surprising that when the organisers of the ongoing Shop Qatar Festival 2018 decided to have a Bollywood-themed fashion show, the actor was their first choice. Kapoor will turn showstopper for designer Vikram Phadnis at the fashion show that will be held at Mondrian Doha, West Bay today. With this, she earns the distinction of being the first Bollywood actor to walk the ramp in Doha.

A source revealed that Phadnis has designed five ensembles for Kapoor to choose from. “Vikram is keen on Kareena sporting a red-and-burgundy lehenga that he has designed. But the final call will be taken by Kareena, after she sees all the outfits.”

Kapoor expressed her enthusiasm as she said, “I’m looking forward to walking the ramp and interacting with my fans there.”

Other Indian designers showcasing their works include Archana Kochhar, Nida Mahmood, Pallavi Jaipur, and Mandira Wirk. Sonu Nigam too is slated to perform.

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; June 22, 2017)

Fashion designer Vikram Phadnis is ready with his first directorial venture, the Marathi film Hrudayantar, starring Subodh Bhave and Mukta Barve. The same script was supposed to mark his Bollywood directorial debut three years ago, with Bipasha Basu and Rana Daggubati in the lead. The film even had a title, Nia, but was eventually shelved over financial limitations.

The constraints made the process frustrating, but Phadnis refused to let it deter him from bringing the story to the masses. “The production cost was high. I wanted to shoot in London, but the budget wouldn’t allow me to do it. I also realised that it was the wrong time to put out that kind of story. But I didn’t let the limitations affect me. I’ve been wanting to make a film for 13 years,” he tells mid-day.

The designer credits Basu, for being supportive while he attempted to navigate obstacles. “She is a dear friend. For a year and a half, while I was trying to put Nia together, she made herself available, at all times.”

It was Riteish Deshmukh, who suggested that Phadnis make the film in Marathi under the title, Hrudayantar. “Last year, I told him about the movie. He suggested I make it in Marathi. I re-wrote some portions to cater to Marathi sensibilities, and then, everything started falling in place,” says Phadnis.

Hrudayantar explores the marital crisis of a couple married for 12 years.

Mihir Bhanage (BOMBAY TIMES; May 30, 2017)

Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 3, 2017)

After Shah Rukh Khan gave the mahurat clap for fashion designer Vikram Phadnis’s directorial debut, the Marathi film Hrudayantar, in December, the ace fashion designer has now roped in Hrithik Roshan for a special appearance in the film. The 43-year-old actor shot for the cameo on Wednesday at a Mumbai studio. He plays himself.

“My film is a story about a family and how they learn to celebrate life through turbulent times. Hrithik takes the story forward. Nobody except for him could have played this role, he adds power to the film whose title can be loosely translated as ‘Bonds of the Heart’,” informs Vikram.

He was delighted that the actor immediately agreed to be a part of the project after hearing the script. “It was supposed to be a 20-minute meeting but went on for an hour-and-a-half because he really connected with the subject and understood the soul of the film,” says Vikram. Farah Khan and Shiamak Davar have also choreographed for the film with the latter playing a small but a significant part.

Hrithik, being the perfectionist, came all prepped to the set. “He is a director’s actor. I was so happy I returned home with a big smile,” beams the director.

Does Hrithik speak in Marathi? “We’ll let that be a surprise,” he says enigmatically.

Hrithik who had been on a promotional overdrive for his last release, his home production Kaabil, for the last couple of months, recently went on a much-needed break to a health spa abroad where he signed up for a detox programme. On his return, he was back in action for Vikram.

MUMBAI MIRROR (December 22, 2016)

Actor Maniesh Paul will make his debut in Marathi cinema with Vikram Phadnis’ directorial Hrudayantar. He is making a special appearance and plays himself. “It was an interesting experience to shoot with kids,” said the actor who turns up as a celebrity guest at the annual sports day of a school.

Vikram revealed that they had approached Maniesh for the part because he is popular with the younger generation and kids in particular love him, “He lifted the vibe of a sports day,” added Vikram whose drama also features Subodh Bhave and Mukta Barve.

