A normal life for Aradhya
The buzz surrounding Aradhya Bachchan has only been growing over the last few months. Starting with the speculation regarding her name to the frenzy to catch a glimpse of her face, the Bachchans have been the centre of a lot of mayhem. Even the first official snaps of the little girl's features — which barely show about half her face — haven't been enough to put the delirium to rest.
Abhishek Bachchan and his wife, however, remain sternly against the kind of curiosity surrounding their daughter. In fact, Junior B recently lashed out at fans and stalkers, saying that his daughter isn't an 'item to by displayed'. What his family wants, he explains, is to give little Aradhya a normal life.
"I am not comfortable with that, I don't need to show her off. She is not an item that she has to be put up to display. She is a child and Aishwarya and I would like her to grow up as normal as possible. I do understand that her parents and grandparents (Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan) are public figures, but she is not yet one — let her enjoy that. I have grown up in this industry and have been in this position so I understand the curiosity," Abhishek insists.
Aishwarya and Abhishek, who got married in 2007, welcomed their first child on November 16 last year. The 36-year-old actor is busy these days promoting his upcoming action-comedy Bol Bachchan, which also stars Ajay Devgan, Asin Thottumkal and Prachi Desai.
Abhishek says he took up the project thinking it would be a good vacation for him — but it turned out be his most challenging role ever. "After finishing my last couple of films, which were predominantly action movies, I wanted to do a comedy movie. I thought this would be easy — six months of picnic. But it was tiring and it made me realise that keeping up the energy level in comedy films is difficult. I am exhausted," Abhishek admits.
Love triangle for Ayushmann
Ayushmann Khurrana is certainly going places. For being a simple video jockey, he delivered an entirely unexpected success with his debut film, 'Vicky Donor' — in which he played a rather unconventional hero, being a sperm donor.
The film was produced by John Abraham and the actor has continued his association with John by teaming up with him and Shoojit Sircar for 'Hamara Bajaj'.
Now, he's managed to bag his third venture — an untitled romantic comedy, which will be directed by none other than Rohan Sippy.
Ayushmann will start shooting for Sippy's film on July 20. Talking about the venture, he says, "It's a buddy film and focusses on the male bonding between Kunal and me. The film is a quirky love triangle. I am also lending my voice for one of the songs. I am excited to associate myself with Rohan Sippy because he is behind some
of the major hits of the industry."
He adds, "I got goose bumps when Rohan told me that our script narration is taking place at the same location where his dad (Ramesh Sippy) narrated the script for Sholay."
The film will see actor Abhishek Bachchan doing a cameo and this will be the first time that Bachchan will not play the lead in Sippy's film.
Too close for comfort
Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh and his co-star, Sonal Chauhan, are currently shooting in Fiji for their upcoming movie, '3G'. And as a part of one the underwater sequences of the movie, the pair had to perform quite a daring stunt — surrounded by venomous sea snakes. However, the two were remarkably at ease while the shooting was going on, since the crew had wrongly informed them that the snakes were harmless.
"We were okay with the scene because we were told that the snakes weren't going to harm us. When we stepped into the ocean and went in slightly deep, they were there and coiled around the legs. We did not want to create a commotion there and quietly stood, till they passed away. Later, when we got out of the water, we were told that they happen to be the most poisonous water snakes," Neil explains.
The film, which is touted to be a psychological thriller, will be shot in an almost two-month long schedule in Fiji and involves a few spine-chilling sequences and stunts. It is directed by Sheershak Anand and Shantanu Ray Chibber.
'I admire writers'
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah wears many hats — after making a name for himself in the film industry, he is now trying his hand at writing a book. The actor admires that he greatly admires writers, who he says should be credited for the roles and scenes that they provide for actors.
"I admire writers. Their contribution (to the film) is more important. Whatever good performance that has been given by actors has happened only because of the way their roles and scenes were written by writers. So the credit goes not only to actors," Shah says.
The veteran actor has been successful in mainstream Bollywood cinema as well as in parallel cinema in films like 'A Wednesday', Krrish, Sarfarosh, Mohra, Sparsh, Aakrosh and others.
He has appeared in international films, notably playing Captain Nemo in the Hollywood comic book adaptation 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'.
"Writing is difficult work. To write comprehensively and in an entertaining way is a real task in itself. I have been trying to write a book for the last ten years and I managed to get to page 61. I think writing the first sentence was easy — the second was a bit difficult to follow it up. It is about discipline," Shah explains. However, he refuses to
reveal as of now what his book revolves around.