Shoe & tell

Bollywood hotties have an enviable footwear collection

Heels, flats, platforms, gladiators, sequinned designs and classic monotones, celebs have all this and much more in their footwear collection, thanks to their fetish for shoes.

Happy feet

Celina Jaitly owns around 1,300 pair of shoes. She has been an ardent footwear lover since her childhood days. She would dispose off her hardly-used pairs just so that her parents could buy her new pairs.

Today, she has a separate closet for shoes that include brands like Jimmy Choo, BCBG, Guess, Aldo, Nike, Ugg, Deisel, Bebe, Louis Vuitton, Anne Klien and Marc Jacobs.

While Kim Sharma has lost count of her shoes, Koena Mitra admits she has around 400 pairs. Kim was bitten by this footwear bug since her early modelling days and now owns Kurt Geiger, Marc Jacobs, Guess and Chanel shoes. Koena has been diligently adding to her ever-growing collection since she was in college. She now owns classic footwear from reputed brands like Christian Louboutin and Salvatore Ferragamo.

Kareena Kapoor has a cupboard full of shoes. She is fond of colourful high-heels and buys branded footwear whenever she travels abroad.


Too good to be used

Celina confesses it’s not easy to use all her shoes. “Some are my absolute favourites and I wear them all the time. As for the rest, I just look at them and sigh in extreme happiness,” she smiles.

Neha Dhupia, a self-confessed shoe fanatic, admits that she’s too scared to wear her expensive shoes. She wears them at home, admires herself in the mirror and then tucks them back into her closet.

Most memorable incident

These leggy lasses also take a lot of efforts to add that elusive new pair to their ever-increasing collection. Celina recounts how she shopped till she dropped while she was shooting recently at Canada for Anees Bazmee’s Thank You. “My tooth was aching so I decided to pick up some medicine. I stopped at a chemist but then I saw a shoe shop across the road. I bought 11 pairs of shoes and when I returned to the hotel, I realised I hadn’t bothered to pick up my medicine,” she laughs.

Kim is always in the quest for the right size. She remembers one such incident. “I really liked a pair of gladiators but the store didn’t have my size. I checked out the other outlets. All the sizes were available except mine. This happens with me quite often. It’s funny as well as annoying,” she signs off.

The Survival Instinct

Theatre director Bijon Mondal entertains kids with Pi, the first Indian stage production based on author Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

Kids can now get some serious lessons about life, albeit in a humourous tone, in Bijon Mondal’s latest play Pi. Based on author Yann Martel’s award-winning novel, Life of Pi, the play is a fantasy adventure that revolves around the experiences of a Piscine Molitor Patel better known as Pi, an Indian boy from Pondicherry. His family decides to move to Canada after selling the animals in their zoo. But things go wrong after a terrible storm. Pi is left stranded with a tiger, a hyena, an orangutan and a zebra on a life boat. How Pi survives the ordeal forms the crux of the play.

The idea of making a play on the novel struck Bijon few years ago after he read the book. He was not only impressed with the philosophy but also the book’s visual appeal. “Life of Pi gives out the message that you should love nature, human beings and animals. It also has several scenes which can be interpreted in a visually creative way in a play.”

He later asked his friend to adapt the novel into a play. Pi opened last year but Bijon was not satisfied with the end result. Earlier this year, he roped in another friend, Neha Singh, to adapt the novel in a crisper format to entertain kids. The biggest challenge that he faced was to convert the novel into a children’s play. “Life Of Pi is an adult novel. We had to simplify the concept and adapt it in such a way so that kids could understand it.”

It was quite a challenging task for Neha who was adapting a play from a book for the first time. “The novel is quite lengthy. So I could not include all the scenes as the play would have become long. Moreover, children have a short attention span. So I selected those parts that were most appropriate for kids yet retained the story’s essence. I tried to convey the book’s theme in a shorter yet effective way.”

