Category Archives: Interviews: Cinema

On Time For Chaplin

25 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by in Interviews (All), Interviews: Cinema, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Published: Verve Magazine, March 2017

How Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter is carrying forward his legacy…

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The bright red of her sophisticated outfit sits sharply against her skin, and is offset nicely by her pulled-back dark hair; her height is unnerving as she rises to greet you with her trademark wide smile. Carmen Chaplin’s bloodline packs a punch — besides being the granddaughter of comic actor, film-maker and composer Charlie Chaplin (and on the maternal side French artist Patrick Betaudier), she is also the great-granddaughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Eugene O’Neill, and daughter of actor Michael Chaplin and artist Patricia Betaudier. There are aunts and cousins in the movie industry, who run the gamut between Doctor Zhivago and Game of Thrones. But for this family, you can tell that it’s not show business, it’s art. As she says, ‘It’s in your DNA to love films.’ She made her acting debut in 1991 and has since appeared in nearly two dozen movies including All About The Benjamins (2002), besides directing a short, Tryst in Paname (2012).

Itching to get out of school, she simultaneously started attending acting classes and modelling at the age of 16. As a child, she would act in, direct and co-write plays (with her sister). In The Greatest Moments of our Time, a short film by Jaeger-LeCoultre, she says, ‘I love every part of the process of directing. In a way, it’s much fuller for me. I find the process of writing very painful, but it’s one of the most satisfying things when you get a script together’. When she was around eight years old, she made short films with her sisters and friends with a Super 8 camera. ‘Film sets are a lot like staying a child, because you get to pretend that you are creating a world that doesn’t exist, you get to play like you did when you were a child. You don’t have to focus on any other realities of life — you just focus on telling the story.’ Excerpts from the interview below:

How much does legacy count in creativity?
“I think we’re always looking to what has been done to create new things and I think it’s always been the case — you always inspire yourself with something someone else has done. So, it’s a part of art.”

Is it difficult entering a creative field that’s been previously dominated by legends in the family?
“Yes, and I think that’s why I didn’t start directing in my 20s…even though as a child it was something that I was really interested in. I guess it was daunting. But I wasn’t very conscious about it until I began directing. Then I thought, oh, why didn’t I start earlier? Because comparison is just something that will make you stagnate in life and paralyse you; and if you’re free of that, then you’re free to create.”

What does art mean to you?
“That’s a very big question. (Laughs.) I guess it means a lot because my mother is a painter and my grandfather was a film-maker. On my mother’s side, too, my grandfather was a painter. My father writes. I have a lot of artists in my family, so…maybe it’s a way of living, but also something that makes your life more beautiful.”

Can luxury and art meet?
“Definitely. I think they meet in all artistic mediums; but, in some ways, they pollute art and in other ways, art needs that side of things, too. Sometimes you feel it’s just become so commercial that you don’t know where the art is. And the same with cinema or with luxury brands. But at the same time, it’s a continuous act of balance.”

You’ve been a ‘friend’ of the Jaeger-LeCoultre brand — we see the Rendez-vous in yellow gold on your wrist….
“The association feels very natural even though I didn’t know much about watches before collaborating with them. I find them to be a luxury brand on a very human level, and I love their love for cinema. I enjoy wearing their old watches from the ’20s and ’30s. People have such a passion for watches, including the people who make them — in that sense it’s similar to making movies — you need people who are extremely talented at one very specific thing.”

What was your first experience with fine watchmaking?
“There was one Jaeger-LeCoultre watch (Memovox) that was given by the Swiss government when my grandfather moved there. (He was forced into exile from the United States, for alleged communist sympathies.) My grandmother gave it to my father when he was a teenager, and my father gave it to my mother when they got married. When I met with the brand, in one of our conversations, we spoke about this watch and then had the idea of making a film together.” (A Time For Everything, which features not just the watch, but Carmen’s mother and daughter as well.)

Tell us about Bombay Nights….
“Oh, that’s a film I wrote and really wanted to direct. Before my pregnancy, it was my passion project! Then I had my daughter. My partner is Indian and my daughter is half Indian — I thought that it would be the easiest thing to make as a first feature. But Mumbai is such a hyperactive city and it’s so different from the way my daughter is used to living, that I then felt it would be better for me to make a movie in Europe before I made one in India.”

Are you familiar with India?
“I’ve been to India three or four times: to Kerala, Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi and Jaipur. I love India. I think it’s a very exciting place to be and a world apart from Europe — all your visions of life and death are so different in India. I was always struck by how death is kind of a part of life. In Europe, we hide people who are dead. I remember seeing processions in Mumbai with the dead just wrapped in white cloths and their faces being shown. It just felt like it was a much healthier view — something that isn’t as taboo. So, lots of things are very inspiring…just to be confronted with a culture that’s so different. At the same time, because of my daughter, I hear a lot of Hindi. It isn’t my culture, but it’s one that’s becoming more familiar to me.”

Have you watched any Indian movies?
“I’ve seen some old Indian movies by Satyajit Ray and some Bollywood films. My daughter likes the latter, particularly those from the ’70s and ’80s — she loves the dancing and singing. I find them fun, but they have an element that to me seems kitsch because I didn’t grow up with them. I prefer the more independent Indian cinema….”

Father of the Child: Imran Khan & Tusshar Kapoor

28 Wednesday Dec 2016

Posted by in Features & Trends, Interviews (All), Interviews: Cinema, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Published: Verve Magazine, December 2016
Image credit: Ryan Martis

These two young dads from the Indian film industry exemplify the changing attitude towards child-rearing

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The gentleman of today is exactly that. Ready to accept that raising a family is a joint responsibility, a far cry from the Indian men of a previous generation who believed in the division of responsibilities: earning was a male domain, while taking care of the home and kids was restricted to women. Taking this a step further, what happens when a man decides to become a father without a woman? Two young dads from an industry that celebrates showbiz show us that they are as real as they come and all about changing the name of the parenting game, albeit in two diametrically different ways.

We’ve watched Imran Khan take a leap into parenting in much the same way that he made a foray into cinema — suddenly, without warning, and quickly reaching superstardom. His focused and balanced nature held him in good stead, and we see that in his role as a parent. During his first ever photoshoot with his daughter, we discover that Imran has Imara’s baby footprint tattooed on his chest — a sign of an endearing and permanent love. He may be a man besotted, but he is also hands-on about life, not one to watch as things happen around him.

Tusshar Kapoor has bitten the parenting bullet with single-minded predetermination, and six months into it (before which, he preferred to avoid Laksshya facing the camera), he’s finding his ground. It has made him an example for a generation that strives to juggle choices — whether in a partner, career or life. Perhaps Jane Austen hadn’t prepared for this eventuality. Can a single man in possession of good fortune, be in want of a wife? Or would he prefer IVF-led-surrogacy into single parenthood instead?

Let the men do the talking, we say.

What made you decide to take the plunge?
Imran: It was completely accidental. It was one of those extremely hectic nights. I won’t go into any further detail, but next thing you know, three weeks later, Avantika (Malik, married since 2011) is in the bathroom throwing up and I’m making jokes like, ‘Haha, what if you’re pregnant?’ Two hours later, I wasn’t laughing anymore.

