My mother is my hero - Sonali Bendre

NEW DELHI:  Bollywood actor Sonali Bendre, though retired from the silver screen, is keeping herself busy raising her seven-and-a-half-year-old, while simultaneously judging reality shows like Indian Idol and India’s Got Talent. Bendre stole our hearts when she played Preeti in 1999 blockbuster Hum Saath Saath Hain and as a supporting actor in Shahrukh Khan starrer Kal Ho Na Ho in 2003.

When asked about how she does it all, Bendre says she takes inspiration from her mother. The actor calls her mom her idol for raising three daughters with very limited resources and giving them wings despite not being well-educated. She admits this kind of heroism is not that uncommon in the country.
“My mother has done a great job with her kids,” the 38-year-old actor said in an interview.
“The daily struggle of raising three daughters with a very limited income, yet seeing to it that they get a good upbringing; that person is my hero,” Bendre added.
Hailing from a middle-class family, Bendre entered filmdom through ads and later rose on the firmament with her work in Sarfarosh, Zakhm, and Duplicate.
After playing a successful innings, she tied the knot with film-maker Goldie Behl and settled down. Mother of a seven-and-a-half-year-old son, she has immense respect for women who balance their family and work.
“I had the luxury of making a choice [whether to work or not]. All women don’t have this luxury and I really don’t know how they do it [manage]. If I had to do everything on my own, I would have fallen apart,” she confessed.
“I have an immense amount of respect for women who leave their kids and go to work, because they have to. They don’t have a choice. I couldn’t have done that,” she added.
After becoming a mother, Bendre cut down on her work as her priority was to be a hands-on mother. On and off, she appears on the small screen as a judge of reality shows.
“From what I know and what I have read, the first seven years of a child’s life are very important; be it for their emotional quotient, body type, IQ or habits,” she said. “So for me, it was very clear that the first seven years of my son’s life should be good.”
Bendre is all set to come back on the silver screen this fall with Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Again with Akshay Kumar, Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha.

Source: Tribune

Working with Bollywood is High Quality - Shiraz Uppal

LAHORE:  It is no surprise that an increasing number of talented Pakistani singers are now making their way to Bollywood. From Adnan Sami Khan and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to Ali Zafar and Atif Aslam, it seems like  the Indian film industry is giving these singers their due credit.

Such is the case with our pop singer, Shiraz Uppal, as well. After a short hiatus last year, Uppal has now made a powerful comeback with an upcoming B-town film. He lent his voice to the title track of Anand L Rai’s upcoming movie, Raanjhanaa; the music of which has been composed by the famous AR Rahman.

Due to release on June 21, the film stars Dhanush of Kolaveri Di fame and Sonam Kapoor.

Raanjhanaa – the song
“I am very excited about the track. It’s always fun to do a song with AR Rahman,” says Uppal, who was contacted by Rahman for the title track. “I love his arrangement and composition.” For Rahman, this soundtrack silences those who were lamenting the monotony of Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Ek Deewana Tha.

Uppal shares that Rahman has always inspired him and the two have teamed up on various occasions. More recently, at the One World Peace concert held in New York, the two shared the stage with other leading artists such as Dave Mathews, Natasha Bedingfield, Philip Philips, Cyndi Lauper and others. Uppal has previously also sung soundtracks composed by Rahman for Bollywood film Nayak and Tamil movie Boys.

Uppal says that the main track, which has energetic lyrics by Irshad Kamil, is melodious with a classical touch, but is also upbeat and fresh. “He [Kamil] is one of my favourite lyricists; I really like his poetry,” says Uppal. “The song has a classical tune. Singing it was a lot of fun since I haven’t done a song which is classical and fast at the same time.”

 

 

Work in Bollywood, Uppal says that his focus will be on films and he is planning a visit to India in the coming weeks to promote the soundtrack. He feels that collaboration between Pakistan and India is a positive approach. “I think the work being done in India is of very high quality,” says Uppal. “Seeing Pakistani artists there means a lot, since it’s a big platform.”

His own focus has always been biased towards making music for films, despite the fact that he has done four pop albums, as well. “I have always wanted to make music for films,” shares Uppal. “I like to see my songs being played on the big screen.”

Uppal explains that Bollywood has shifted from traditional sounding music and has now become more experimental. He also says that experiments with music occurred in every era, but not all types of music succeed.

“The real test is whether the public accepts this type of music,” says Uppal. “The one which is accepted becomes a trend.”
“Pakistani pop music has been popular for many years,” explains Uppal, adding that music trends are changing in films. “If you look at the music being produced in Indian or Pakistani films, it’s more towards pop.”

Uppal feels that Pakistani music has always been of great standards. He also believes that the latest trend in music for Pakistani films is very beneficial for the country’s music industry. He produced the track Hona Tha Pyar for the original soundtrack of Bol and would like to do more projects like that.
“I would love to do it if someone is interested,” says Uppal. “But I don’t go out searching for work; I only work on merit.”

Source: The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2013.

 

Natwarlal family wants a special screening for Special Chabbis!

A few days back it was reported that Akshay Kumar’s character in upcoming heist drama Special Chabbis is based on that of notorious conman Natwarlal, who was known for his unique aliases and disguises.

The makers have also officially announced that Special Chabbis is based on the real-life daring heist dated 19-Mar-1987, where an unknown man posing as CBI officer Mon Singh recruited 26 men and executed a daylight raid on the Opera House branch of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri in Mumbai and disappeared with jewellery worth lakhs.

Now buzz doing around says, the family members of Natwarlal have approached the makers of the film and asked them to conduct a special screening of the film for them before the release as they want to see if there is any truth to the speculations that Akshay’s role is inspired by Natwarlal. A source adds, "They were completely surprised to read about the film in the news.”

"Akshay will be seen using a lot of aliases in the film. His character is the master of disguises and uses novel ideas to dupe people. And like Natwarlal, he too cheats industrialists and rich people," adding source said, "If you make a film on a conman in India, you're bound to be inspired by Natwarlal."

The film which is a direction of Neeraj Panday, stars Kajal Aggarwal, Jimmy Shergill, Manoj Bajpai, Anupam Kher apart from Akshay and will release on February 8, 2013.

Source: NDTV

Veena Malik Switched to reading Bhagavad Gita for Peace

Religion indeed plays a vital role in everybody’s life. It depends how people relate to it. Bollywood actress Veena Malik has started her New Year seeking solace in God.

Recently she was seen reading Bhagavad Gita on her set.  While being a Muslim she has no boundary or limit for any religion belief. Veena was shattered with the heinous Delhi Gang rape and was seen seeking a truthful path of Bhagavad Gita to get a justice for innocent girl. She is currently preparing for her upcoming movie The City That Never Sleep, which is produced by Satish Reddy and directed by Haroon Rashid.

Veena said, “While reading Bhagavad Gita it makes you feel relax and subtle. It shows you the spiritual path which seemed very difficult for human beings but fixed your goal in life. I feel like there should be no boundaries in believing or having faith on other religion. I read Quran daily offers Namaz because I have a faith on him and after reading Bhadavad Gita I can say that there is no difference in any religion they all shows the right path”.

Reading Bhagavad Gita is not an easy job as it was in Sanskrit but this didn’t stop Veena from reading it. “Religion is a collection of belief systems, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature”, she added.

Well, we appreciate your thoughts!

Source: ScribesINC