Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) Actress Rinku Dhawan regrets that the romantic scenes were not shot the way they are now, during her days, as she would have loved to create some on-screen magic with a handsome co-actor.

Rinku, who is currently seen in ‘Udaariyaan’, says monsoon is associated with romance not just on the reel but in real life too.

She said: “Monsoon is associated with romance not just on Indian television but generally in life. You have all these lovely Sufi romantic songs, cold beer, and, what can I say, the rain is crazy.”

“As for creating some magic in scenes now that I get the roles of mothers, I wish I could create that romance because nowadays shoots are done very romantically. I would love to shoot a scene like this with some handsome co-star of mine, but back then, it wasn’t like this,” she said.

Rinku’s favourite monsoon songs are ‘Megha Re Megha’ and ‘Chak dhoom dhoom’. The actress shared that she loves this season in Mumbai.

“I think it’s the best season we have. The rain, that mild fragrance, getting wet, the traffic, the mud, the mess — it’s all fun in some way. It feels like all the trees and plants are freshly bathed during these months of rain. And definitely, going to Lonavala for pakoras, vada pav, hot tea, lots of rain, and cold breezes is the best thing,” she said.

“The best thing about the monsoon, personally, that I like is that I don’t sweat. During the monsoon and the little bit of winter we get, I don’t sweat and can work peacefully,” she commented.

Rinku plays Avinesh Rekhi’s stepmother in ‘Udaariyaan’. She said that behind-the-scenes moments of shooting are crazy.

Sharing an instance, she added: “The other day, we were called to the set for a scene. There were some musical scenes related to the wedding, and we had a dholki. So I told my co-actor, ‘Come on, Ranoji, let’s sing some songs.’ It was a general Punjabi wedding folk type song, and she started playing the dholki. We started singing, and then Avinesh came, and all the other actors joined in, and people gathered around.”

‘Udaariyaan’ airs on Colors TV.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan has started the second schedule of the upcoming action film ‘War 2’. Belonging to the fabled spy-universe of Hindi cinema, the Ayan Mukerji directorial also features Telugu superstar NTR Jr.

Sources have revealed that the second schedule of the highly anticipated film will be extremely action-packed.

A trade source shared: “Hrithik Roshan begins ‘War 2’ schedule today and it will be non-stop action sequences for him and NTR Jr when he joins Hrithik soon. The two actors have pushed themselves to deliver jaw-dropping action sequences in the first schedule. The second schedule will see them push their bodies more.”

NTR Jr will finish his prior commitments to join the team.

The source further mentioned: “Hrithik will be shooting one big action sequence at the start of this schedule. It is being heard that the action sequences will take about a week to be filmed, given the lavishness and impact that Ayan Mukerji wants to achieve with this. Hrithik and NTR are both going to have whistle-blowing entries in ‘War 2’ and the action being designed around them will be never seen before stuff.”

‘War 2’ is produced by Aditya Chopra.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) Director Nag Ashwin, who is currently receiving a lot of positive response to his sci-fi epic movie ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, has spoken up on his decision about casting big names across the film industries of India.

‘Kalki 2898 AD’, which stars Kamal Haasan, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Prabhas, is inspired by the Indian epic of Mahabharata and blends mythology with science fiction.

It is set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2898 AD, and follows a select group on a mission to save Kalki, the unborn child of SUM-80 (played by Deepika), a lab subject.

The filmmaker spoke with IANS about the long journey of mounting the film, and how he managed to handle such a huge star cast that features the titans of the Indian film industry.

The film has netted Rs 536 crore in India, and looks unstoppable. Talking about his state of mind given the stellar response to the film on the box office, the director called it “a lot of satisfaction.”

He said: “I’m also a little bit overwhelmed because it has been a long journey for everyone involved in the film.”

The film also features several cameos from stars across the film industries in India. Sharing the reason behind casting actors from practically every film industry of India, Nag Ashwin told IANS: “In a way, it was a commercially-driven decision but I wanted representation from every language or state in our film. So, we consciously tried to take artiste from all across the country be it Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and others.”

It has been a long and arduous journey for every artiste on the film, given its scale and sheer magnificence. How did he keep the passion alive during all these years? The director said: “The core of the story was something that excited me, and I knew that once we started, it would be very hard because what we were trying to do was linked to Mahabharata, which is the greatest Indian epic.”

He further mentioned that his team and his producers constantly supported him, and it was because of the collective energies that it became possible otherwise it would have been much harder to mount and deliver this film.