Neha also added a lot of humour in the play and focussed on reducing the complexity but maintaining the story’s simplicity. She started off by reading the book twice. After a fortnight, she kept the book aside and tried to recall those parts that had left an imprint on her mind. She decided to retain those scenes in the play. She initially wrote only the scenes and later included the dialogues.

Once the adaptation was ready, it was time for Bijon to recreate the book’s visual appeal. He started off by instructing his designer to create a boat that could be used for the storm as well as the dream sequences along with a lot of lighting effects. Mumbai-based band, Translucent, was roped in to score the background score and compose a few songs for the play. “We wanted Pi to be a visual treat for kids,” he says.

He also instructed 19-year-old Upen Shukla, to portray the 13-year-old Pi convincingly and interact with the animals in a certain way. “I started observing the body language and mannerisms of boys of that age. I also used a lot of imagination to perceive how a boy would react when he is stuck with a tiger, hyena, zebra and an orangutan,” Upen explains. Finally after rehearsing for almost two months, Upen was ready to play Pi.

The team is happy with the way the play has shaped up. Pi which was staged recently at Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai has garnered a good response from kids. “Pi is being liked by kids and adults alike. In fact, a lot of children came to see the play for a second time after enjoying it the first time around,” signs off Neha.

Couture capers

Stars launching their own fashion label seems to be the latest trend in tinseltown. Filmmaker Karan Johar and designer Varun Bahl unveiled the debut menswear line of their label, Karan Johar + Varun Bahl, recently. The duo had announced the launch of their label and showcased some creations at the HDIL India Couture Week 2009. The director-turned-designer, who is also Shah Rukh Khan’s unofficial stylist, claims that the line is meant for the new Indian male. Johar and Bahl chose men as their target audience as they felt today’s men are more vain than women. The Johar-Bahl line retails clothes along with accessories like cuff-links, ties and bags. The duo aims to make their brand a one-stop shop for men.

Ayesha Takia’s unique brand

Ayesha Takia, who was seen in the recently-released Paathshaala, is aiming to launch a fashion line with her mother Farida. The effervescent actress wants to build a brand that will offer unique apparel and accessories to people.

Twinkle Khanna’s Villa Tara

Actress-turned-entrepreneur Twinkle Khanna introduced her holiday line — Villa Tara, a range of home décor and resort wear — recently. The resort line comprises butterfly dresses in peacock prints, delicate dresses and tops with fish and tassels, bright cotton cover-ups, silk kaftans and accessories like beach-bags, embellished slippers and coral and pearl jewellery.

Bipasha Basu’s BB Love Yourself

After launching her fitness DVD, BB Love Yourself, Bipasha Basu is set to introduce her fitness clothing line by the same name. Fashionable workout clothes is the USP of BBLY. Bipasha says, “I’m launching an exclusive workout wear
because I want people to look good when they go to the gym.”

Salman Khan’s Being Human

Salman Khan made headlines last year after designing a special range of clothes to raise money for Being Human, his non-profit organisation. The range was showcased at the HDIL Couture Week last year. The actor designed the ensembles in collaboration with designers Kunal Rawal, Falguni and Shane Peacock, Gavin Miguel, Ashish Soni, Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna. Bollywood bigwigs Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif walked the ramp for Salman.

This year, the actor is all set to launch his own fashion line Being Human. His paintings will be embossed on the T-shirts, jeans and other accessories that his brand will offer. The star recently posted on Twitter, “Being Human clothing line is not yet out. It will launch in four months. There are only fakes out there. Being Human watches will be out in two months.”

Only time will tell whether these labels will be a huge success.

Friends forever

Nadira Babbar’s new play Yaar Banaa Buddy dwells on the importance of one’s roots and best friends

Change is the only constant in this world. But what happens when your closest friend becomes successful, turns pretentious like the rich and famous, forgets his roots and eventually drifts apart? Playwright, director and actress Nadira Babbar’s latest play Yaar Banaa Buddy deals with this issue.