Tusshar: The best things in life just happen. I was considering becoming a father; marriage didn’t seem to be on the cards and I was nearing 40. I had a faint idea of becoming a single parent through surrogacy — maybe through IVF. It just didn’t seem very possible in India. Then I happened to have a chat with director Prakash Jha, and he introduced me to a family that had done it. Things fell into place, and it was wonderful that a year later, I had a child in my arms.

You’re likely to go in with a romantic notion of being a dad — was it all that you imagined?
Tusshar: I was a bit anxious at times, especially on the day of the delivery. The entire family stayed up all night. All the ‘Still a few days more’ just went out the window. But thereafter, I was quite prepared, with the nursery, with help. My biggest concern was losing out on life while wanting to be a hands-on dad. I asked my friends, ‘Can I go out? Will I be able to…?’ And nothing changes. You just have to manage your time well.

Imran: I didn’t know what to expect because, as I said, we had stumbled into it. Suddenly, she was pregnant. Suddenly, the baby has come. And I felt like it snowballed really quickly, and those first couple of months, we were both at a complete loss; we had a really rough time. Even though Imara from, like, day two or three would tend to sleep through the night, we’d be up in the night wondering, ‘Is she breathing? Is she suffocating?’ Both of us were nervous wrecks. It took us five or six months to really settle down and stop being so panicky. That was when I first started to really feel that, ‘Oh my god, I’ve lost my heart to this girl.’ And now I know what that mad parental love is.

 

What is that one moment in their lives that you’re waiting for?
Tusshar: I don’t want to miss watching him go to school and picking him up. My parents (actor Jeetendra and Shobha Kapoor) were never there to do that. I mean, they came for PTA meetings and my mom used to drop me off, watch me go to my class, crying. I don’t know if my dad remembered my birth date at that point in time, even though he remembered to wish me. The parents of the ’70s and ’80s (at least in my case) had their own issues. Working, trying to make a life for us. I want to be there for my child. I’ll dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

Imran: It’s a nightmare, haan. Every time I drop Imara to playschool, it’s ‘Papa, don’t go’. You’ll die on the spot because your baby is weeping and you have to leave her. I sit on the steps outside, listening to her cry, thinking, ‘Oh god, I’m a bad father. What am I doing?’

To answer your question, what I am looking forward to the most is the point when she will come and tell me things and make me laugh with her words, with wit — I think that’ll be something that will really make me proud.

Will you change anything in your parenting style from the way you’ve been brought up?
Imran: I love my mother (producer, director and screenwriter, Nasir Hussain’s daughter, Nuzhat Khan) and my mother loves me perhaps a little bit too much — so, I think throughout my life, she was a little over indulgent. That is why I have these notions that I want everything to be exactly the way I want it. This is not an ideal situation, so I would try to love my child a little bit less than my mother loved me.

Is there anxiety about missing key milestones with the nature of your work?
Imran: I was shooting a film from the time Imara was four to eight months old. I was a little nervous about not being there for big moments like if she were to say a word…. I would see her in the morning before I left, for a few minutes. And then the second I returned, I would spend time with her till she went to sleep. Avantika would come on set all the time with her. Luckily, I was there when she took her first steps. I consciously made an effort to not take on work when I knew that that was ‘baby Imara time’. For the past year, I have not shot for any movie. I have been home, with the baby. I’ve been travelling with her and I’ve been there for every major moment.

Tusshar: I’m a little anxious about what’s going to happen next month, when I start shooting. I hope it doesn’t really change things from what I’m doing now and what I’ll have to do then. The shoot, fortunately, is in Mumbai, so I will not be disconnected from my child completely. I’ll try to meet him before I leave home. If he’s sleeping after I’m back home, I’ll miss spending the evening with him; unfortunately there will be some moments that I’ll have to sacrifice. If you are worried you’re not going to be with your child, I think the child also senses that. If a parent is away, but trying their best to make it work, the child understands that and connects with that. And that’s love.

What’s the one thing you enjoy the most about being a father?
Imran: It’s the first time I’ve had the experience of wanting to spend time with someone — and not caring about other things. If the phone is ringing, you let it ring. If you’re late for something, you’re late — it doesn’t matter. If you’re hungry, you eat later. It just doesn’t matter. I also had that fear of my life coming to a standstill because I like to go places and do things. You’ll have a choice between spending time with your child or going somewhere else. And you’ll feel like you’d rather be with her because it’s more fun. It’s not a difficult choice. You’re not giving up anything.

Tusshar: It makes you very selfless. It calms you down, it’s very therapeutic. In a city like Mumbai, we’re clouded with issues and career ups and downs. I haven’t shot for a film at all this year. But, thank god. Since the baby’s come, I feel like I want to be at home with him, I want to spend time with him. And that’s the best part of being a parent — the maturity that comes with it. You rise above petty things that make you anxious. I think my child has taught me what fun it is to be on a playmat! I see his expression change and stop worrying about my work or about who’s inviting and not inviting me to some function or even about who’s calling or not calling back.

Tusshar, if your child asks, ‘Where is mom?’ what would your answer be?
Tusshar: I’m going to have to be very honest with Laksshya about him not having a mom. I’ll have to tell him exactly how and why he came into this world, so that he knows that he is a child born out of love and that I wouldn’t have been happy without him in my life — that he’s my everything. I will try and compensate and be what two parents can be to a child. It is just love that will make things work out.

So who fills the gap of a female figure?
Tusshar: The female energy at home comes from my sister (television and film producer Ekta Kapoor) and mother. I won’t be lying to Laksshya, telling him that his grandmother is like his mom. I don’t want to confuse him with that ideology. My mother has waited a long time for a grandchild. She gets to do so many things all over again, 40 years later. A large part of why I had this child is because my parents were going through a phase of depression; any parent would want to become a grandparent someday, so this is their dream come true. We feel like a very normal — and, I hope, happy — family, one where there’s enough attention from me as a father and enough female energy from my mother and sister even though there is no mother.

Imran, Imara’s obviously got you wrapped around her finger. Who’s the disciplinarian?
Imran: Avantika’s always on my case about not being a good disciplinarian. I can’t say no to Imara for anything. Whatever she wants, I feel like I have no choice but to give it to her. It’s not ideal, but I’m working on it.

Tusshar: That’s something I feel strongly about — I would hate to have a brat as a child. I’m going to be careful about not spoiling Laksshya, but my parents, bua, my sister and the nanny are always going to spoil him. Which is why it’s important that we (the parents) be the balancing factors. And the sooner, the better.

Imran: Yes, I will start today. Today, I am going to start disciplining!

Who do you guys go to for parenting advice?
Imran: I’ve never asked anyone for parenting advice — not my mom, dad, or Avantika’s mom. I’ve never read any of those parenting books. Maybe I’m missing out on something, I don’t know, but I feel like Avantika and I just kind of figured it out between the two of us. You find your own rhythm.

Tusshar: I didn’t read any books or take any advice from anybody. But the people who’ve done surrogacy before — the family who took me to Dr Firuza Parikh — they helped me set up the nursery before the baby arrived and to deal with things like finding day and night nurses for Laksshya. For day-to-day questions, I got help from my mom and friends.

