entertainment

Emma Watson dating Chord Overstreet 'for a while'

Mar 102018

Emma Watson has reportedly been dating actor Chord Overstreet “for a little while”

Emma Watson

Actress Emma Watson has reportedly been dating actor Chord Overstreet “for a little while”. The 27-year-old actress and the former “Glee” hunk were reported to have started a new relationship after they were seen leaving the Vanity Fair Oscars party together earlier this week.

“They have been dating for a little bit now, but it’s still pretty new. They met through friends. They might seem like an odd match but they actually have very similar personalities,” people.com quoted a source as saying. Before speculation was started surrounding the party, both the “Beauty and the Beast” star and Chord, 29, were photographed together at the Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats concert at the Troubadour in Hollywood in February.

“It’s crazy, but yes, they are seeing each other, although Emma wants to keep things quiet and private,” the source added. However, the seriousness of their romance is not yet known, as some sources claim the two aren’t actually dating at all.

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Sufi singers on the loss of Pyarelal Wadali: He was jovial and kind

Celebrities

Mar 092018

Sufi singers Kailash Kher, The Warsi Brothers, Harshdeep Kaur and Kavita Seth mourn the loss of Pyarelal Wadali

Wadali Brothers

Pyarelal Wadali, one half of the celebrated Sufi duo, Wadali Brothers, died of cardiac arrest yesterday morning. The younger brother of singer Puranchand Wadali was 75. He breathed his last at Fortis Escorts Hospital in Amritsar, where he was admitted on Thursday. Pyarelal had not been keeping well for the last few months.

He is survived by his wife, Surjit Kaur, sons, Satpal Singh and Sandeep, anddaughters, Sheela Rani, Raj Rani and Soma Rani. The Sufi artiste’s contemporaries remember the man as a “personification of simplicity”.

Harshdeep Kaur

Harshdeep Kaur
I’ve been a fan of the Wadali Brothers since childhood. They had performed in my school in Delhi, and I was blown away by their music. Pyarelalji was loving and humble. It was always a delight to watch him belt out his high-pitched and powerful notes. He would share interesting stories during his performances. I was lucky to share the stage with the Wadali Brothers at a music festival in 2016.

Kavita Seth

Kavita Seth
I was fortunate to have performed with Pyarelal Wadaliji for three shows. I have wonderful memories of these concerts because, according to me, he was a true Sufi artiste. He was humble. It’s heartbreaking to hear that he is no more. It’s a loss for the music industry, particularly for the Sufi music genre. May he rest in peace.

Kailash Kher

Kailash Kher
The news of his demise is shocking and disappointing. In Mr Pyarelal’s absence, the music of the Wadali Brothers will be missed. I know his family well. I remember, I was once performing in Chandigarh on a rainy day. When I found out that the Wadali Brothers were backstage, I went to meet them. Pyarelalji was a personification of simplicity. It was our first meeting, but it felt like we knew each other for several years. He was jovial and kind.

Warsi Brothers

Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi (The Warsi Brothers)
I am shocked to hear the news. I knew Pyarelalji for over two decades. The last time I met him was in Bhopal in 2016. We performed at an event organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. He was fond of us. In fact, my father also performed with them [Wadali Brothers]. Pyarelalji respected us and our family. We will miss him.

Also Read: Late Pyarelal Wadali In An Old Interview: Grateful We Could Do Justice To Sufi Music

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Saif Ali Khan on Netflix's Sacred Games: It is liberating to go digital

Celebrities

Mar 092018

Ahead of web debut, Saif Ali Khan speaks of how the medium is more satisfying than films

Saif Ali Khan

He was one of the first from Bollywood to jump on to the digital bandwagon when he gave his nod to the Netflix original, Sacred Games, in June 2016. A year-and-a-half and completion of the shoot later, Saif Ali Khan says the medium, by its very nature, offers much more creative satisfaction to artistes.

Saif Ali Khan in Sacred Games

“It is liberating as an actor to have a platform [like Netflix] to act on. Vikram [Vikramaditya Motwane] and Anurag [Kashyap] have been wonderful directors. With no censorship, this platform offers creative freedom. That’s what makes it so exciting,” says Khan, who plays cop Sartaj Singh, in the adaptation of Vikram Chandra’s novel by the same name.