The play revolves around four close friends (Jaideep, Mithilesh, Kartik and Sugna) who hail from lower middle class families and become rich and successful over a period of time. One of them (Jaideep) becomes a cosmetic surgeon and starts hobnobbing with the glitterati. In the process, he forgets his childhood friends, breaks his engagement with Sugna and soon drifts apart. How the remaining three friends win Jaideep back and make him realise his mistakes forms the crux of the play. The underlying theme of Yaar Banaa Buddy is that no matter how successful you become, you should never forget your roots.

Nadira confesses the play is drawn from her personal experiences. “I have seen people forgetting their roots once they become rich. They start becoming pretentious just to fit in the high-class society. Today it’s very common. I was toying with the idea of making a play on this concept since a long time and finally wrote it early this year.”

However, Nadira faced the biggest challenge while writing the play. She says, “It was important that people should understand what we are trying to communicate.”
Eight artists have been double cast as the four characters. So while Sajjad Hussain and Sahil Chaddha play Jaideep, Rajesh Balwani and Chinmay Das play Kartik, Yashpal Sharma and Harsh Khurana portray Mithilesh and Nivedita Bhattacharya and Rashmi Pote play Sugna.

Most of the artists could relate to the characters easily. Actor Yashpal Sharma who was seen in blockbusters like Lagaan and Gangajal says, “When I heard the script, I could relate to Mithilesh’s character. In today’s society, people look down upon you if you can’t speak English fluently. They have a patronising attitude. I have personally faced these problems. Acting in this play, however, has been a lifetime experience. Every day, I interpret my character differently and add a new dimension to it.”

Film and television actor Sahil Chaddha adds, “Today people are competing with themselves but in the process they are forgetting their roots and losing their close ones.” Television actor Harsh Khurana found it quite challenging to portray Mithilesh’s character. “Mithilesh is quite aggressive. Initially, I was apprehensive when I was offered this role. I told Nadiraji, I would prefer playing Jaideep as my personality suited that character. But she convinced me. Now, I’m glad I portraying this role.”

Rashmi Pote, who has always worked with Nadira, explains that Sugna is a strong character. “One might think that since Jaideep breaks the engagement, Sugna might be wallowing in self-pity. But she is a strong person who accepts it gracefully. She is also a loyal friend who continues to be close to Kartik and Mithilesh.”

Portraying Jaideep’s character was quite challenging for National School of Drama graduate Sajjad Hussain. He says, “Jaideep is the toughest role I have ever played. I hail from a simple middle-class family. But for this role, I had to undergo a sudden transformation and portray a sophisticated doctor who has rich tastes.”

Since two actors are portraying the same role, it was also quite challenging for all the artistes. Television actor Rajesh Balwani says, “When two different actors play the same role, you may interpret it differently but you have to capture the character’s essence.” Theatre actor Chinmay Das who plays Kartik along with Rajesh says, “I’m not influenced by Rajesh’s performance or interpretation, but both of us are striving to portray Kartik as an emotional person as that is his personality.”

Though Yaar Banaa Buddy highlights a serious issue, it has been treated in a humorous way. “It’s a comedy that deals with a serious issue in modern India. It will entertain people but it also has a profound thought,” Nadira concludes.

Yaar Banaa Buddy opens on May 29 at Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai.

All in a day’s work

Goldy Notay talks about piling on the pounds, sharing her first on-screen kiss and getting emotional about her role in It’s A Wonderful Afterlife

British-Asian actress Goldy Notay’s debut in Bollywood was hardly memorable. She shared screen space as a journalist with Salman Khan for a short time in London Dreams. But now she is in the news for all the right reasons.

Goldy is seen as Shabana Azmi’s daughter in the just-released Gurinder Chadha’s It’s A Wonderful Afterlife. She will also make a cameo appearance as a well-to-do Middle Eastern woman in the highly-anticipated Sex And The City 2.