When asked about the trick to handle so many big stars in the film, the director told IANS that there isn’t any trick, and that all the actors involved in the project are thorough professionals which makes the job of a filmmaker much easier.

“All the stars are so mature and experienced that they knew exactly what they needed to do, and they knew their purpose. They made life quite easy for us on the sets, and being such great actors they really elevated what was there on paper to something much greater,” he added.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) Actress Sayli Salunkhe has reflected on her journey. She is happy with the way her career is progressing and wants it to grow gradually.

Sayli, who is currently seen as Vedika in the show ‘Pukaar: Dil Se Dil Tak’, shared: “When I look back at myself from 10 years ago, I feel a sense of pride. I think, ‘Oh my god, what have I accomplished?’ I feel proud of myself and grateful to my parents because, without them, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“I am very happy and want to continue growing gradually. Sudden growth can pull you down just as quickly, so I want to enjoy this journey and take my time,” she said.

She further said that this slow process is what brings true enjoyment.

“I would say I have a beautiful life. God is with me, my parents are with me, and I have everyone’s blessings. I feel like I am a blessed child, and many things are happening in a lovely and easy way for me. I am very happy,” she commented.

Coming from a middle-class background, she never imagined seeing herself on-screen, and she is happy to see herself in a better career prospect now.

“I am very happy to see myself in a better position now because otherwise, I might have been working a corporate job. But at some point, I felt that I wouldn’t be able to do it all,” she said.

Sayli said it’s been a very beautiful journey, and she has learned many wonderful things along the way.

“Every journey has its ups and downs, and mine is no different. In fact, this is how we grow as individuals. I never thought I would become an actor, but these things just happened, and it has been a lovely journey,” she said.

For Sayli, growth and life ambitions are important. She feels that if one doesn’t have any motive or desire for something in life, they can’t grow.

“If you stay at one stage in life, you can only enjoy it for so long. Growth is necessary for everyone. You will grow when you have ambitions and a set goal in your life. Once you have a goal, you feel the need to keep moving forward. Without ambitions, I think we remain stuck, both as individuals and in our work. So, I believe having ambition is extremely important,” she concluded.

The show is produced by Prateek Sharma and Parth Shah’s banner, LSD Studios. It airs on Sony.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) Actor Rajeev Khandelwal has spoken about the dark side of the glitzy world of glamour and said that manipulation is a “part and parcel of the industry.”

Rajeev, who made his Bollywood debut with the action-thriller ‘Aamir’ in 2008, plays a superstar Armaan Singh in the ‘Showtime’, which is directed by Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar. The show takes a deep dive into the world of Bollywood, actors, production houses and how they function.

Talking about manipulation being a part of the industry, Rajeev told IANS: “Manipulation is something we all have seen from our school days to till now to whichever industry we are working in. Manipulation is a part of every industry and human nature.”

The 48-year-old actor said that it is the entertainment industry where money is involved.

“Everyone is out there to make a living for themselves and their families. For us to think about producers to manipulate for making more money and aligning themselves with certain favourable people who they think are going to bring them more success is very natural,” added the actor, who hails from Rajasthan.

Saying it out loud could be scandalous, said the actor, who began his television career with a negative role in the 2002 show ‘Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat’.

“I have seen it. But just to say it probably could be scandalous. From the time when I was not part of the industry or from those years when the industry came into existence these manipulations could have been there… Manipulations are a part and parcel of our industry,” he said.

Is there a dark side to the industry and does ‘Showtime’ showcase it?

Pat came the reply: “Yes, it has.”

“There is a side of the industry, which I am sure everyone knows must be existing because we hear stories of depression, suicides, someone going cuckoo in the head, drugs and so many stories that come out from the industry that people must be having some kind of impression that these things must be having in the industry and they will be curious to know why…”

He said that his show has tapped into that side.

“Showtime has tapped into that side, which you see and have a little idea about. It is fiction but not a figment of someone’s imagination. It is actually different incidents that happened in the industry and presented in the form of a storyline, where you see the truth about the industry in some sort of entertaining way,” he said.

Talking about playing Armaan in the show, he said: “It is very exciting to play this character because I have seen these characters in the last 20 years in the industry.”

He added that he has met people from the industry, who have the kind of attitude he showcases in the show.

“I have encountered a lot of people who have this attitude or who are like this because stardom brings a lot of elements in your personality which are probably missing in others; and to play a character like this — which I am clearly not — was challenging and easy as well,” he said.

‘Showtime’ streams on Disney+ Hotstar.

–IANS

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