Staying true to its theme of Mumbai’s underbelly, the gritty series that also features Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte, was shot in the bylanes of the city. With a 25-year-long career in movies behind him, the actor says there is a marked difference in the way a web series is shot vis-a-vis a Bollywood project. “The art directors and other technicians had a meticulous approach, which is rare to see in films. The locations where we have shot are better and more authentic than most movies that I have worked on, so far. You relate to the character differently when you are in a live location.”

His choice of films – be it the quirky Kaalakandi or the period drama Rangoon (2016) – is proof that he likes to experiment. This time too, Khan says it was his “slightly damaged character” that drew him to the script. “My character is full of angst, which has led to his dependency on sleeping pills. He chews them like chewing gum throughout the day. This is the most dynamic role of my career. So, I had to push myself as an actor. I am energetic and upbeat by nature, but I had to play a depressed character.”

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Sunny Leone is ready with her biopic Karenjit

Celebrities

Mar 092018

The most searched celebrity, Sunny Leone’s biopic will be launched in a web-series format

Sunny Leone
The actress is all set to launch her biopic in a web series format, Karenjit.

It’s raining surprises from Bollywood diva Sunny Leone! Last week, the actress took social media by surprise with the birth announcement of her twin boys Asher Singh Weber and Noah Singh Weber, through surrogacy. And before the fans could get over it, she announced her biopic Karenjit. Sunny Leone’s biopic Karenjit will soon be streaming on ZEE5.

Talking about the web-series, the actress posted, “Why did I move from Canada? Why did I pick “#Sunny” as my name? What was my life like? Find out more about the woman behind Sunny and my life from #KarenjitToSunny, in my biopic, coming soon to @ZEE5India #SunnyLeone #ZEE5Originals”

Karenjit will take the viewers through Sunny Leone‘s journey from childhood to her entry in the adult film industry and her eventual Bollywood debut. While the viewers are waiting to catch the first glimpse, this biopic looks to be a promising one.

Issuing a statement about her surrogacy, Sunny had said, “We chose to do surrogacy with a fertilised egg from Daniel’s genes and my genes. Asher and Noah are our biological children and God sent us an angel surrogate to carry our boys until they were born.”

An ecstatic Daniel Weber had this to say, “This is an amazing new chapter of our life and I believe the great chapter of all. We have been blessed with an amazing journey and looking forward to many more great things ahead. Proud Family!”

Also Read: Sunny Leone And Husband Daniel Weber Blessed With Twin Boys

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Pulkit Samrat: I don't believe in the concept of marriage, it's just for society

Celebrities

Mar 092018

In a tell-all conversation with mid-day online, actor Pulkit Samrat talks about his film newly released Veerey Ki Wedding, personal life, the concept of marriage and many other things in a candid chat

Pulkit Samrat is excited for his film Veerey Ki Wedding. Picture Courtesy: Instagram/pulkitsamrat

Actor Pulkit Samrat recently wooed people’s hearts with his amazing comic timing, acting chops and his romantic avatar in Fukrey Returns. The handsome hunk yet another laughter riot, Veerey Ki Wedding with Kriti Kharbanda and Jimmy Sheirgill released last week. Giving some insights into the film and how his personal life grabs more space in the news than his work, and also about always being compared with Salman Khan, the 34-year old bares it all in this candid interview with mid-day online.

Was it difficult to play Veer’s character or you just have that Romeo in you and it translates onscreen?
Yeah, the ‘chichora’ part was really fun and the chemistry shared between Geet (Kriti Kharbanda’s character) and Veer is very volatile. Geet is a very strong headed girl and also has a mind of her own and Veer on the other hand is also a very talkative boy. He helps a lot of people by hook or by crook, but mostly by crook. So, when such chemistry is there, it’s kind of nice to play it on screen. This was for the first time that I am working with Kriti and it was a fabulous experience. She is very natural on camera and when you get to work with an actor of that calibre it becomes very easy for you. The give and take in terms of acting becomes interesting.

Was it difficult to break the ice with Kriti?
Not at all. Both of us connected on the Delhi factor because even she hails from the capital. I didn’t know this until I saw her having food. I thought to myself, “Yeh toh dilli vaalon ki tarah khaati hai yaar.” (She eats like a Delhiate) and then she said yes that she was born in Delhi. And we got it all out in our characters in this film.

