Barun Sobti: Divide between TV and film industry needs to vanish

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Barun Sobti: Divide between TV and film industry needs to vanish

Actor Barun Sobti, who recently wowed the audience with his acting skills in the thriller web series, “Asur: Welcome To Your Dark Side”, says a lot changed after the success of the show.

In an interview with IANS, Barun opened up on how people changed their perception towards him and spoke about the need to raze the divide between television and the film industry.

“A lot has been changed after ‘Asur’. Firstly, more work has started coming my way. People now recognise me as a different actor. Generally, many have this notion that ‘TV se hai, pataa nahi kar paayega yeh role ya nahi (he is from TV, who knows if he can carry off the role)’. With ‘Asur’, I feel I have been able to tweak their mentality a bit,” he said.

Barun, who rose to fame with his role in the TV show “Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?”, also emphasized on how talented people work in the small screen industry.

“I don’t know why we differentiate between TV actors and film actors. We are all the same. TV is no different. In fact, many geniuses and mature actors come from television. This divide needs to vanish. ‘Asur’ did it for me,” he said.

The actor is now gearing up for the release of his digital film, “Halahal”. It is a crime story inspired by true events, about a father in search of the truth behind his daughter’s death.

Barun plays a cop in the crime drama.

Asked how he prepared for the role, he explained: “I never watch anything to get trained. If someone suggests, ‘yeh movie dekh isme isne kitna achha cop ka role kiya hai (watch this film, he has played the cop’s role so well)’, then I make sure I don’t entertain that. I always try to be myself on the set.”

“I read the script thoroughly, understand the director’s vision, and then try to bring in my own thing with my own understanding,” he explained.

“Halahal” will stream on Eros Now from September 21.

Manushi Chhillar: Don’t think your size defines your fitness

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Manushi Chhillar: Don’t think your size defines your fitness

Beauty queen-turned-actress Manushi Chhillar says fitness for her is all about finding a balance, and that is actually a personal experience because each individual has their fitness goals.

“For me, fitness is all about finding your balance. It’s an extremely personal and individualistic experience because each individual has their own fitness goal. I love my cheesecake and I also like to train like a machine, so that I can enjoy it,” Manushi said.

“I think I have always wanted to push myself because I do believe we all have a lot of room for growth and become the best version of ourselves,” she added.

Manushi says society should not hail skinny as a sign of being fit, because the idea sets unreal fitness goals.

“Perfection is also individualistic and I don’t think your size defines your fitness. Each one of us wants to see ourselves in a certain way, has a certain body type, and wants to feel great about it. That’s what’s important,” she observed.

She said that fitness is as much internal as it is about external beauty, adding: “I’m glad that I have realized what works for me and what doesn’t.”

Manushi credits her career choices for her knowledge of fitness and nutrition.

“My journey of winning Miss World and now preparing to be an actress has taught me a lot about maintaining fitness. I understand my body better now and lifestyle plays a huge part in keeping me healthy. Yes, I’m not obsessive but careful about what I intake and how I train. I love learning more about being fit,” she said.

Talking about her daily fitness routine, Manushi said: “For me, my fitness regime is all about mixing it up. I love being outdoors in the morning to focus myself for the day ahead, I love weight training, I love stretching. I think anything repetitive would throw me off. I like to mix it all up but also keep it regular because that’s when it shows results.”

Manushi is all set to make her Bollywood debut opposite Akshay Kumar in the upcoming film “Prithviraj”.

Directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, “Prithviraj” is based on the life of King Prithviraj Chauhan.

It stars Akshay as Prithviraj, while Manushi plays Sanyogita, the love of his life.

Vidyut Jammwal: People should talk of kalaripayattu, the Indian martial art

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Vidyut Jammwal: People should talk of kalaripayattu, the Indian martial art

Bollywood action star Vidyut Jammwal says his vision is to popularise the indigenous martial art kalaripayattu through Indian cinema.

Vidyut is a trained martial artiste and has learnt kalaripayattu since the age of three.

“I don’t have a vision yet about how it should be presented, but my vision for Indian cinema is that people should talk about kalaripayattu, the martial art. It is an original Indian martial art,” Vidyut told IANS.

