'I would like to sing for films'
VJ-turned-singer Sophie Choudhary is disheartened by the fact that non-filmy songs are losing prominence these days and that pop artistes are turning to playback singing.
"I was more of a pop artiste and as one — especially when you are born and brought up abroad — you are used to singing for yourself, seeing yourself in the video and expressing yourself through the music. Playback singers get a lot of popularity and prominence," Sophie says.
The 31-year-old feels that when it comes to playback singing, people today relate more with the actors lip-syncing the words. "Like, this is Shah Rukh Khan's song or Kareena Kapoor's song. So, for someone who has always done their own videos, that is something which is difficult to get used to. But at the same time, one has to recognise this in an age where media, music channels and radio stations have stopped supporting non-film music. But I still want to sing," she shares.
Sophie feels that changing equations have made pop artistes turn to playback singing. "Everybody starts singing playback — like Neeraj and Mika — and everybody wants to venture into this. I would like to sing for films. But I don't want to become a playback singer permanently. The added advantage is I can sing in different languages like Arabic, French and Spanish. So, I would hope people will use that," she expresses.
After crooning as a playback singer for Bollywood film Pyaar Ke Side Effects, the singer-actress has lent her voice for Preity Zinta's upcoming film Ishkq in Paris in a disco number 'It's All About Tonight' — in French.
The Hindi part is sung by Sunidhi Chauhan. Sophie has a degree in political science from Paris — so, her fluency in the language is quite obvious.
"Preity is a dear friend of mine. During an occasion of Ishkq in Paris, when she saw me speaking French fluently, she was stunned. The next day, Preity called up saying she wants me to a sing a song for her film," Sophie recalls.
A birthday party on the sets!
International model — and now actress — Kristina Akheeva is currently shooting for the film Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 opposite Sunny Deol in Leicester, United Kingdom. She recently celebrated her birthday on the sets and it was definitely an occasion to remember. Everyone ordered two pretty cakes to the sets and Kristina was so overwhelmed that she thanked each one, saying that was all she could ever wish for on her birthday.
During the cake-cutting ceremony Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol jokingly plastered the entire fruit cake on her face. In fact, Dharmendra even playfully drew candles on her forehead with the icing on his fingers. All in all, it was quite a fun day for the cast and crew of the movie.
New kid on the block
Independent actor Ankur Bhatia, who hails from New York, will mark his debut in commercial films with the remake of Zanjeer, staring Ram Charan Teja, Priyanka Chopra and Sanjay Dutt. Ankur plays the negative character of Bosco in the film.
Who is Ranbir's favourite?
It seems that Ranbir Kapoor is now following in Salman Khan's footsteps. Salman has always known to be very choose about the different aspects of his films — he insists on having a say on the music composer and singer of the different numbers. Now, it seems that Ranbir too has started recommending singers for his films.
He is very impressed by Kavita Seth, of Iktara fame, and is suggesting that she be roped into all his upcoming projects. The buzz is that after Barfi! turned out to be a huge hit, Ranbir decided to tell all his directors to sign Kavita up for his movies.
'Ang Lee has made beautiful films'
Actress Tabu, whose roles in films like Maachis, Chandni Bar, Maqbool and Cheeni Kum have been widely appreciated, is proud of charting her course in Bollywood on her own.
"I am proud that we (my sister Farah and me) had no support system here. We were in a new industry, had no guidance but we made it all on our own. I am happy and content with my work and career," the actress shares.
"We came from different background. It is a big achievement for me," she adds. Tabu, who is anxiously awaiting the release of Oscar-winning director Ang Lee's film Life of Pi on November 23, says she chose to be fastidious as "acting experience" matters most for her. "There is a hunger to have good experiences with people. There will be roles and all of that. But the package of experience has today become important for me. People should be good, established; the film-making and acting experience should become heartening," the 40-year-old explains, adding that she consciously chose her films to get good experiences — not just great roles.
Tabu admires that she always wanted to be part of the Ang Lee crew. "I wanted to work with him. It was a great chance. He has done entertaining, relevant films. He has made beautiful films. I knew this will be a sensible, entertaining and good-looking film and I wanted to be part of it," she states.