In It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, Goldy plays the role of Roopi, an overweight girl who is unlucky in love and is constantly coerced by her determined mother to tie the knot. She bagged the role after she invited Gurinder to see one of her plays. The director liked her performance and offered her the part.

But the role had its own set of challenges. Goldy had to pile on the pounds to look quite unlike her glamorous self. This was a daunting task for the theatre and television actress as she follows a healthy lifestyle. “I’m actually quite a carrot juice-drinking, organic food-eating, gym-loving kind of girl. So I had to change my diet. Initially, I found it difficult but later on, I got used to it,” she says.

Goldy had to look unglamorous and wear baggy clothes to suit the part. But she confesses that her co-stars’ constant jibes in the film affected her emotionally. “In the movie, people make a lot of unfavourable comments about me. Though Roopi was just a character, at the end of the day it was still me who was at the receiving end. So it affected me on a personal level. There were times when I came home and cried my heart out. So I channelised all my emotions through the character.”

The actress also reveals that she is quite similar to her onscreen character. “Roopi is quite self-deprecating and has low confidence. In reality, even I can be self-deprecating at times and struggle with my confidence.” However, Goldy’s rapport with Shabana gave her the confidence to portray the role convincingly.

Another challenge for the actress was to act with a straight face and pretend that her co-stars (who play dead characters in the film) didn’t exist while shooting. “Sanjeev Bhaskar plays one of the dead characters. Like his on screen persona, he is quite funny in real life too. He was always cracking jokes. For the first few days, I would just burst out laughing but then gradually, I got used to pretending that they weren’t around,” she says.

But the greatest highlight for Goldy was working with Heroes star Sendhil Ramamurthy, who plays a cop and her love interest in the film. Contrary to popular belief, she was not in awe of his good looks as she had never seen Heroes. “I didn’t know him really well. Gurinder asked us to go out a couple of times so that we could become comfortable with each other. As I got to know him, I realised that Sendhil is a very funny guy. Now he has become a dear friend,” she admits.

The duo also had some kissing scenes in the film. It was quite nerve wracking for Goldy as she had to do these scenes at Southhall, one of the most crowded areas of London. “It was my first on screen kiss. I thought there would be only a few crew members. But to our dismay, there was a huge crowd and all of them wanted to see us in a lip-lock. We had no option.”

Though Goldy is hopeful that It’s A Wonderful Afterlife is liked by everyone, right now she is excited about sharing the screen with Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex And The City 2. “I had the most amazing experience while shooting for the film at Marrakech. When I saw Sarah, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, initially I was in awe of them. Later, I wanted to hug all four of them but had to resist the temptation. It was an honour working with these actors,” she signs off.

On a high note

Meiyang Chang, who shot to fame with Indian Idol, is now making his debut in Bollywood with Badmaash Company. He shares his experience with Screen

Launch Vehicle

Badmaash Company is about four friends who do all the wrong things the right way. I play the character of Zing, a happy-go-lucky guy from the North-East. Gradually the quartet starts earning money by doing con jobs. Eventually, I fulfilmy dream of owning a pub and I end up being an alcoholic. In the second half of the film, there are some grey shades in my character and I end up causing trouble in the group.

Casting Coup

While conceptualising the story, the director, Parmeet Sethi, had written the character of a North-Eastern guy who is fluent in Hindi. Taking a rank newcomer for this role could have been risky. Since I had done two shows- Indian Idol and Extraa Innings for Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2- I had prior experience of facing the camera. Parmeet realised that I fit the character of Zing perfectly. I’m glad I bagged this author-backed role.

Stepping Stone

I started my career as a participant in Indian Idol season 3. It gave me a platform to showcase my talent. I hosted the fourth season of Indian Idol with television actor Hussain Kuwajerwala. I also hosted IPL season 2 and have done a few ads.