“When I go and pursue an award from Jackie Chan, and when they talk of kalaripayattu, the Indian martial art, I feel proud. My vision for Indian action cinema worldwide is that we need to present this,” he said about popularising kalaripayattu on screen.

Vidyut, who rose to fame with the “Commando” franchise of films, notes many things that are popular globally today actually originated in India.

“When I lie down on spears, they say, ‘Shaolin monks bhi karte hain (Shaolin monks also do this)’. Shaolin monks isliye karte hain (Shaolin Monks do it) because they learned it from an Indian guy called Bodhidharma. I just want everybody to be aware. People should know that martial arts is an Indian skill, and that’s my vision,” he said.

The actor was recently seen in the digitally released film, “Khuda Haafiz”. He will next be seen in the film’s second chapter.

Shweta Tripathi: No one is forcefully putting drugs in our mouths!

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Shweta Tripathi: No one is forcefully putting drugs in our mouths!

Actress Shweta Tripathi says the claim by Kangana Ranaut that 99 percent of Bollywood is on drugs is an incorrect generalization, adding that such an assertion is a half-truth.

The “Masaan” fame actress, who impressed in recent digital releases such as “Cargo” and “The Gone Game”, also said that Kangana’s allusion that actresses had to sleep around to get work and that outsiders make space in the “big bad world of cinema” only after compromising, would make for an interesting script, but that’s not how Bollywood functioned.

“I think narratives doing the rounds that half of the people of the film industry are drug addicts, that female actresses are sleeping around to get work, and outsiders can make their space in the ‘big bad world of cinema’ only after compromising make for great and interesting scripts. No, that is not how we work here in Bollywood,” Shweta told IANS.

“Trust me when I say this, no one is forcefully putting drugs in our mouths! If a youngster wants to get into drugs, they will do it anyway — whether in Mumbai or in any small town of the country. It has nothing to do with the city of Mumbai. I want to tell all parents it is important to keep a check on the upbringing of their children, with the moral compass in the right direction, as well as their mental health,” she added.

“I think when we pack our bags and come to Mumbai, our parents should ask if we are fine instead of telling to give up on the initial struggle that we all go through. If we are constantly asked about how much money we earn and are told that our struggle is nothing but a waste of time, it really creates a different kind of mental pressure on any budding talent. It is not about consuming drugs. It is about the issues they face, which in turn lead them into the world of darkness and addiction, and mental health issues. I think that should be addressed, instead of defaming an industry,” the actress pointed out.

Over the past few weeks, several female personalities in the film industry have raised their voice against the negativity being spread around Bollywood. These include actresses Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini, Vidya Balan, Urmila Matondkar, Taapsee Pannu, and singer Sona Mohapatra.

Kangana ‘will quit twitter’ if anyone can prove she starts fights

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Kangana ‘will quit twitter’ if anyone can prove she starts fights

Amid a backlash against her abrasive comments on Urmila Matondkar, Jaya Bachchan, and Bollywood in general, actress Kangana Ranaut has claimed that she has a record of never starting a fight, and is ready to quit Twitter if anyone can prove otherwise.

“I may come across as a very ‘ladaku’ person but it’s not true, I have a record of never starting a fight, I will quit twitter if anyone can prove otherwise, I never start a fight but I finish every fight. Lord Krishna said when someone asks (ask) you to fight you mustn’t deny them,” Kangana tweeted on Friday.

Her statement came shortly after she engaged in a tweet spat with filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, which followed when the filmmaker took a jibe at Kangana and said that she is a warrior who would keep fighting for herself and the country.

Lately, Kangana has been involved in Twitter spat with several people. She has been hitting the headlines for her ongoing tussle with the Shiv Sena and for her claim that 99 percent of Bollywood is addicted to drugs.

SSR case: CBI’s SIT apprises top officials of developments

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SSR case: CBI’s SIT apprises top officials of developments

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the nation’s premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Friday met senior officials and apprised them of the findings into the mysterious death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

The team, which returned from Mumbai almost a month after recording the statements of several people and recreating the crime scene met the senior officials of the agency and briefed them about their investigation.