Who’s the one reading stories at bedtime?
Imran: Anything that is play-related, I’m the one. Building things with Lego, reading books, telling stories — that’s where I’m always first to jump in, saying, ‘Haan, don’t worry, baby, I’ll take care of it.’

Tusshar: Bedtime stories haven’t started for me. I sing loris to put him to sleep. I have some old Hindi songs that I just hum — and he loves it. If I stop humming, he starts crying.

How many diapers have you two changed? Of course, Imran, you’ve had more years to change them.
Imran: Yes. That being said, I’ve probably changed fewer diapers than Avantika has. My trick is this — you change diapers when people come over to visit. Then everyone thinks, ‘Look, this guy’s an amazing hands-on father.’ After that, I can hand it over to Avantika or the nanny.

Tusshar: I don’t know why everyone thinks that diaper-changing is it and why it stands for being a hands-on father. It’s the easiest thing to do. There are tons of other things. Do you know how to poop your baby on a flight? Do you know how to feed your baby? Do you know how to put your baby to sleep? These are my fears.

Imran: I’ve noticed you’re not answering how many diapers you’ve changed.

Tusshar: I’ve changed — to prove to myself — three or four diapers.

Dads today are breaking the stereotype of the Indian father. What do you think has led to this change?
Imran: Part of it just has to do with globalisation. We are now more exposed to international culture, with the way that it is in the US, UK, and Europe.

Tusshar: It’s not like somebody wrote a book about good parenting which everyone read and, therefore, the next generation turned out to be much cooler, better parents! I think my son is going to have some issues with my parenting, even though I’m doing my best. It’s a learning process: what you go through as a child, what you’ve seen your parents do for you and what you feel was left out. Then you make those changes; it’s a natural progression. Society changes, parents change, family settings change, and that’s what evolution is all about.

 

Alia’s Unalienable Allure

01 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by in Interviews (All), Interviews: Cinema, Interviews: Cover Stories, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Published: Verve Magazine, Cover Story, October 2016
Image credit: Tarun Vishwa

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She’s waif-like, with fine features and aggressive sideburns. You would expect her to be loud and vivacious, but her off-camera persona is quietly dignified with moments of impetuousness. At Verve’s Best Dressed cover shoot, she inadvertently transforms breathtakingly into India’s answer to Audrey Hepburn. She’s poised and controlled, even though a stray, unstifled yawn delicately slips by between shots. Grievances, if any, are kept under wraps, evidenced only by the slight movement of the eyes which her very tuned-in press representative, Priyanka, catches. The blower gets switched off when the dress billows too much, her hand stays next to it, and she quietly strives for the perfect pose that keeps the skirt from doing a Marilyn Monroe while facing the lens with youthful zeal.

Unlike a tall, lissome model that you would want to make a clothes hanger, you nearly want to shoot Alia Bhatt with the bare minimum on, because she is, literally, comfortable in her own skin. And yet, she transforms in front of the spotlight with every kind of outfit that comes her way. Flirty dresses that lend romantic appeal, punk rock chic with attitude, jackets that demand attention and couture befitting an urban sophisticate. It’s all Alia, and you could keep going. Wielding props from metallic studded headphones to virginal blooms, she carries off the ready smiles and pouts like she was to the camera born.

It’s this chameleon-like adaptability to clothes, moods and the environment that makes her come alive on screen with a natural aura. She isn’t someone who needs the ‘right’ look or the ‘perfect’ environment to perform. Alia is a heady cocktail of daintiness amid sharpness: the limoncello that is quietly, unobtrusively intoxicating, without a harsh edge. And she has a wry sense of humour. It’s not slapstick and perhaps not sharp enough to be British, but it is blunt. When she can’t hear our creative director’s suggestions over the loud music, her lips curl into a slight smile to knock the bite off the words, “Either scream or don’t talk!”

The one ‘look’ that suggests longevity is the all-encompassing smile that radiates oomph and naïveté all at once: the glow of youth and the vigour of a woman. Alia Bhatt has an incredible fan following online, despite the live gaffes that have had the country in disbelieving splits. But then, refreshingly, like India rubber, she bounces back, laughing at herself, finding humour in the absurd and her fan base swells with overwhelming uproar. And that is style. The skill to be suave in situations that don’t appear favourable, to shrug those perfect shoulders and create your own brand of cool; that’s what makes Alia Bhatt stand out from the crowd. “I can’t answer questions about what others think about me or what image I am portraying. I prefer not to think about why I am not like the others. Then I will become conscious of it and I will try and be this fabricated version of myself which is not fun, and then you are taking yourself too seriously.”

She doesn’t need to be an intellectual, she’s smarter than that. Intellectuals alienate the masses, smart people know that being a nonchalant but authentic version of yourself is magnetic in a world of make-believe and press imagery. “You can’t develop that. You either have it or not. It’s actually not even an ability, it’s just who you are. I think a certain way, which I assume is how it’s supposed to be, and which reflects how I have been brought up. Because of the fact that people keep talking about it now, I feel that it’s a big deal to not take yourself too seriously.”

At 23, she is admittedly a dreamer, but in other words, she runs the happy risk of losing interest rapidly — and you have to work really hard to engage her. Much like a girl of her age, in today’s age. It’s a generation that perhaps isn’t heavy on wisdom, but is wise beyond their years. Wise enough to understand that in a world of ephemeral wants and multiple choices, it’s best to go with the flow. To know who you are and ignore naysayers and disbelievers. Because where’s the time for that? Alia Bhatt epitomises the young woman of today — self-assured but not self-reflective or conscious. “I know when people say things like ‘youth icon’ it bodes a sense of responsibility. I just hope that when they look up to anyone, or look at anyone, they see a real person they can connect with rather than the images portrayed on screen as characters.”

It’s important, to her, that this ‘real person’ be well-put-together. “If I am going out for an event, or a party, I always want to look impressive. And that’s not to impress one person in particular!” Who’s her definition of a best-dressed person? “Somebody who stands out without trying too hard; who can combine looks with a certain ease, which is not ‘black heels, a bodycon dress, tight and fitted right here, and perfect hair’. That’s nice, but there has to be some personality, something interesting about the way the person dresses. Either the combination, or the kind of clothes, keeping the trends in mind. Someone who basically understands their body, self and clothes.”

As spirited women from Indian cinema have often grappled with the question of publicity and image, Alia is very firm that being an actor of worth isn’t enough. “It is important to be well dressed. You can’t just be focusing on your talent. You have to be visually appealing. If you are beautiful, you would present yourself beautifully also.” Alia isn’t alien to making a good impression, in every way she can. Much like Angelina Jolie’s internet-breaking wedding gown decorated with the artwork of her children, Alia’s stylist came up with the idea of a ‘doodle dress’ during the promotion of her film Shandaar last year. “I feel really bad — we are constantly getting these lovely letters, drawings, paintings and pictures from our fans and we never get to do anything with them apart from looking at them and probably saving them. This way I can actually wear them, since clothes are such a big part of our lives. It was an ode to the fans.”