First Shot

I had to give my first shot with Anushka Sharma in a godown. I was dressed up as a Muslim cleric. We had to experiment a lot with my look. Eventually, we zeroed in on one look. Unfortunately, due to a technical glitch, the shot got delayed for eight hours. This was the first time I was meeting Anushka alone. So I tried striking up a conversation with her. But she was very angry as we had to wait for a long time for the shot.

Stumbling Block

I had to face two major challenges. Firstly, since I was a newcomer, it was quite easy for me to be in awe of my co-stars. So I had to overcome that. Secondly, I play the role of an alcoholic. But I can have only a few shots as I’m allergic to alcohol. So I didn’t have any point of reference. I sought inspiration from my college days in Bengaluru when I use to drink socially with my friends.

Lessons Learnt

The biggest lesson that I learnt was that one should always be focussed in his work. The audience can always make out a half-hearted performance. So you need to give your 100 per cent.

Matinee Idol

I have never really idolised anyone. As a singer, I really like Lucky Ali’s work. But as an actor, I had to draw inspiration from my own observations for my role in Badmaash Company.

Future projects

I haven’t signed any new project. Right now, I’m waiting to see how Badmaash Company fares at the box-office. Then, I’ll take a call.

Voice & Virtue

Suzanne D’Mello gets talking to Screen about her musical career and attributes her success to divine intervention

Singing was just a hobby for Suzanne D’Mello. But it has now become her passion. The singer, who has lent her voice for several English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati and Bengali films, and other background vocals is on a high. Right now, she is basking in the glory for singing the Spanish version of Kites in the Sky, in the soon-to-be-released Hrithik Roshan film Kites.

She also coached Hrithik, who has made his debut as a singer, with this song. Elaborating on the experience, she says, “I got a call from Hrithik’s office to be his vocal coach. When I met him, I realised he had a great sense of music
, melody and pitch, so it was easier to coach him. I trained him for three to four weeks during which we rehearsed several English songs and then got into the studio to record his vocals.” Suzanne is all praises for Hrithik’s performance. She smiles and exclaims, “As a teacher, I think my student has performed really well!”

On her part, the singer had to also prepare a lot especially since she doesn’t know Spanish. While actress Barbara Mori was supposed to sing initially, eventually Suzanne was offered the part. “I insisted that a language supervisor and translator was around so that I could understand the words and emote them correctly,” she says.

Suzanne’s tryst with music started in childhood. After being exposed to Western music, she played leads in musical plays in school and followed it up with being a lead vocalist fronting several local bands. Later she learnt the nuances of jazz while singing with jazz trios. Soon, she got many offers to sing ad jingles and worked with composers like Louis Banks, Leslie Lewis and Pritam. At the same time, she started out as a backing vocalist in Bollywood working with Jatin-Lalit, Nadeem-Shravan, Pritam, A R Rahman, Himesh Reshammiya, Salim Suleiman, Anu Malik and Bappi Lahiri. “These composers urged me to sing some solo lines as they really liked my voice, texture and singing style.”

Suzanne also came to be known as vocal designer after working extensively with composers like A R Rahman, Pritam, Sajid Wajid, Ranjit Barot, Louis Banks, Ranjit Barot, to name a few. “Vocal designing includes designing backing vocals, writing hook-lines, rearranging the melody and basically influencing how the song would shape up,” she explains.

Suzanne then became a playback singer with films like Chocolate and Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena. After that, there was no looking back. She went on to sing blockbusters like Maahiya (Awarapan), Jee karda (Singh is Kinng) and Aye bacchu (Ghajini).
But what put her on the global map was her rendition of Latika’s theme and Dreams on fire in Slumdog Millionaire. She followed it up with singing the additional vocals for Chiggy wiggy with Kylie Minogue in Blue. She also sang the song in Telugu for the dubbed version of the film. She has been touring with music maestro A R Rahman since April 2009.

