Female-centric roles for Chitrangada
Chitrangada Singh has always been known for portraying off-beat, interesting characters on the big screen. And now, the actress admits that one role she would simply love to enact would be the one that Rekha played in Umrao Jaan, Muzaffar Ali's 1981 directorial venture.
"Every time I am asked this (a female-centric role that I'd like to play), I always say Rekha ji in Umrao Jaan. I think she played a woman of her time. Nautch girls were the feminists of that time, I think they were the strongest women who went forward trying to compete with men in a lot of other things," the 36-year-old says candidly.
"If I get a chance to play that, I would love to," she adds.
Chitrangada says it is one of the best female characters she has ever seen on screen. "If I ever get to sit down with her and get her to talk to me about the film, it would be amazing. That is one of the best female characters that I have seen," the actress states.
After the item song Kaafirana in 'Joker', Chitrangada is currently busy shooting for I, Me aur Main opposite John Abraham and has wrapped up Sudhir Mishra's Inkaar opposite Arjun Rampal.
Genuine touch to the character
Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi, who will be seen portraying the role of a crime reporter in his next film 'Rush', says that he has tried to keep his character real in the movie. Directed by the late Shamin Desai, 'Rush' is a crime thriller which also features Aditya Pancholi, Neha Dhupia and Sagarika Ghatge. It releases on October 24.
"We have tried to make the character as real and genuine as possible, but have added a commercial touch to the story as well. We have shown an authentic world about TRPs and breaking news and have added suspense around it to make it more interesting," Emraan explains.
The 33-year-old clarifies that his character is not based on any real-life crime reporter and is entirely a work of fiction. "There are a lot of journalists and news anchors who come to mind when you read the script. But it (character) is a combination of many and it is completely fictitious," he elaborates.
Emraan adds that he has developed respect for journalists after working in the film, for which he did a lot of research. "I have now found respect for journalists. They have to abide by deadlines and have a moral and ethical code to follow. It is a very courageous job," he smiles.
Sonakshi's secret skills
Sonakshi is all set to light up the silver screen this Deepavali with her forthcoming film Son of Sardaar. And apparently, the actress has a hidden talent which no one knows about — the street skill of whistling.
Although not many people knew about this, her expertise in whistling was showcased on the sets of the movie recently. Rumour has it that while taking a break in the middle of shooting, she kept the cast of 'SOS' thoroughly entertained with her rowdy whistles.
Everyone was amazed and loved it so much that on the spot, the team decided to incorporate her whistles in one of the songs sequences that was being filmed.
A source close to the team says, "Sonakshi, while taking a break, completely took us by surprise with her bindaas whistling skills. When we heard her doing this, the entire team immediately decided that we had to put her whistling scene in the song Rani Tu Main Raja since it's a dream sequence and was a perfect fit with the fun-loving character she plays."
'I love working with newcomers'
Veteran actor Anupam Kher will soon be seen on the silver screen once again — this time, he is teaming up with his son Sikander for Chandan Arora's new film and says he is kicked about working with him. "It is a brilliant script that we are working on. But unfortunately, there is only this much I can reveal about the film as of now," Anupam says.
Sikander made his Bollywood debut with 'Woodstock Villa' in 2008. He went on to do films like 'Summer 2007', Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey and 'Players' but unfortunately, none could rock the box office. Ask Anupam whether he is excited to work with Sikander and he says, "Yes, absolutely! I am looking forward to working with him. I love the idea of working with young people and newcomers. In fact, in the last five years, most of my work has been with young and fresh people. I'm sure this film will be great too."
In the meantime, he is kicked about the Asian premiere of his international film 'Silver Linings Playbook', which will open the forthcoming Mumbai Film Festival, starting on October 18.
The critically-acclaimed Hollywood comedy-drama boasts of a well-known cast — Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro. It has received its fair share of acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival. On behalf of the team, Anupam will present the movie at the film gala in Mumbai.
Party for the crew!
A mass of people were required for a celebratory sequence for the movie Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 in the UK — however, the number of extras that had traveled from India were not enough for this particular scene.
The producers were in a dilemma, as it was very difficult to arrange a few hundred extras in just two days.
It was then that actor Sunny Deol came up with an idea of inviting the local fan base to be a part of this grand sequence.
From that very moment, he went all out to invite the natives through 'The Deols' Facebook page, radio interactions, tabloid invitations and various social media.
To everyone's shock, more than 500 fans of varied ethnicities turned up all suited and booted in their best finery from all over the country.
The celebratory sequence thus turned out to be even more festive than expected and was a huge success.
Overwhelmed by the response of the participants, the Deols obliged by gifting a personally autographed Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 goody bag to all those present.