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; December 10, 2016)

Never mind that his Bollywood directorial debut Nia with Bipasha Basu and Rana Daggubati didn’t take off. Designer Vikram Phadnis is now set to step into the regional territory with a Marathi film whose script he has penned.

Titled Hrudayantar, the film will be launched today with Shah Rukh Khan giving the mahurat clap. Says Phadnis, “ I have been in the fashion industry for 25 years, and a major part of my work has been in films. It is a natural progression for any designer. I have harboured the dream of directing a film for the last 11 years, when I wrote my first script.”

He explains the Marathi film is a social drama with an emotional angle, which traces the journey of a family through turbulent times. Phadnis says he wrote the script in Hindi, but decided to make the film in Marathi since that’s his mother tongue. “My ultimate goal is to make a Hindi film. At the end of the day, I am telling a story; it could be in any language I am comfortable with.”

Will it get in the way of his booming fashion label? “Never. I am great at multitasking. I know what I want and what I don’t. Cinema gives me the drive,” he adds.

Bipasha Basu is ready to get back to work but admits that as soon as stagnancy sets in she will run off on a holiday again
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 21, 2015)

Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; April 2, 2015)

Fashion designer Vikram Phadnis’ directorial debut Nia was supposed to roll in January, but budget hassles have apparently delayed the film. Last week, lead actor Rana Daggubati walked out of the project citing date issues and now there is buzz that leading lady Bipasha Basu might be shown the door.

A source says producer Vashu Bhagnani recently decided to come on board to tackle the budget woes, but on the condition that Bips be replaced. The duo’s equation soured last year when the actress refused to promote Sajid Khan’s Humshakals, which was produced by Bhagnani. “At that time, he had publicly expressed that he won’t ever work with Bipasha due to her unprofessional attitude. Now he has told Vikram that he will back his project only if she is ousted from it,” adds the source.

The director did not confirm Bips’ imminent exit from Nia, but denied rumours about budget problems. “The delay is not because of casting or budget. The only reason is that I am currently in London on some work. Rana’s dates were clashing with two of his other films so he had to leave my film. We were initially supposed to shoot during the winter, but now the film has moving to summer. So, I am re-working its look,” he reasons.

Bhagnani remained unavailable for comment.

Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; November 11, 2014)

The casting of South actor Rana Daggubati opposite Bipasha Basu in Vikram Phadnis’ upcoming film, Nia had to go through considerable rethinking. The two worked together in the 2011 film Dum Maaro Dum and the grapevine had it that they were romantically involved. However, they drifted apart when Bips started dating Harman Baweja.

With Harman in the scene, the makers of Nia decided against pairing Bipasha alongside Rana as it would have made things uncomfortable. But as soon as news of Harman and Bips’ alleged split started doing the rounds, Rana was taken on board and the film announced.

Says a source, “The film was in the planning stage for long. Initially, it was supposed to feature Rana, but when Bipasha and Harman admitted they were a couple, Rana’s casting was in doubt.” The source adds that the makers during the location hunt in Australia were also looking at the possibility of casting local actor. “But as soon as the Bipasha-Harman relationship hit a rocky patch, casting Rana in the film was an easy decision,” the source informs.

After the buzz about their split, Bips and Harman issued a statement which said that “whether we continue or not, we do and will always respect each other.”

Phadnis remained unavailable for comment while Bipasha’s spokesperson says, “Harman or not, they do not interfere in each other’s work space. Rana was Vikram’s first choice for the film.”

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 3, 2014)

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; June 8, 2014)

Sahil Sangha, 33, and Dia Mirza, 32, make a very com patible couple. Both share the same family value systems, their love for food and are calm and straight-talking people. While Sahil is mad about Hindi films and its music, Dia is mad about him. While they have known each other for over five years now, they have recently got engaged and have decided to marry this October, post the release of their second joint production Bobby Jasoos. The very loving couple share details of their relationship for the first time with Bombay Times.