She’s recently bought adult colouring books, to rewind to a childhood passion. “It’s exciting, therapeutic and de-stressing; it’s complicated, but so much fun! And it’s still hard to stay inside the lines — which is important, to make it look neat and pretty.” And that defines Alia, striving to stay inside the lines, without toeing the line. Someone who always puts her best foot forward, even if she manages to put her foot in her mouth occasionally.

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Alia Speak

“My trademark style is comfort mixed with fun and colour. I dress according to my mood — after all, I’m a Piscean! I’m always comfortable, no matter what I’m wearing.”

“I need my stylist(s) to push me. It’s also important that they understand my vibe. If I feel it’s not me, I won’t wear it even if it’s gorgeous. You need someone who understands fashion and trends, even making a look out of something in your own wardrobe. I may like a stand-alone top and a dress, but I may not be able to visualise a winning combination.”

“I love Kangana’s (Ranaut) sense of style. She has nailed the combination of being at ease and looking unique at the same time.”

“I would happily get into a ganjee and loose long overalls with jeans; pyjamas in bed; and sneakers over heels any day! I wear a nice dress if I’m dressing to impress. It can be a midi, but it should be interesting and not the short, typical outfit. I love what I wore for my birthday this year —  the Bambah dress. There isn’t any look that I regret.”

“It takes me 20 minutes to get ready for a regular look and an hour for something dressier.”

“My go-to city for shopping is London.”

“I love ready-to-wear kind of brands like Chloe, Zadig & Voltaire and Anya Hindmarch. Locally, I love Manish (Malhotra), he’s an all-time favourite. From the newer lot, I really like Dhruv Kapoor.”

“I’m not a label-conscious person, I can wear anything from anywhere. But, I would choose bags from the luxury lines simply because I want them to be long-lasting and of high quality.”

“If I had to be a brand ambassador, I would choose affordable over luxury. For example, Anya (Hindmarch). The bags have a lot of personality.”

“I like following trends — because that’s what is available and looking good. I don’t follow every kind of trend…there are some which wouldn’t look good on me. I could never wear a fringe dress for instance — it would irritate me, the idea of everything just dangling about! Give me a fringe jacket, instead.”

“I have a love-hate relationship with food. While I love it, instinctively I don’t eat badly. I like it to be nutritious and I don’t enjoy the taste of junk grub any more.”

“I’ve recently turned vegetarian/pescatarian — I eat fish once in a blue moon. I went off meat — there is no religious reason, but I felt so much better when I was avoiding it. I prefer only three meals a day. I have porridge or granola (from the Paleo Foods Company) with almond milk for breakfast, sabzi-roti (ragi/jowar) for lunch and something light for dinner, like soup and an omelette, or fish and veggies. Or I have dahi-chawal. I love it, it’s my favourite thing to eat!”

“If I don’t work out, I get really cranky. I have always been like that. I was recently ill and forbidden to go to the gym and all I could think of was about when I could get back. I like sweating it out. I do a combination of Pilates and cardio. I also love swimming.”

“For a night out in town I go to my favourite restaurants for dinner. It’s generally with my sister (Shaheen) or my friends…I have three friends in total! I’d wear comfortable clothes, because if I go out, I eat!”

“I zone in and out of places, people and conversations like that (snaps fingers). I can dream about anything — what I want to do next, something that I saw, a movie that I want to see or be in, a vacation….”

“I have an obsessive-compulsive disorder — vis-à-vis my hands. I need to keep cleaning my hands. While running on the treadmill all I can think about is how I need to clean my hands! It’s very irritating — you reminded me of it now again. And then I keep smelling them. (Smells them.) Now I want some cream.”

“When not working, I just want to sleep…lie in bed and watch Downton Abbey or Friends. Comfortable, happy stuff.”

Gypsy Queen: Anushka Sharma

01 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by in Interviews (All), Interviews: Cinema, Interviews: Cover Stories, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Published Verve Magazine (Cover story) April 2015 and on vervemagazine.in
Photographs by Prasad Naik

Anushka Sharma for Verve Magazine April 2015 cover

“I don’t think I have ever felt like I have belonged to any place.” Coming from an army background, she has spent her youth travelling around the country. Even Bengaluru, where she spent most of her time, wasn’t really home. Anushka Sharma moved to Mumbai over eight years ago with no connections, accompanied by just her mother and brother. “The beauty of my childhood, the lovely experiences I had…all came into focus when I didn’t have them anymore.”

The arrival into the city, into the civilian world, made her appreciate the sheltered and contained life she had lived before. “That’s what your journey is about — when you are living it you don’t know what it is, you are only experiencing emotions. In the army background you are prepped to live in order; when you come out of it, you experience chaos. You live and you continue the motions to cope with it. You ride the tide. You can’t stop and think; you go with the flow.”

In her new, comfortably appointed home in Versova, she tucks herself into a nook of her massive sofa and bites into an extra-large samosa with relish. This particular house has been a labour of love; with an entire floor (over 6000 square feet) devoted to private spaces for her parents, her brother and herself. Bright vases, patterned wallpaper, large mirrors, distressed furniture all radiate a happy, lived-in vibe. After the success of the Aamir Khan-starrer, PK, she’s shooting nights, and also juggling the launch of her maiden production venture, NH10 while awaiting the release of Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet with Ranbir Kapoor. She doesn’t have the jaded eye of a seasoned traveller or the wide-eyed wonder of a newbie. She’s free from poetry but she finds the silent music that calls out to her when she moves to her own rhythm. Over cups of cappuccino made with freshly crushed coffee beans and topped with smileys patterned in the foam, we discover the girl behind the gypsy.

“Mumbai made me grow up.”
“I was 17 or 18 when I came to Mumbai. I didn’t have any friends when I came here. My brother (older by four years) accompanied me…we got even closer. You learn so much about yourself. For an outsider, the city doesn’t have a residential vibe, unlike Bengaluru and Delhi. Here, every area is a mix of workplaces and homes. You are constantly surrounded by a rapid pace and energy. You find it daunting, you get involved in it, you get sucked into it and finally find your calm in the city.”

“Mumbai is an extremely professional city.”
“I have gotten a lot from it and I have grown to respect the place. There is a vein in which people who live here function, especially those who have come from outside to work. People are hard-working — constantly on the move, constantly trying to make something out of their lives.”

“Although you are a part of this huge population, you are constantly alone.”
“People say Mumbai is a lonely city. Everyone’s moving in a hurry. No one casually chats with anyone. In a train filled with people, no one is having a conversation. Everyone is in his or her own zone. And you want that, you are looking for this time to yourself.”

“I just want to be left alone when I am travelling.”
“Even when nobody knew who I was, I would explore places as if I were lost in my own world. That’s the time you enjoy your privacy. In India I can only see places when I am shooting, because they are cordoned off. It’s only abroad that I can experience something as normal as getting out of the hotel and walking on the street rather than getting into a car and going somewhere….”

“I’m not interested in sightseeing.”
“As actors we travel a lot. We live in places for 15 days to a month and a half. A film crew is always interested in the sights. For me, it’s all about the experience. I want to go to a restaurant; I want to walk on the streets and eat in the quaint places, experiencing the local flavour of the place. That’s exciting.”

