A novel act

Actor Tisca Chopra gets talking about her new role as a judge in Star Anchor Hunt

You will be seen on the small screen as a judge for the first time in Star Anchor Hunt. How does it feel to be back on television?
I can’t wait for the Star Anchor Hunt to start. We travelled to many small towns scouting for talent. The contestants were so ambitious and have such a will to make it! After pack-up, we would go for sightseeing. It was a mini-Bharat -darshan.

The overall scene on the small screen has changed since your last stint on television. How do you perceive this change?
I can’t relate to the content in soaps on TV. I love Indian Idol, Comedy Circus and most of the dance shows. But reality TV today is shocking. People will say anything to be on television.

What prompted you to be a judge on Star Anchor Hunt?
I was between films and Star Anchor Hunt gave me an opportunity to travel the country, meet the youth and see what makes them tick. As an actor, it’s great to be deeply connected to real people from different cities and small towns all over India and to hear their stories. TV is a great medium to reach the vast population of this country. Its popularity is huge, beyond our imagination.

We have heard that you have also been a news anchor. Is it true?
No, I haven’t been a news anchor, but I am trying to convince the channel to send me on a special assignment to Afghanistan or if they need an interview with United States President Barack Obama. Now that would be fun!

What qualities will you be looking at in a contestant to be a good anchor?
They should have an ability to respond to rapidly- changing scenarios or be quick enough to think on their feet. They should also have a keen insight into world affairs and a decent appearance.

How will the anchors selected by Star Anchor Hunt be different from their competitors?
They will be different from their contemporaries because the process is different. This is the first time you’ll see anchors selected for the job, not just people who landed up reading the news. These will be anchors who have had rigorous training and they are not just anchors but also journalists. There isn’t a single anchor hunt across news channels. Star Anchor Hunt is a pioneer. And this would be a treat for those looking to see some real talent emerge out of the newsroom.

Can you recall any funny incident that occured during the auditions?
An over-confident contestant challenged the channel and our judgement. The comments had to be heard to be believed. We laughed so much that the shooting had to be stalled. If Star News shows all the footage, the show will have the highest TRPs ever!
Journalist Deepak Chaurasia is known for his serious image. But in this show, people can see him in a completely different light. You will see him fall off his chair laughing.

Apart from the concept, how will Star Anchor Hunt be different from other reality shows?
you have Chetan Bhagat, Deepak Chaurasia and me as judges. Also the two winners will get actual jobs with the channel and start a new career. This is on the lines of The Apprentice. I hope the winners will be the new face of Indian news.

Are you keen on participating or anchoring any reality shows?
If they get Meryl Streep, Leonardo Di Caprio and Johnny Depp, as house-mates on Big Boss, I will definitely be a part of the show! As for compering, I’d love to do a Koffee With Karan, host a chat show or do an Indian Idol.

You were last seen on the big screen in Firaaq. Why is there such a long gap between the movies?
The tragedy of an actor’s life is that they have no control over the film after their work is over. If I had my way, I’d release them the Friday after shooting got over. I have finished three films back- to-back between 2009 and now, but you’ll have to ask the producers when they will come out.

What are your forthcoming films?
Rangeen is my first comedy and an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I have a lovely role in it. 404 is a psychological thriller that also deals with bi-polar disorder. I play a professor who is also a psychiatrist. Khushiyaan is a Punjabi film set in New York and Punjab. I play an NRI who returns to India to discover love and her family. I also have a guest appearance in Vinay Shukla’s Mirch that takes a satirical look at relationships between men and woman.

You were also writing a script. How far has that progressed?
It hasn’t progressed at all. Every time I sit down to write, a shoot comes up and I trot off. Coming back and restarting is hard. But I’ll finish it soon. Basically writing is like a husband, whom you take for granted. Acting’s like a lover, I wait for it and chase it. (Smiles).

You have worked in theatre, films and television. What has been your favourite medium?

Films are like miniature paintings. I love the detailed work that one can do in movies like changing your physical appearance or the voice to suit the character.

Television is like big strokes of whitewash. A giant monster waits for four episodes each week; it has to be fed, at the cost of quality sometimes.

Theatre is just a necessity for actors. It helps an artiste chisel his craft in an exacting manner with immediate results. You know right away if you have connected with the audience or not.

All for peace

Seven kids save the future in The Mighty Mirembayanna & The Prisoners Of Peace, Thespo’s first production for children

This summer, kids get a chance to learn something new and save the world at large in a futuristic play in Thespo’s first production for children, The Mighty Mirembayanna & The Prisoners Of Peace. The year is 2122 and the war has struck mayhem in the world, but the only thing that is keeping people safe in the land of Bragi is the The Mighty Mirembayanna tree. Things start going awry when the tree starts dying and the government is adopting desperate measures to maintain peace in the country. How the kids save the tree, maintain peace in Bragi and keep war at bay forms the crux of the play.

Written by Akash Mohimen and directed by Abhishek Saha, the play is the culmination of a four-week workshop, Dramabaazi, organised by Thespo, a youth theatre initiative. It opened on June 1 at Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai. This is the first time Thespo has undertaken an activity for the under-15 age-group.
Quasar Padamsee, the brainchild behind Thespo, says, “Thespo has always been about nurturing new talent. The process of introducing and sharing the magical world of live performance with the kids was a great opportunity. We were apprehensive at first, but our real heroes turned out to be the children. This full scale production has been driven by them, with guidance from Abhishek, who is brilliant at getting the kids to open up and discover themselves.”

The biggest challenge that Abhishek and his team faced initially was to zero in on a script for the play. They read a lot of scripts, independent stories, dabbled with the idea of merging two-three stories and transforming it into a play, but nothing was working right. Finally, they decided to come up with an original concept.

“I had done a 20-minute play for schoolkids in Ahmedabad some time ago. After I narrated the story to the team, everyone liked it. Akash was roped in to flesh out the idea and turn it into a full-fledged play. Though he started writing it with that project in mind, The Mighty Mirembayanna & The Prisoners Of Peace is very different from the initial idea,” says Abhishek with a smile.

Akash, who has earlier written scripts for short films, was penning a play for the first time. He attended the workshop for a few days to understand how kids think and to get a better idea about their vocabulary. “Today, kids have a higher intellectual capacity than what we had as children. They are exposed to different types of media and a lot of fantasy like the Harry Potter and Twilight series. So I had to understand how they think and would react to a particular situation.”

After Akash got an insight into their psyche and personality, he got down to writing the play. “I wrote the play from the point of view of a 15-year-old. I went back to my childhood days and thought about my fantasies and the various social themes that excited me. It was also challenging as writing for a play is different compared to a short film. A play is more dialogue-heavy and you have to tell the story through each character,” he adds.

After the script was ready, it was time to select the kids and train them accordingly. According to Abhishek, 12 kids attended the workshop and finally seven were selected since they were free at that time. “The youngest member is nine years while the oldest member is 16 years. It was interesting as well as challenging to condition their minds and make them think like their characters. I also insisted that they learn the dialogues because it is difficult to perform as long as they are holding the script,” explains Abhishek.

Apart from these processes, the director also ensured that his assistants, who also play supporting roles in the play, mentored the children. “This was done primarily because theatre is a group activity. It was important that a bond is formed within the group. Two kids were assigned to each adult so that they could discuss their apprehensions and seek proper guidance from their mentors,” elaborates Abhishek.
The writer and director are happy with the final outcome and are glad to entertain the kids at large. As Abhishek says, “The underlying theme of the play is how kids come up with a solution for the most difficult problems through their innocence.”

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.