According to agency sources, CBI Superintendent of Police (SP) Nupur Prasad and Deputy SP Anil Yadav met the senior officials at the agency headquarters and apprised them about the development in the case so far.

The CBI had registered a case on August 6 on the orders of the Central government following the recommendation from the Bihar government on the complaint of Sushant’s father K. K. Singh.

The CBI team before going to Mumbai recorded the statement of Sushant’s elder sister Rani Singh and father.

A team of the CBI’s SIT led by Prasad had gone to Mumbai along with the members of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) on August 20, a day after the Supreme Court gave its nod for a federal agency probe into the death of Sushant.

The CBI team was exempted from the mandatory quarantine of 14 days by the BMC. The CBI team stayed at the DRDO guest house, which also acted as its makeshift office. The team collected the documents relating to the investigation by the Mumbai Police and the statements it recorded in the matter.

The CBI team also visited the flat of Sushant, where he was found dead on June 14 along with the CFSL team and recreated the crime scene. The CBI team also met the doctors of the Cooper Hospital, who performed the post-mortem of Sushant and collected the reports. The team had also visited the Waterstone resort, where Sushant stayed for a few months.

During its stay in Mumbai, the CBI team was also joined by the team of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which also visited the Mont Blanc Apartment where Sushant was found dead. The entire crime scene was recreated in the presence of the late actor’s sister Mitu Singh and flatmate Siddharth Pithani, personal staff Neeraj Singh, Keshav Bachne and Dipesh Sawant.

The AIIMS forensic team will be sharing its findings with the CBI team on September 20. The CBI team during its stay in Mumbai also recorded the statement of Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, father Indrajit, Sushant’s house manager Samuel Miranda, Pithani, former manager Shruti Modi, talent manager Jaya Saha and several others.

To know the real cause of the death of Sushant, the CBI team has questioned Rhea, Showik, Pithani and his personal staff multiple times to know what happened between June 8 to 14. Besides the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) are also probing the money laundering angle and the drug angle in the case. The NCB has arrested Rhea, Showik, Miranda, Sawant and several others in connection with the case.

Sona Mohapatra on Kangana’s recent attacks: ‘Worst act of opportunism’

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Sona Mohapatra on Kangana’s recent attacks: ‘Worst act of opportunism’

Singer Sona Mohapatra has slammed actress Kangana Ranaut, saying that playing the messiah by using a tragic death is the worst act of opportunism.

The singer took to Twitter to share her viewpoint on Kangana, who has been in the news over the past weeks for her controversial comments about Bollywood’s alleged drug culture as well as her abrasive attacks on celebrities including Jaya Bachchan and Urmila Matondkar who countered her opinion. Kangana also hit the headlines earlier with her statements related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

“The number of misogynistic slurs spilling from her mouth now makes me wonder about the ‘feminist scholars’ who had hated on me in 2017 when I’d called out Kangana. My choice of words I’m not too proud of but nevertheless had smelt the problem a mile away,” Sona tweeted while sharing a link to an article from 2017 which called out Sona for attacking Kangana.

“Calling others Gold digger, mafia bimbo, Sasti copy, Soft porn star?!? Playing the messiah of the masses by using a tragic death is the worst act of opportunism. Doesn’t make you the pillar of virtue, justice, or the flagbearer of “Hindu Cultural values”. Highlights the worst side,” she added.

Over the last two days, Kangana has received a lot of flak from netizens and celebrities for calling Urmila a “soft porn star”, and disrespecting veteran actress Jaya Bachchan.

Anoushka Shankar: Important to call out inappropriate behaviour

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Anoushka Shankar: Important to call out inappropriate behaviour

Grammy-nominated sitarist, composer, and producer Anoushka Shankar feels it is important to call out inappropriate behavior and says there is a need to amplify the voices of women at all levels of the music industry.

Recently, Anoushka used social media to call out abusive and sexually inappropriate comments that she received during a live session.

“In this instance, I suppose I dealt with it by calling it out and refusing to accept it. I think it’s important for us to consistently call out inappropriate behavior, especially when that behavior has been normalized, as it takes so much active work to change the status quo,” Anoushka told IANS, recalling the incident.