“I always end up talking to strangers.”
“While growing up I used to watch a lot of travel shows. The one thing that connects people and places is food. There are so many stories you hear when you go to a restaurant or to a bar, meeting local people, talking to them. That discovery is very important, which is why I don’t like going to touristy places. If my friends want to go to Goa, I won’t take them to Baga. It will be to a place that I have discovered after several visits to Goa.”

“I’ve always been open to new experiences.”
“Travel is anything that enables you to have a different perspective on things, which could be 50 or 5000 kilometres away. I constantly want to see and know more. I don’t have a wish list, because when you really want to connect to places you keep your horizons wide and open.”

“I find it difficult to connect to European countries.”
“I find that language is a barrier — as much as I love Europe and its unique culture — I don’t think about living or having a house there.”

“I bring back fridge magnets from every place I go to.”
“I also always pick up one for a friend. Unfortunately, in this (new) home, I am unable to put up the magnets on the modular kitchen fridge, so now I just keep them or give them to people….”

“My home is very personal.”
“I didn’t want someone to just do my house. I didn’t want an opulent looking place with chandeliers and velvet or the colour red. I find it impersonal. I wanted a space that would be an extension of my own personality. I’m a little rough around the edges, I’m not very proper; so the elements in the house are close to that.”

“The moment in my life that I felt extremely proud was the day I moved into my house.”
“People in the industry who come from an affluent background, may feel it’s just buying a house…but for me, it’s a milestone. When you come from a middle class background, it’s the biggest achievement. I’ve lived in government lodgings all my life. My father had taken many loans for our house in Bengaluru. I’m very close to my family and always wanted to live with them. When I moved into this house, my father looked very happy — and for the first time I felt proud of myself. Though I had an apartment before, this was the ‘big’ house we all wanted. ‘Achievement’ is a personal term. For the world achievements may be fame and money, but just the fact that we had made a home, meant the world to me.”

Anushka Sharma for Verve Magazine April 2015 cover

Places with connect

St Ives, England
“I had the most amazing mussels here. (I am now a vegetarian). I could see seagulls near the ocean, hear the sound of the birds, the weather was beautiful; I was with my closest friends and the mussels were so fresh….”

Galibore, Karnataka
“I went to a fishing camp with two friends. The Kaveri River flows by there. It wasn’t the fishing season; bits of the riverbed were exposed. We didn’t fish, but we would go on boat rides. We stayed in a camping site that included tents and barbeques, no resorts!”

Australia
“Even though I’ve only been there once, I really liked it.”

Café Y, New York City
“It’s an underground café in the Village. I heard the most beautiful music here. It was commercial music, but done so differently.”

North-east India
“The north-east is the loveliest part of our country. When I was six or seven years old my father was posted in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. I used to travel to places people hadn’t even heard of. It was a completely different world.”

London, United Kingdom
“I could have a house in London. I’ve been there the most number of times; I know the place really well.”

Anushka Sharma for Verve Magazine April 2015 cover

Right Here, Right Now with Anushka Sharma:

On my iPod “Take Me To Church by Hozier.”

In (On) my fridge “No fridge magnets!” (There’s a story behind this. Read more here.)

In my bag “Wallet, Lip Balm, House Keys.”

On my blacklist “Complicated people, drama, lies, dishonesty.”

In my wallet “Money, credit cards, identity card.”

In my bedroom “I like it clean. I don’t like hoarding things. Just my bed, TV and books.”

On my bookshelf  “Lots and lots of books. A favourite, JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.”

On my phone “Phone calls, music, e-mails.”

On my wall “Two pictures of a ballet school, showing the feet of ballerinas. It describes all the things your body can’t naturally do, that you train your body to do – it shows strength and hard work; it is beautiful and creative.”

In my car’s glove compartment “Tissues.”

In my wardrobe “Clothes waiting to be colour coded! I have no OCDs but my wardrobe is chaotic. It’s a walk-in wardrobe where I just leave things. I can’t find clothes. So I keep saying I need more clothes.”

On my bucket list “To travel, to grow, to learn.”

In my beauty bag “Lip balm, mascara, under-eye cream.”

In my bathroom “I’m obsessed with bath products! I have lots of shower gels and multiple body lotions. My nose is sensitive and when I wake up and go to have a shower, I like to surround myself with lovely fragrances.”

On my skin “Moisturiser. I have asked all the women whom I have met who have great skin, if they moisturised a lot when they were younger, and they said yes. However late I may return from a shoot or however tired I may be, I make sure I moisturise everyday.”

In my life “Family, work, love.”

Curators of Style: Sussanne Khan, Farah Khan Ali & Simone Arora

11 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by in Interviews (All), Interviews: Cinema, Interviews: Cover Stories, Interviews: Lifestyle, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Published Verve Magazine, December 2014
Photograph by Rohan Shrestha

These stylish, poised women have created a name for themselves in the designing world, each with a distinctive sense of aesthetics and style. Sussanne Khan for her interior design and curated home store, Farah Khan Ali for her jewellery brand and Simone Arora for her fabric design and recently-opened concept home boutique. Sanjay and Zarine Khan’s daughters are creative, dedicated and spirited women of substance, discovers Verve

Verve Magazine December 2014 cover: Sussanne Khan, Farah Khan Ali, Simone Arora

It’s not a stretch of the imagination to expect that the younger lot of a famous film family are likely to be starry, diva-esque butterfly society women. It is an easy stereotype that gets associated with those who come from a family of means and natural access to the limelight. But Zarine and Sanjay Khan’s daughters appear to be quite the opposite. They are self-assured, strong-willed and independent, with a single-minded determination to excel and are deeply passionate about their work.

Producer, director and actor, Sanjay Khan and his interior designer wife, Zarine Khan (née Katrak) have four children. The first, 45-year-old Farah Khan Ali is married to DJ Aqeel and is the founder of the Farah Khan Fine Jewellery brand. Younger by a year, Simone, married to Ajay Arora, the owner of D’Decor home furnishings, has been instrumental in the creative aspect of the brand and has recently launched her own concept store, Simone. Thirty-six-year-old Sussanne, formerly married to Indian cinema actor and childhood sweetheart Hrithik Roshan, has followed her mother in interior design and has been working on her own store, The Charcoal Project, for the last few years. Zayed is the youngest, whom Sussanne considers to be “a boy version of me, my twin!” even though he is two years younger.

Through various interactions with the women in the family, you begin to draw a distinct sense of who they are. Fiercely protective about each other and extremely supportive, there is an easy camaraderie that can only be built up through a lifetime of nurturing. As Farah interjects, twice, “I love them to death and would do anything for them. I would even kill for them…not that I would ever kill anyone.”

Firm grounding
“It’s the values,” insists Zarine Khan, called the “firecracker of the family” by Sussanne. When you speak to her, you understand what her daughters are made of. Notwithstanding the strong creative and emotional influence their father has had on them, you come away knowing that they are reflections – albeit in their own unique ways – of their mother. She is crisp in her language, sharp in her observations and firm in her opinions. “They grew up with a lot of humanity in them, with gentleness and kindness and not an ounce of jealousy. Even though we had cars at our disposal, we had rules. Once by car, the next time by bus.” Simone speaks up. “We were not raised to be competitive, to be compared or be critical. We complemented each other.” And the importance given to the legacy of education, impressed upon them by their father who himself couldn’t complete his education due to lack of funds. Farah: “We were taught to value people and relationships over things. People can never be replaced; things can be. If Simone buys something bigger, I won’t envy her, I’ll be happy that I can also use it. We share bags, clothes, shoes, jewellery, memories and laughter.”