Now that we are talking about a wedding film, do you personally believe in the concept of marriage?
I don’t believe in the concept of marriage. It is just for the society – a legal certificate to show the society. Love is the base of every marriage and I believe in the concept of love, yes, if there’s love that escalates to the wedding then it’s a different thing. Going ahead if I fall in love then let’s see how it goes ahead.

You’ve played romantic heroes and done comedy capers, aren’t you afraid of being typecast?
No… I’ve done Fukrey which is a slapstick comedy and a rom-com. I’ve done Sanam Re. So, I think I’ve been doing different kinds of roles, so there’s no fear of being typecast.

Do you think romancing onscreen is easier than off-screen?
Romancing is extremely difficult on screen because you are surrounded by so many people, a camera zooming onto you. And the smell of cow dung, mosquitoes on the sets, it gets very difficult to get the romantic expressions. But at the end, it’s because of these things that it translates beautifully on screen.

A lot has been said and written about your personal life, does it affect you?
Yeah, it does but you know workplace is the best place to divert your mind. It’s a different world altogether. Where you are enjoying your craft and are away from all the hustle and bustle.

You’ve got a good physique and people see the younger version of Salman Khan in you, so what kind of equation do you really share with him?
The phenomenon of comparing has always been there. He’s a good human being and people love him. Although I love him and he loves me too, I want to create a mark of my won and wouldn’t want to get my personality and talent to get overshadowed.

Your views on celebrating Women’s Day.
I hate this gender discrimination. Why a day to celebrate them… We should always celebrate it… They are a creation which is very unique. Why one day for men and women day? But, it’s good that people are changing their mentality and have gone ahead. It’s commendable to see slight changes.

Also Read: Pulkit Samrat Doesn’t Carry Hangover Of Success To New Film

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Rani Mukerji goes back to school for Hichki

Celebrities

Mar 082018

Rani Mukerji trained with motivational speaker Brad Cohen on whom her character in the upcoming film, Hichki, is based

Still from film

Rani Mukerji found the perfect comeback vehicle in Hichki, which sees her play an inspiring school teacher who suffers from Tourette syndrome (a nervous system disorder characterised by tics). To lend an air of authenticity to her Naina Mathur, the actor closely interacted with Brad Cohen, whose autobiography – Front Of The Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had – has inspired the Siddharth P Malhotra-directed film. A renowned motivational speaker from the US, Cohen traced his journey of overcoming the challenges of the disorder in the book that was later adapted into a TV film.

Keen on bringing Cohen’s inspiring story to the Indian audience, Malhotra reached out to him as early as 2012 and started developing the story with his inputs. The director says that he also introduced Mukerji to Cohen so that she could understand the finer nuances of her character.

Brad Cohen

Malhotra says, “Rani Mukerji communicated with Brad for two weeks over Skype. He showed her how he calms himself every time he gets the tics, how he dances, how he gets excited – basically, the entire gamut of emotions. She internalised Brad and his struggles. Rani realised that in order to pull off the role with conviction, she would have to make these tics part of her body language. After every scene, she would return to the monitor to check that the tics looked effortless.”

Sources say that Cohen is quite impressed with the film’s trailer. “Brad will be promoting Hichki from the US. He wants to lend his support to spread awareness around Tourette syndrome in India and the world over,” says a source.

Also read: Rani Mukerji: For women, looking young is a challenge

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'Indians capable of producing VFX at par with Hollywood'

Celebrities

Mar 082018

With Indian company Prime Focus bagging Oscar for Blade Runner 2049, CEO on replicating magic on home turf with Ranbir’s Brahmastra

Ranbir Kapoor

As Ridley Scott’s Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling-starrer Blade Runner 2049 bagged the gong for Best Visual Effects at the recently concluded Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles, media company Prime Focus celebrated the win on this part of the globe. The Indian group’s Double Negative (DNEG) was the company behind the success of the fantasy.

Prime Focus CEO Namit Malhotra sees this win as a challenge to replicate the magic in Indian ventures too. “While once dominant in the American film industry, visual effects are now used in films from across the globe. It’s only fitting that a country like India, which has a 100-year-long history in the movie business, is at par with Hollywood. India is rapidly advancing in filmmaking technology. Our artistes are capable of producing quality work that matches the kind created by the rest of the world,” Malhotra says, adding that Indian artistes can expect to collaborate with the “best in the world” in the near future.

Still from Blade Runner 2049

With Prime Focus co-producing the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer superhero fantasy, Brahmastra, Malhotra says his team is already aspiring to match international standards, as far as VFX technology is concerned. “With this film, we will hopefully set an example of what can be expected from India in the future. I have been committed to creating films with such visual effects since the onset of my career.”