Anoushka feels there are a lot of things that fuel hatred that women, and not just female artistes, receive in the virtual world.

“Sexism? Inequality? Misogyny? The question is not about female artistes but about women and inequality overall,” she said when asked about the reasons why women are subjected to online hate and abuse.

Talking about how one can work towards eliminating normalized misogyny in the music industry, the mother of two said: “We need to support and amplify the voices of women at all levels of the music industry. Not just singers, but composers, producers, engineers, record label executives. Corporations have a responsibility to ensure equality and representation at all levels.”

The daughter of the late sitar legend Ravi Shankar is known for channeling inner thoughts and her emotions through her music. “Traces Of You” was about intense joy, pain, and sadness. Her album “Land Of Gold”, released in April 2016, was written in response to the refugee crisis. Her latest album “Love Letters” is a compilation of songs written across 2018 and 2019. It documents a time of profound flux for the artiste: health issues, heartbreak, and domestic upheaval.

Now, she has come out with “Those words”, which features British composer, singer and cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson, and Indian singer Shilpa Rao.

“Musically, the song started with Ayanna and myself, with me writing my sitar line to complement her beautiful cello progressions. As the EP Love Letters evolved into a collection of songs with lyrics, I suggested we also add lyrics to ‘Those words’ and thought of Shilpa, whose voice is beautiful. As far as the influence emotionally, the song came from a desire to express longing, nostalgia, and regret,” she explained.

The video was shot amid lockdown, and Anoushka says “the song itself is so simple and natural, so I wanted the video to have the same simplicity, and that certainly made it easier for us to each shoot from our homes”.

Ranveer Singh’s efforts to make Indian Sign Language an official language is on

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Ranveer Singh’s efforts to make Indian Sign Language an official language is on

India’s deaf community has lauded the efforts of actor Ranveer Singh to make Indian Sign Language an official language.

Ranveer has been urging authorities to consider and declare Indian Sign Language (ISL) as the 23rd official language of India. He recently signed a petition aimed at furthering awareness of the cause.

His independent record label, IncInk, which he has formed with Navzar Eranee, also released sign language music videos. Twenty-five members from the deaf community in India appreciated him by putting out a thank-you video for him.

“We were very happy to hear the good news about Ranveer Singh, who is a famous Bollywood actor, to support ISL to be recognized as the 23rd official language of India. We are so glad that he supports this,” the members stated.

“Indian sign language is a beautiful language. We want to thank Ranveer for showing support to the deaf community,” they added.

An overwhelmed Ranveer said that his independent music label was created to encourage inclusivity.

Ranveer said: “IncInk was created as a platform to encourage inclusivity through art and we are deeply committed to making Indian Sign Language (ISL) become the 23rd official language of India.”

He added: “This progressive step will create a ripple effect in providing equal access across all areas, from education to employment to entertainment to more than 10 million deaf people in India.”

Amartya Bobo Rahut on advantages of creating music amid pandemic

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Amartya Bobo Rahut on advantages of creating music amid pandemic

New-age Bollywood composer Amartya Bobo Rahut has opened up on the pros and cons of making songs amid lockdown.

“I have been working with numerous directors and have primarily tried to imbibe their ideas and vision to my music. Pandemic has allowed me the time to work on my vision. It has helped me channelize my vision and helped me create a lot of content,” Amartya told IANS.

The 43-year-old composer has scored songs in films such as “Tumhari Sulu”, “Drive”, “Jai Mummy Di” and “Aurangzeb”, and has now come up with a new song, “Shaam simti”, which was shot in Goa after lockdown.

” ‘Shaam Simti’ is an expression of longing for a person who has long gone, but whose absence becomes more painful through every passing moment. I composed this song for my wife who I love very dearly, and one day when we were having a drink and chatting, we discussed how either of us would feel once one of us goes away with age, since we don’t have children. This song came from that feeling. So it’s completely honest and dedicated to her,” he said.

This in turn also dictated the song’s creative process. “That’s the reason I kept the arrangement of the music as simple as possible. The song has a single piano as accompaniment and nothing else. As for the video, a friend of mine who lives in Goa was nice enough to shoot during lockdown along with his wife,” he said.

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