Well-travelled and well-exposed to the world, fond of the European lifestyle and far from a slacker, Zarine continues to work for her select clientele even today. It is a family of early risers and active swimmers, with full workdays. “Despite having all the luxuries of being a star wife, I continued to work. I’ve impressed upon them the need to avoid idle gossip.”

Sussanne recalls, “Our mother left us with the thought that we must try and be the best we could be and choose to do something that would give us creative satisfaction. Watching her was the biggest example.”

Meeting the Khans
I had first seen Sussanne at a tony suburban café with her then-fiancé Hrithik Roshan, sharing conversation and coffee just before the launch of his first film, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai (2000). They looked at ease with each other, made a lovely couple and suggested a genteel persona. No one knew that he would soon take the industry by storm. Sussanne is not too different today, nearly 15 years later. While her youthful face may be etched with the trials of a woman, she has an easy charm that you warm up to instantly. The girl who has a tattoo on her arm that reads, ‘Follow your sunshine’, is polite, courteous as a host, punctilious and an amiable conversationalist.

Farah appears to be more difficult to pin down, as she misses the first interview opportunity and leaves hurriedly through the second, with a promise to send an e-mail message. She surprises you by actually doing so, and then calling and texting after. You are left amused, because this grown woman of a well-established brand is droll and sincere and as she puts it, somehow manages to find “method to the madness”. Simone wants to be heard. With the launch of her store, this is her chance to come into her own, in the eye of the media, and she is eager to make her voice and name felt.

Simone: The one in the background
Simone, the first to tie the knot at the age of 21, joined her husband as the creative director of his business. At the time, Ajay Arora used to manufacture garments. Zarine Khan felt the greater potential of a furnishings line, and seeing the business sense in it, Simone and Ajay took up the challenge. They bought designs from Italy, machines from Belgium and started the process of creating samples for the international fairs. Simone, with her unerring eye for colour, was in charge of creating the designs and combinations. Now, after 15 years, the D’Decor brand is the world’s largest exporter of home furnishing fabrics. Four years ago, they turned their attention to the local market with Gauri and Shah Rukh Khan as brand ambassadors.

“After being an anonymous contributor to D’Decor (while it was the company that made me who I am), I felt it was time to express myself and create an identity of my own.” Inspired by the process of designing her own home, Amore, and the feedback she received, Simone took forward the idea of her own store. She wanted a modern space hosted in a classic heritage building and Amarchand Mansion in South Mumbai provided exactly that. The store, Simone, launched just over two months ago, is nature-inspired, with curated pieces from international brands. “It was a hard journey, a labour of love. It had to embody me and my design sensibility. Simone is like a canvas, and everything that I display is the hero. I like to accessorise on simple cuts and monochromatic palettes. We have everything for the home, including the signature scent of Simone.” (Read more about Simone Arora.)

Farah: The party girl grown up
Farah was the one who floundered the most in choosing a career. Having assisted her father in the television production of his serials and dabbled in interior designing, she came into her own accidentally. Taking off for a course in gemmology at the GIA (USA), she thought it would be a good cover for a fun social life. “On the first day of my class, I learned that gemmology was the study of the chemical, optical and physical properties of 99 minerals and their gemstone varieties. I was in total shock as it involved all the sciences I had despised in school! Having made a promise to my dad to excel, I ended up becoming the ‘Indian nerd’ instead of the ‘party animal’.” She topped her class and there was no looking back. “The Bollywood connection only helped open doors initially; but it was my work eventually that made people keep coming back. I struggled hard – I had no investment of my own to begin with, so I began creating designs on paper that were breathtakingly beautiful. I spent hours sketching, rendering and painting life into each piece.”

Over the years, from retailing with other jewellers to starting her own store and then facing legal trouble with a disgruntled financial partner, Farah emerged surer, wiser and stronger as a businesswoman, able to take her brand to the next level. Having to start financially all over again, she then secured a loan and began her own top-of-the-line manufacturing unit. In 2013 she re-opened her showroom in Bandra in a bigger way; and just last month, Farah achieved another milestone by signing up as a designer for Tanishq and becoming the first designer approved by them to take care of the manufacturing, having met the strict  standards of the Tata Group. “I see the world in a magical perspective where everything I see, I see as design. Design for me begins with a strong emotion. My thoughts are conceived in my overactive imagination that allows me the freedom to make the impossible possible.” (Read more about Farah Khan Ali.)

Sussanne: The spirited dreamer
Sussanne, being the youngest, used to accompany her mother on the latter’s interior projects. Her mother recalls fondly, “She could make out the difference between fawn and beige!” She has always been attracted to a strong masculine sensibility, despite her petite feminine appearance. “I love metal, Gothic, industrial, shabby chic. Metal mixed with leather and dark wood, elements of nature.” A strong believer in the energy radiated by metal, Sussanne’s style is about the bolder, stoic structures balanced with the frivolous and fun using European influences, like that of French Rococo and Renaissance.

After Sophia College in Mumbai, she went to Brooks College in Long Beach California to study interior design. Like her father, she got interested in the history of art and architecture. “As a designer you have to ensure that what you are giving your clients is unique. You also have to get to know them well so that you can have them feel the best in their space. In the setting you have to think of stories, and the story is more important than the product.”

Talking about the inspiration behind The Charcoal Project, her face is more alive than ever. “Space can be grey and lifeless; charcoal is ugly. But when you light it, it sparks up. When a designer or person ignites a site or project it almost glows, as life is breathed into it. Design is a feeling. It elevates you. It makes you feel good. It is also designing your thoughts, and about how to deal with certain situations in your life.” (Read more about Sussanne Khan.)

Entertaining as a lifestyle
All three sisters strongly believe that the exposure while growing up has led to their creativity. Sussanne: “The influence of the world of design and the aesthetic value of knowing how important your home or your way of living is has been brought in by both parents equally. My father and mother (who is a Parsi) are both passionate about entertainment, with visitors from all over the world, not just the film fraternity. They have the most fabulous spread of exotic foods. The home was also like their temple.” Sussanne remembers watching her mother put together the most beautiful table settings. Lemon and white, or a combination of sea green, in handcrafted, cross-stitched French linen, flower arrangements, silver and cut glass all formed a harmonious composition. “In other homes, dining is part of the living room. In our home it was kept separate, giving it that importance. If the family was in the house, we always ate every meal together. We were never encouraged to eat alone in our room.” Sussanne, who has two sons, Hrehaan (8) and Hridhaan (6); Farah, who has a son, Azaan (11) and daughter, Fizaa (9); and Simone, who has three children – boys Armaan (18), Yuraaz (17) and a daughter Adah (11) – have continued this tradition with the next generation. (Read more: What do Sussanne, Farah and Simone have in their homes?)