Namit Malhotra

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Kangana Ranaut: Was called psycho just because I was different

Celebrities

Mar 082018

Kangana Ranaut says next will tackle stigma attached to being individualistic, Raj eager to reunite with Queen star

Kangana Ranaut in Mental Hai Kya post

“Ain’t I getting fishnet stockings back in fashion,” laughs Kangana Ranaut, referring to her zany look in Mental Hai Kya. Ahead of the film rolling, producer Ekta Kapoor has piqued the audience interest by sharing quirky looks of Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao from the promotional photo shoot. “The film deals with mental illness and hallucinations, but Ekta decided to take this route.”

Besides the incentive of reuniting with his Queen co-star, Rajkummar Rao says the “unique script” floored him. “I chose this part because I’ve never heard of such a character. I get a kick from challenges. Comfort zones are boring.” For Kangana Ranaut though, the choice was driven by a personal reason. “The way my life unfolded in the past few years, I realised there was so much stigma attached to being different. ‘Mental’ or ‘psycho’ were the terms used to shame me, but these can’t be used casually as swear words. When this script came along, I knew I had to do it to break the stigma around it. High time we made individuality aspirational.”

Rajkummar Rao in Mental Hai Kya posters

Ask her how will she walk the tightrope of depicting mental illness and she assures, “We won’t show people as pitiable, sympathy-seeking characters. We’ll portray the issue with sensitivity. The film takes a stand against equating individuality with madness.” Though they’ve worked with Kapoor on separate projects before, this marks the trio’s first collaboration together. Quiz them if they are worried about creative differences and Rao says, “We are all friends. Movies are more about teamwork than egos.”

With three bright minds on board, Ranaut says they’ll have a fair share of creative differences. “We are like-minded people who know it’s not going to be hunky-dory. I am not a sulkpot. That’s how Raj and I have come this far in life. Strong opinions don’t mean either of us is going to act like we know it all.”

Also Read: Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao are killing it quite literally in ‘Mental Hai Kya’ poster

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Sleepless nights for Varun Dhawan

Celebrities

Mar 082018

Shoojit Sircar’s October which is a story of a very different shade of love had the actors go through drills to be able to perform their roles in utmost honesty

Varun Dhawan in October

Shoojit Sircar’s October which is a story of a very different shade of love had the actors go through drills to be able to perform their roles in utmost honesty. Varun Dhawan who will be seen playing the lead character in the film had been asked to not sleep for an entire week to be able to look a certain way for his character in the film.

For a few scenes in the film, Shoojit wanted Varun to look sombre. Shoojit Sircar is known to keep his movies authentic, wanted Varun to look as natural as possible and not use makeup. He instructed Varun to not sleep for a few days or have minimum sleep of an hour or two every day for a week. Varun without hesitation followed the director’s vision and what translated on camera was spectacular.

The film has already gained immense anticipation with the distinct movie telling which the director has crafted for us again. Varun Dhawan will be seen in a very different avatar. Shoojit Sircar shares, “Yes I usually do this with many of my actors, used this during PINK as well. A couple of scenes with Varun required extensive emotional burstouts, a performance that showed him quite exhausted..depth and weight in his overall demeanor and eyes, coupled with a tired voice, so I asked him to not sleep at night prior to the scenes.”

The makers will be launching the trailer of the film early next week. Produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar, October stars Varun Dhawan and Banita Sandhu. A Rising Sun Films Production, directed by Shoojit Sircar the film is set to release on 13th April 2018.

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Shaheer Sheikh and Erica Fernandes to star in Kasautii Zindagi Kii remake?

Celebrities

Mar 082018

Weeks after Ekta Kapoor stated that she was recreating a two-decade-old hit series – the reference to her hit saga, Kasautii Zindagi Kii being evident – came reports that she would rope in Shaheer Sheikh to play the role of her leading man

Erica Fernandez and Shaheer Sheikh

Now, speculations are rife that Kapoor plans to cast Sheikh’s rumoured girlfriend and former co-star Erica Fernandes for the female lead, formerly played by Shweta Tiwari. While Sheikh and Fernandes’s chemistry was lauded in their last show, Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi, the series was axed due to low TRPs. Let’s hope Kapoor is able to create magic this time.

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