Posts

Akshay Kumar recalls catching Saif Ali Khan outside Kareena Kapoor’s room during Tashan shoot; quips “he had come to wake her up to go for a jog”

Akshay Kumar recalled a funny incident involving Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor from the sets of Tashan when the two actors appeared on Kaun Banega Crorepati 18 to promote their upcoming film Haiwaan. The anecdote came up while host Amitabh Bachchan asked Saif about the beginning of his relationship with Kareena. During their conversation, Bachchan asked Saif whether his romance with Kareena began while they were shooting for Tashan in 2008. He asked, “The love story between you and your wife, Kareena ji, started during the movie Tashan. Is this true?” Saif confirmed it, replying, “Yes, sir.” Bachchan then turned to Akshay, who was also part of Tashan, and asked whether he had witnessed some of the early moments of Saif and Kareena’s relationship. Akshay Kumar recalls Saif Ali Khan’s ‘jog’ excuse Akshay recalled that he would wake up around 4:30 am while shooting for the film, with Kareena’s room located right next to his. He remembered one particular morning when he saw Saif steppi...
Post a Comment
Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Gurdeep Mehndi says Daler Mehndi delivered a “surprisingly, shockingly, magical performance” in Welcome To The Jungle; expresses desire to have a concert with his father, uncle Mika Singh: “Until now, only the Ambanis have managed to pull it off”

Gurdeep Mehndi is slowly and steadily making his mark as a singer and composer. Recently, he released his latest single as a singer, ‘Chan Mahi’. He also features in the music video alongside Aditi Sharma, and its unique, cinematic visuals have been widely appreciated. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Gurdeep opened up about his father, Daler Mehndi, and uncle, Mika Singh. Recently, Daler Mehndi was seen as an actor in Welcome To The Jungle, fronted by Akshay Kumar. In the past, Daler appeared solely as a musical performer or in special promotional appearances. Hence, Welcome To The Jungle marked his acting debut, where he played a character, though it was an exaggerated, meta-version of himself. On this, Gurdeep Mehndi said, “It was a surprisingly, shockingly, magical performance! He has received several offers to act in films in the past, but he refused them all because he was fully devoted to music. Ahmed Khan, who directed Welcome To The Jungle, is a very good fri...
Post a Comment
Read more

R Madhavan auditioned for Shah Rukh Khan’s role in Swades, reveals co-writer Amin Hajee: “He absolutely killed it. He is a great actor”

Shah Rukh Khan’s portrayal of Mohan Bhargava in Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades remains one of the most remembered performances of his career. However, the actor was not the only name considered for the lead role. According to actor and writer Amin Hajee, who was part of the writing team of the 2004 film, R Madhavan had also auditioned for the role, while Hrithik Roshan was among the actors who were narrated the script. Speaking to Siddharth Kannan, Hajee recalled Madhavan’s audition and praised the actor’s performance. Amin said, "We narrated the script to Hrithik Roshan as well. Madhavan also auditioned, and what an audition it was. He absolutely killed it. He is a great actor." Hajee further revealed that Aamir Khan was initially planned to headline Swades. According to him, the film was intended as the next collaboration with Aamir after Lagaan. “At that time, Aamir was supposed to play the role that Shah Rukh Khan eventually played. It was always Aamir from the start. After...
Post a Comment
Read more

Monkey Man choreographer Brahim Chab shares BTS videos with Taapsee Pannu from Gandhari; watch

Taapsee Pannu is set to be seen in another physically demanding role with Gandhari, which features several intense action sequences. Adding an international connection to the film’s action is Brahim Chab, who worked as the fight choreographer on Monkey Man. Chab has been involved in designing and choreographing Taapsee’s combat sequences for Gandhari. Known for its raw and intense fight sequences, Monkey Man featured hard-hitting hand-to-hand combat. Chab’s involvement in Gandhari brings a similar focus on detailed action choreography to Taapsee’s character. Recently, Chab shared behind-the-scenes videos from his action choreography sessions with Taapsee, offering a glimpse into the preparation that went into the film’s combat sequences. The footage shows Taapsee training and performing parts of the physically demanding choreography, highlighting the effort involved in bringing the action to screen.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Brahim Fight Design (@brah...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Making of Operation Safed Sagar: How director Oni Sen turned a war epic into an intimate human story

When Oni Sen was first approached to direct Operation Safed Sagar, Netflix India’s highly acclaimed military action series, he was initially skeptical about taking on the job, precisely because of its enormous scale. The show had all the ingredients of a sprawling war drama, fighter jets, aerial combat, military operations and the India-Pakistan conflict. However, what ultimately drew him in was not the scale but the human story underneath the combat. “Spectacle alone has never been enough to move me. Throughout my career across advertising films and long-format storytelling, I have always tried to focus on the raw, intricate spectrum of human emotion. Stories are only as powerful as the feelings they evoke,” says Sen in an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama. Coming off the back of two seasons of Asur, Sen needed a project that would demand something entirely different from him a completely new canvas to explore. Although he was initially skeptical, everything shifted when cre...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bhumi Pednekar raises voice against rising cases of rape and gender-based violence: “It is becoming an accepted reality in our society”

Bhumi Pednekar has consistently spoken out on issues concerning society and the safety and dignity of women and children. Amid reports of rape and gender-based violence, the actor expressed concern over what she described as a growing sense of “impunity”, saying that such incidents were becoming “an accepted reality in the society.” “WE HAVE A PROBLEM,” Bhumi said. “Rape and gender-based violence are becoming an accepted reality in our society. And that should terrify all of us. HOW IS THIS NOT A STATE OF EMERGENCY? A 16-year-old gang-raped. A 3-year-old sexually assaulted. And how many more cases remain unreported, unheard and unseen? How much is it going to take for us to call this an emergency? There is a deep-rooted patriarchal sickness in our society that we need to confront,” she added. The actor also stressed that discussions around sexual violence should not focus on a woman’s clothing, appearance, location or the time of day. “We see young boys making lewd gestures openly in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Batwara 1947 writer Asghar Wajahat on why Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya, O Jamya E Nai took 37 years to reach the screen; “Funding was a little difficult”

Some stories take years to reach the screen. Asghar Wajahat’s Jis Lahore Nai Vekhya, O Jamya E Nai took nearly four decades. Written in 1989, the acclaimed play has now been adapted into Rajkumar Santoshi’s Batwara 1947, with Sunny Deol in the lead and Shabana Azmi playing the elderly Hindu woman who refuses to leave her Lahore home. The long wait, however, had less to do with the story and more to do with the sheer scale of Santoshi’s cinematic vision. Speaking about why the screen adaptation took so long to materialise, Wajahat reveals that Santoshi was never interested in making a straightforward, modest adaptation of the play. The filmmaker wanted to recreate the world of Partition with a strong sense of realism. However, that ambition demanded substantial financial backing, which the project did not easily attract. “Santoshi wanted to make a film according to his own concept,” says the 80-year-old scholar, novelist and playwright to Bollywood Hungama. “His concept was that he rea...
Post a Comment
Read more