And to date, the smaller, intimate gatherings are what they value the most. Farah, the acknowledged party girl admits, “Twenty years ago entertaining meant going out all night and breaking all the curfews, getting caught, getting fired. Now entertaining means being with my family and people I care about, my close friends. It’s not about being everywhere or at Page 3 parties. It’s about being with people who matter.”

Making relationships work
Farah, who renewed wedding vows with husband DJ Aqeel on their 10th wedding anniversary in Goa, shares that they are both very different people – one “living by the day” and the other “by the night”, and all marriages have their own challenges. “There is no marriage that is perfect and it requires a lot of hard work like any relationship. Some succeed, some don’t, and some keep trying, some leave and some stay. Being successfully married in any actor’s life is a miracle because your marriage is never a private affair and things that any other couple could have worked out easily become a mammoth issue because of a lack of total privacy. Sometimes less ‘concern’ by others is much nicer.” Talking about her sister, Farah says, “Sussanne is my precious baby and Hrithik is my younger brother who I love and adore with all my heart. I will always be there for both of them and wish things work out eventually, but if they don’t, I will have no choice but to accept that too. Equations change all the time but certain bonds transcend all.”

Sussanne, in a different conversation, when asked whom she relies upon during trying moments, shares that while family is always at hand, she is a bit of a loner and a private person and remains inspired by great thinkers like Einstein and Steve Jobs. “There are times when you have to make a choice and people may not think it’s the right choice, but you have to be true to yourself in life. You have to live in your own head, and you don’t have to live in anyone else’s head. It’s important for human beings to value their instinct and their own gut more than any suggestion or any kind of influence from the outside.”

The sibling equation
As evidenced at the shoot, Simone wields easy authority over Farah. Farah reminisces from their childhood: “She was the head girl; I was the naughty girl. She was neat and organised; I was untidy and disorganised. Simone had timetables on one side of the wall; I had rock stars and pop stars. She would want to wake up in the morning to study. I would want to stay up all night and not study. We had a line dividing our parts of the room and if either one crossed that line they would get a slap! She married the first man she cared about. I dated many frogs before I met my prince.”

Sussanne, who is an amalgamation of the two of them in terms of personality, finds a balance. “At work I maintain a certain order, but there is also a strong element of a flower child in me, which likes to enjoy life and music.” She talks about their childhood, “There would be crazy fighting growing up – actual physical fights. My sisters were fighting over a dress, and my mom, who knew how to shut us up, took the dress and cut it in the middle and gave each of them half! My parents never took sides or indulged us to the level of spoiling us. They taught us to appreciate what we have and to not ever think that something that is expensive will make us feel or look better.”

Coming of age
The turning point in their lives came soon after their father’s fire accident while shooting on the sets of the television series, The Sword of Tipu Sultan. As teenagers they had to come to terms with the fact that their father may not make it. “We saw our mother stand up, so tough against all the odds stacked up against her. We thought, come what may, we are going to be like her, going to be strong.”

Eighty-two operations and 103 bottles of blood later, he survived. Simone feels it taught them perseverance and determination, “the never-say-die spirit, how to appreciate life and all its offerings.” In the hospital room, he saw the staff come in to clean, and all he wanted was to switch places with them – he was in such extreme pain. “The doctors wanted us to amputate his hands, saying that it was the only way he would survive.” Their mother refused. Eventually, post his recovery, he went back to completing Tipu Sultan, even riding horseback in the heat of Rajasthan.

Farah needed to release the stress and turned to dance with Shiamak Davar’s troupe. “The discipline that I learned is what I put into my work today. From a youngster who didn’t care about things I became this perfectionist. It changed me overnight. I became more like Simone!”

She continues to sum up the go-getter anthem of the family that has seen many ups and downs, together and individually. “It’s not where you are born; it’s what you make of your life. I have seen the rich squander away their legacy and have seen the poor man make history. Carve your own destiny…only you can.”

Ranbir Kapoor: Fatal Attraction

01 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by in Interviews (All), Interviews: Cinema, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Published Verve Magazine, Verve Man supplement, cover story, October 2014
Photographs by Dabboo Ratnani

Ranbir Kapoor for TAG Heuer and Verve, shot by Dabboo Ratnani Ranbir-Kapoor-5-960x900_c

In 2007, with Saawariya, a fresh-faced actor emerged, with the promise of cinematic style. He was eminently watchable and easy on the eyes. The very fact that he could drop his towel without any inhibitions in his first film showed that he had no awkward reservations and could go the distance. Through the films after, he proved himself to be a commercially viable Bollywood star, dancing like a pro and displayed clever histrionics that can only come from a place that has nothing to do with training, observation, knowledge or practice. It’s inherent, it’s intrinsic and it’s something that makes him the poster child for royal DNA.

Suave and personable, there is a boyish charm that makes it easy for people to get drawn to him. I met him socially, just before the release of Saawariya, and when he discovered that I was involved in the film in a small way, he immediately asked my opinion of the film with tremulous anticipation. It was the launch pad to his dream career, after all. Even then, his soft-spoken voice and sincere doe-eyes made you want to believe.

Rockstar director, Imtiaz Ali, is all praise for the Kapoor: “As an actor, Ranbir keeps his craft craftless. He manages not to impose his personality on the character. That is almost impossible to achieve. He is truly deeply madly passionate about cinema. Anyone would be lucky to work with him.” And his repertoire of varied roles underlines this fact. Rocket Singh (2009) proved that Ranbir Kapoor could take a staid role devoid of glamour and turn it into one of his most memorable performances. Rockstar (2011) displayed the zeal, the aesthetic heights that he could be driven to for a role. Barfi! (2012) established that Ranbir could be given any role, with any disability and he could rip the screen with the sheer power of his performance. It’s that easy for him. It’s that exciting for us as viewers. It is without a shred of doubt that the elusive superstar that people await for decades, even generations, has been delivered in the form of Raj Kapoor’s grandson.

But somewhere along the lines, cracks began to appear on the chiselled persona. He’s the rock star of our dreams and the Hyde of our nightmares. He’s the debonair rakish Willoughby that every ‘good’ girl gets her knickers in a twist for, in a futile attempt to tame. He’s young, at the prime of his game and he must sow his wild oats. Do his personal choices make a difference to his onscreen abilities? Only when he chooses to play the field onscreen, you want to save the haseenas from his grasp.

Fortunately for him, the chinks that appear in the amour are only personal ones, never professional. And after a tumultuous break-up he can continue to woo his ex-girlfriend on screen with as much finesse as he would his latest lady love, as is evident by the massive success of last year’s rom-com entirely lacking in nuances,Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.

But, his ability to sustain lasting relationships with the same ease he brings to the screen is the question. Is it possible, or fair to expect him to have it all? He promised us a screen hero and never fails to deliver. Must he also give us a persona that we can look up to and admire in real life? It is so rare to find a combination of a brilliant actor and a movie star – one that the masses and critics applaud with equal spirit. May that be enough for us, and may we only hope that the women in his life find peace in being a part of something greater than a person – being witness to Talent.