CONVERSATION WITH DIA MIRZA
Are you engaged to Sahil?
We have been together for over five years and our families have known that we are a couple. But I used to always cheekily tease Sahil about how he has not gone down on his knees and proposed to me. And he would always say that whenever that would happen, it would be special. Last year, our wedding date got fixed and I thought he would only propose after marriage. But we had medical emergencies in our families and then we started the shooting of Bobby Jasoos and the date got deferred. Early this year, we both went to New York. It's a city which, in many ways, has realised his dream and has been the beginning of many meaningful aspects of his life and we both share a common love for the city . Out of nowhere, he asked me to accompany him to the Brooklyn Bridge, which happens to be just outside the university where he had studied and I happily tagged along thinking that he wanted me to relive his college days with him. Right in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge, he got off, went down on his knees and proposed to me. It was amazing and a scene right out of a movie. There were unknown tourists from China and other countries, who, seeing this, started spontaneously clapping. It was quite surreal. I was laughing and crying, but it was well worth the wait.

Any deadline for getting married?
October this year, it has to be. Nothing intimidates Sahil. He is too confident and comfortable in his own skin for him to get intimidated.

CONVERSATION WITH SAHIL SANGHA
What's your background?
We originally hail from Hoshiarpur and my name is actually Sahil Singh Sangha, but somewhere down the line `Singh' got dropped off. And my master plan is to bring it back in. We were surds two generations back. I sometimes read these articles about `industrialist Sahil Sangha'. I think it is an assumption people make that an actor will settle for nothing less than a businessman, but my parents have always been professionals and they are based in Delhi. I have a younger brother Nikhil, who lives with me in Mumbai and has a bit of an acting bug, so he is currently in Lee Strasberg in New York to study acting. I am so attached to him that I often joke with him that I already have a 29-year-old son. I was studying and living in New York when I accidentally landed up on the set of a Hindi film. While studying, I had worked as a publisher at Random House, a waiter and a salesman, winning the employee of the month at Banana Republic. Out of all the jobs, I took up there as a student, I had the most fun being a waiter. I worked at a Mexican restaurant, owned by a Thai lady in Houston called Teala's. I love cooking, give me a chance and I will be in the kitchen. One of my most vivid memories was of the Houston Astros coming to the restaurant. They are the biggest baseball team. It was Halloween night and they were all dressed up in gear. By my luck, they were sitting in my section. As a college student, you know that their tip can take care of your one semester's night-outs. Even with a minimum billing of 2,000 dollars, the tip would normally be around 200 dollars, but in this case it could easily be double, so for me that night that table was 500 dollars and that is all that I could see. I was all excited and was happily taking down their orders. They all came with girlfriends and fancy cars and our jaws were dropping anyways. I took the whole order, but goofed up on the order for the guy who had to pay for the bill. Of course, I rushed back, got my chef friend to quickly whip up the dish and somehow man aged to get my fat tip, but things can sometimes go so wrong. I had always been besotted with Hindi films and had a heavy diet for Hindi music. Post my graduation, I could have gone to a business school, but I decided to come back to India and started assisting Nikhil Advani on Salaam-E-Ishq. I then worked with Sunil Manchanda on ad films, before I decided to write my own script as I wanted to direct my own film.

How did you meet Dia?
Vikram Phadnis, who I had worked with in Salaam-E-Ishq, knew Dia and he set up for me to go to her house and narrate the script to her. So Vikram, of course, gets the credit of playing cupid in our case. This was five years back. While the film did not happen, we started hanging out and it snowballed into a relationship.

Talk about working with Vidya Balan in Bobby Jasoos?
Vidya and Dia have a lot in common. They have worked together in Parineeta and Lage Raho Munna Bhai and are not just contemporaries, but, at the core, they are both principally good human beings. They don't have ego hassles and don't have issues about people treading into their areas. Every time they come together, it has been good.

What do you like most about Dia?
We have a lot in common. Of course, we are our own individuals, but the principal construct of family values is the same. I have a large family which is my security, whereas Dia has a much smaller family, as a result of which she appreciates the value of family much more and fits in with mine very well. We are straight speak kind of people, who both love food. What I love the most about her is that in one word, she is pure. She is all very giving and all heart, which is also a problem as then you need to take care of your heart. She lights up a room as soon as she walks in.