VJ-turned-singer Sophie Choudhary is disheartened by the fact that non-filmy songs are losing prominence these days and that pop artistes are turning to playback singing.
"I was more of a pop artiste and as one — especially when you are born and brought up abroad — you are used to singing for yourself, seeing yourself in the video and expressing yourself through the music. Playback singers get a lot of popularity and prominence," Sophie says.
The 31-year-old feels that when it comes to playback singing, people today relate more with the actors lip-syncing the words. "Like, this is Shah Rukh Khan's song or Kareena Kapoor's song. So, for someone who has always done their own videos, that is something which is difficult to get used to. But at the same time, one has to recognise this in an age where media, music channels and radio stations have stopped supporting non-film music. But I still want to sing," she shares.
Sophie feels that changing equations have made pop artistes turn to playback singing. "Everybody starts singing playback — like Neeraj and Mika — and everybody wants to venture into this. I would like to sing for films. But I don't want to become a playback singer permanently. The added advantage is I can sing in different languages like Arabic, French and Spanish. So, I would hope people will use that," she expresses.
After crooning as a playback singer for Bollywood film Pyaar Ke Side Effects, the singer-actress has lent her voice for Preity Zinta's upcoming film Ishkq in Paris in a disco number 'It's All About Tonight' — in French.
The Hindi part is sung by Sunidhi Chauhan. Sophie has a degree in political science from Paris — so, her fluency in the language is quite obvious.
"Preity is a dear friend of mine. During an occasion of Ishkq in Paris, when she saw me speaking French fluently, she was stunned. The next day, Preity called up saying she wants me to a sing a song for her film," Sophie recalls.
A birthday party on the sets!
International model — and now actress — Kristina Akheeva is currently shooting for the film Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 opposite Sunny Deol in Leicester, United Kingdom. She recently celebrated her birthday on the sets and it was definitely an occasion to remember. Everyone ordered two pretty cakes to the sets and Kristina was so overwhelmed that she thanked each one, saying that was all she could ever wish for on her birthday.
During the cake-cutting ceremony Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol jokingly plastered the entire fruit cake on her face. In fact, Dharmendra even playfully drew candles on her forehead with the icing on his fingers. All in all, it was quite a fun day for the cast and crew of the movie.
New kid on the block
Independent actor Ankur Bhatia, who hails from New York, will mark his debut in commercial films with the remake of Zanjeer, staring Ram Charan Teja, Priyanka Chopra and Sanjay Dutt. Ankur plays the negative character of Bosco in the film.
Who is Ranbir's favourite?
It seems that Ranbir Kapoor is now following in Salman Khan's footsteps. Salman has always known to be very choose about the different aspects of his films — he insists on having a say on the music composer and singer of the different numbers. Now, it seems that Ranbir too has started recommending singers for his films.
He is very impressed by Kavita Seth, of Iktara fame, and is suggesting that she be roped into all his upcoming projects. The buzz is that after Barfi! turned out to be a huge hit, Ranbir decided to tell all his directors to sign Kavita up for his movies.
'Ang Lee has made beautiful films'
Actress Tabu, whose roles in films like Maachis, Chandni Bar, Maqbool and Cheeni Kum have been widely appreciated, is proud of charting her course in Bollywood on her own.
"I am proud that we (my sister Farah and me) had no support system here. We were in a new industry, had no guidance but we made it all on our own. I am happy and content with my work and career," the actress shares.
"We came from different background. It is a big achievement for me," she adds. Tabu, who is anxiously awaiting the release of Oscar-winning director Ang Lee's film Life of Pi on November 23, says she chose to be fastidious as "acting experience" matters most for her. "There is a hunger to have good experiences with people. There will be roles and all of that. But the package of experience has today become important for me. People should be good, established; the film-making and acting experience should become heartening," the 40-year-old explains, adding that she consciously chose her films to get good experiences — not just great roles.
Tabu admires that she always wanted to be part of the Ang Lee crew. "I wanted to work with him. It was a great chance. He has done entertaining, relevant films. He has made beautiful films. I knew this will be a sensible, entertaining and good-looking film and I wanted to be part of it," she states.