'I'll sing my own songs'
Nidhi Subbaiah is really on a high right now. It's not every Southern actress who manages to snag a role in a Bollywood film, but she's soon going to be seen opposite Jackky Bhagnani in Ajab Gazabb Love — a movie which also stars well-known names like Arjun Rampal, Kirron Kher and Darshan Jariwala.
And now, it seems that one of the actress's secret talents has been revealed on the sets of the film.
Apparently, while shooting for the movie, Nidhi started singing a song from the film. Music composers Sajid-Wajid heard her sing by chance and were amazed at the quality of her voice. Nidhi, who sings as a hobby, was totally surprised by this reaction and went on to become everyone's jukebox on the sets. She says, "I was everyone's remedy for a tired day. At least once a day, people from different departments on the sets would come up to me and say, 'Hey Nidhi, sing this song na' or 'Nidhi, this is my favourite one, please sing na' and they'd record me!"
So would the actress consider taking up singing on a professional level? "After everyone's convincing, I'm planning to take training in singing sometime in the future. Hopefully, someday I'll sing my own songs," shares Nidhi.
Maharaja Features
'Ash is an icon'
Kareena Kapoor's last film, 'Heroine', might not have done so well — either with the critics or at the box office.
However, the actress isn't letting this get her down. Given that former beauty queen Aishwarya Rai was the first choice for the role — although she unfortunately dropped out of the project after getting pregnant last year — Kareena has been facing a barrage of questions about whether Aishwarya would have done a better job with the role.
However, the actress feels that comparisons between the two aren't really fair. "Ash is an icon," she says, adding, "She is a beauty. She would have done the film differently. And I have approached the role very differently. I don't think I can make any comparisons."
Anurag's special touch
Anurag Kashyap's Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana will experience a bit of his style of direction since he shot a special video for the film recently.
The director took time out from his busy schedule to work on the video of a song titled Motorwale.
Anurag has been busy with scripting and pre-production work of Ugli, which features Ronit Roy and Tejaswini Kolhapure among others.
When the idea of shooting this video came up, director Sameer Sharma asked Anurag to help them out.
Anurag conceptualised the video and helped with its direction. "The song is picturised on actors Huma Qureshi and Kunal Kapoor and the music is composed by Dev D composer Amit Trivedi. It's a fun song with a lot of attitude. We shot it at a day-long shoot at Film City".
Confirming the news, Manish Hariprasad, creative director, Studios, Disney UTV, says, "Anurag is currently busy with his other releases and also the pre-production of Ugli. It was nice of him to take time out and help with the video of Motorwale."The film releases on November 2 and is jointly produced by Anurag and UTV Spotboy.
In honour of a legend
Recently, a group of remarkable singers came together to celebrate the musical legacy of ghazal maestro Padma Bhushan Jagjit Singh. On the occasion of his first death anniversary, Chitra Singh curated an intimate tribute concert.
Soulful performances by Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Anup Jalota, Shankar Mahadevan and Sonu Nigam made it an evening to remember.
Established actor and national-award winner Farooq Sheikh hosted the evening, which also witnessed the launch of unheard , unreleased, original compositions by the maestro called 'The Master and His Magic'. The event was attended by Kavitha Seth, Leslie Lewis, Siddharth Haldipur, Sangeet Haldipur.
Chitra Singh expresses, "'The Master and His Magic' is a tribute to Jagjit ji and a gift to millions of his fans. I am sure that through these unreleased original compositions, his legacy will live on and his fans will relive his music. This album celebrates the history created by the legend."
Adding to that, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma says, "I have heard many voices but nothing like Jagjit Singh and today we have gathered here to celebrate his music. He physically may not be with us but his music will always be alive."
A glimpse of the 'sangeet'
Saif Ali Khan's daughter Sara looked gorgeous wearing an Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla ensemble for the much-awaited sangeet ceremony of Saif and Kareena.
Sara, who recently made her ramp debut for the designers' 25-year celebration party at the Ambani house, looked resplendent in a mirror-work chamak ghagra. In pastel shades of light green and light pink, the young debutante has been wearing the duo's designs since she was very young and feels most comfortable in them.
Sunny's little prank
The Deols seem to be having a ball at the Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 shoot at the UK.
While the director Sangeeth Sivan, who recently turned a year older, has already attuned himself to the Punjabi culture, the rest of the cast and crew is having a blast over there as well.
Needless to say, Sunny Deol too wants to have his share of excitement. The actor was recently spotted on the sets of the film driving around in a beautiful, bright yellow Lamborghini.
Sunny dutifully completed the shot which required him to take the car out for a spin.
However, once the shot was canned, Sunny was up to his antics.
The actor was trying to break one of the scissor doors of this swanky car, much to the amusement of the crew.
Given that the actor is so passionate about cars, it was obvious that this was just a little joke.
Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 stars Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol along with Neha Sharma, Kristina Akheeva, Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Johnny Lever and Sucheta Khanna.