Her English vocals for Surili ankhiyonwali with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in Veer won acclaim too. “Composer Wajid (of Sajid-Wajid fame called me) and explained the scene to me. I wrote the lyrics, composed part of the melody and arranged the background vocals,” she says.

The singer, not formally trained, attributes her success to divine intervention. She says, “I’m a very spiritual person. I always pray before stepping into the studio. I know that Jesus is my driving force.”

Comedy of Errors

Playwright and filmmaker Paritosh Painter is back on the theatre circuit, after two years, with his new play Get Rid of My Wife

Husband and wives all over the world share a love-hate relationship. But what happens when a wife gets kidnapped and her multi-millionaire husband deems it as good riddance and refuses to pay the ransom? To complicate matters, the kidnappers are three deaf, dumb and blind men, who see this opportunity as a shortcut to pay off their debts and earn some quick money. Playwright and filmmaker Paritosh Painter’s new comedy Get Rid Of My Wife, which opened recently at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), is based on this premise.

Produced by Ashwin Gidwani, the play features television actress Smita Bansal, Nasir Khan, Balvinder Singh Suri, Jayesh Thakkar, Tania Abrol, Shruti Sharma and Paritosh Painter himself.

Paritosh, who was missing from the theatre circuit since two years, was eager to make a comeback with a comedy play. “Ashwin and I had been toying with the idea of working together since three years. But nothing was working out as I was busy writing the script for Dhamaal and directing Paying Guest, my first feature film. Finally, this January, after discussing several scripts, I bounced off an idea to Ashwin and it worked out,” he says.

Paritosh, who has scripted, directed and also acted in Get Rid of My Wife says, “This is almost like a third instalment of a series of plays that we started a few years ago called See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, that starred a deaf, dumb and blind trio as protagonists. The plays revolved around these trio’s misadventures.”

Paritosh later adopted the basic concept of these three characters to a weekly serial called Shree Adi Manav, which was aired on SAB TV. Get Rid Of My Wife, in turn, is based on a plot that Paritosh had conceived and shot for Shree Adi Manav. “Though it was a one-hour episode, the plot was one of a kind that could be converted and turned into a play.” He started working on the plot and finally scripted it into a two-hour play.

Surprisingly, he decided to rope in Smita Bansal, who is known for her serious onscreen image, for Get Rid Of My Wife. She plays the role of the millionaire’s wife, who rather than getting scared after being kidnapped, sees this as a lifetime opportunity to become famous.

Paritosh explains, “I had seen Smita in Paani Puri, a comedy show on television. I realised that she had a comic streak and a good sense of timing. She fit the bill perfectly for the wife’s role.”

However, this was not the first time Smita had acted in a play. She was earlier seen in Ashwin Gidwani’s Mad About Money. She says, “I am known for portraying serious roles on the small screen. So initially I was inhibited about portraying a full-fledged comedy role. But Paritosh was confident that I would be able to carry it off.”

According to her, the biggest challenge was to alter her acting skills to suit the medium. “Acting on stage is quite different from that in television. In TV, there are lots of close-ups so you have to be subtle. But on stage, you need to be loud, in terms of volume, body language and gestures.”

Get Rid Of My Wife is also the first comedy venture of producer Ashwin Gidwani, who had earlier presented Walking On Broken Das, City Of Dreams, The Alchemist and Double Deal. He says, “Of late, there has been a dearth of good comedy plays. Moreover, even I have been associated with different genres and have never really dabbled in comedy. So this was the right opportunity.”

The cast and crew, who are planning to stage the play abroad, are confident that it will be a hit, especially with children. “Kids always enjoy when adults indulge in some tomfoolery. These three physically-challenged characters make a fool of themselves. The humour lies in their loud actions and different body language,” says Paritosh.

Ashwin, on his part, says, “This play is on the lines of super-hit comedy films like No Entry and Welcome. If you have enjoyed watching them, then you will definitely love Get Rid Of My Wife.”