Ranbir Speak

“My own search for who I am and to make my parents proud, is what drives me. I am very passionate about Indian cinema, acting, directing and producing films. I get to do what I love…it becomes the biggest driving force in life.”

“I don’t think I have ever felt pressure. I felt a responsibility – my family has been contributing to Indian cinema for 80 years and now I have to take that legacy forward, in my own individual way with my own notions, thoughts and choices. Pressure is always used in a negative way; it has positive attributes. So for me it was a responsibility and I had to prove myself within my family.”

“I don’t take tags like ‘desirable’, ‘good-looking’ or ‘bad looking’ too seriously. I always believe that handsome is what handsome really does. If your work is good, everything seems good. I hope to continue doing good work, work with interesting people and constantly surprise myself.”

“You go to work, you come back home, and you switch off and spend time with family, your wife, your girlfriend and your siblings. Family and close friends are really important, that’s what grounds you. The film industry transports you to a place that is not real, so it is really important to get back to your bearings.”

No Airs, All Grace

30 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by in Interviews (All), Interviews: Cinema, Interviews: Cover Stories, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Published Verve Magazine, July 2014, Art Special, Cover Story
Photographs by Jatin Kampani

She’s like a delightful elf, a wisp of fresh air, youthful, light-hearted and effortlessly chic. The face of alternate cinema and an agreeable player in mainstream blockbusters, Kalki Koechlin is malleable and experimental, making her the perfect muse for Verve’s art issue. Verve explores the creative inspirations that define her personality and talent

Kalki Koechlin Verve July cover girl - art special shot by Jatin Kampani  VERVE-KALKI-KOECHLIN2

Kalki Koechlin impresses upon you that she’s not conventional by any means. She stood out from her first film, Dev D (2009), where she played the role of Leni, a teenage girl caught in the world of prostitution. Her molten sensuality and her raw performance were stellar, added to which was the subject matter, the fact that she is a “white, blonde-haired chick” and that she is tantalisingly uninhibited. And it’s a different uninhibitedness from say that of a Rakhi Sawant or a Mallika Sherawat; Kalki’s is a classy reserved-ness that naturally doesn’t liken itself to exposure. She isn’t crass or over the top – she merely has different boundaries. These are the boundaries that an artist explores, that one probes unreservedly at societal limitations. “I am not consciously trying to be different; the fact is, that I am different,” she explains, while sitting with her bare feet tucked under her on the sofa. She admits facing an on-going battle with people’s perceptions and consciously attempts to break those limitations.

A QUIRKY BEGINNING
Everything about her has been fairly unusual. Born in Puducherry to French parents, Francoise and Joel Koechlin, who settled into ashram life, she hasn’t been brought up with conventional rules. “They both came here separately, they met in India. They were looking for a life that was different – they taught me to be responsible but to make my own choices. It was never, ‘you have to believe it because we believe it’.”

A CHILDHOOD OF GULLY CRICKET AND PHILOSOPHY
Growing up she read a lot of philosophical literature, including Aurobindo. While most people safely go their entire life without stumbling upon it, Kalki explored Krishnamurti’s Freedom From The Known at the age of 13. “My life changed because of it – you get affected by these things.” She started writing at a very early age – little poems, songs, stories, while running around barefoot, playing gully cricket in a village called Periamudaliachavadi and exploring drama and art along with trekking through jungles while at Hebron School, Ooty. So removed was it from a traditional Indian schooling experience, that she felt comfortable in the knowledge that it was all sufficiently “open-minded and liberal”. Until she had an eye-opening jolt when she went off to study at Goldsmiths in London, where there were “women with T-shirts saying ‘I’m a lesbian’, with pink hair and purple tutus and Goth black boots coming to school. I felt so simple!”

BRINGING THEATRE TO LIFE
Studying drama in London was admittedly the greatest influence on her, carving her as an actor. You understand immediately when she explains that Damien Hirst, and some “out-there art” emerged from Goldsmiths. A smile begins to form, “A lot of which I didn’t like, but which made me think outside the box. It was an opening to these other things that I knew nothing about. An artist takes everything as inspiration, everything that affects your life, the circumstances.”

CREATING CHARACTERS THAT SPEAK
Her all-round drama course exposed her to everything from feminism in theatre to world theatre (including our own Kathakali and Butoh, a Japanese form of theatre); while she picked her favourites from the local greats like Pina Bausch, Peter Brook, Robert Lepage and Robert Wilson. That foundation in theatre becomes ingrained – as a big screen actor, she needs familiarity with the mise-en-scène, which takes place upon reaching the set – even before hair and make-up. A newspaper-stuffed handbag won’t do; what if she needs to throw something at someone, or needs the phone to make a call, while in the throes of the scene? “I need to know what is in my room… what drawers to open! Sometimes I ask the set designer to put some stuff in. The more detailing you give to anything, the more real it becomes.”

Kalki Koechlin for Verve's July Art Issue shot by Jatin Kampani

BEING A HUMAN CHAMELEON
The personality she brings to a mainstream girl-next-door role, like that of Aditi in last year’s blockbuster, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, is unique. The mannerisms, the bitchy look, the irritatingly suffocating girlfriend may be as far removed from Kalki in real life as possible, but Natasha in Zoya Akhtar’s hit film, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara(2011) came alive on screen and became one of the most memorable characters from the movie. Kalki can’t help asking questions… making sure the script works, the role works and maybe that’s why the casting works. “I need logic to the character, some idea of how it’s working, even if it is a completely commercial film. You have to make that character believable for yourself. If you don’t believe it, your audience won’t believe it.”

SEARCHING FOR ACCEPTANCE
She has a particularly contrary mix of cinematic choices – dark, edgy plots, horror and easy feel-good romantic films. She takes this mixed bag in her stride; after all, she can watch a Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts’ rom-com, intense European films, or “a mindnumbing Bollywood film like Heroine” with equal ease. “Everybody has multiple tastes, so why should  an actor only stick to one thing? An actor’s job is to be a chameleon, to constantly adapt to different roles. I just want to surprise myself. I chose to be an actor because I love the challenge of changing and transforming. If I get comfortable and stick to that, I would get bored of acting. I can’t keep doing the same role.”

TELLING A PERSONAL STORY
She’s not immune to the fact that an actor only survives because of an audience; an artist can’t find inspiration in isolation. “No matter how much you say you are only doing it for yourself, you want people to relate and understand. I don’t think of doing an independent film so that only my family will watch it, I think, ‘this is a great subject, how come we don’t talk about these things more’. At the end of the day, like everyone, I want to be loved and understood. And that’s the main thing an artist wants.”

The 30-year-old loves popping into MoMA, Tate Modern and the Guggenheim, and finds herself drawn to modern art. “Art is completely tied to the society and the place you are at. It is always relevant to what’s going on. It has to start with something personal otherwise it becomes a social cause. I see art that preaches about change. But until you bring your own personal story to it, it’s not as powerful. The reason you do art is because you feel helpless and you want to change things…but only when it really affects you do you begin to have something to say.” She expresses herself through her writing – even though she isn’t deeply committed to it. She’s written a play, Skeleton Woman, with her friend, Prashant Prakash; co-writtenThat Girl In Yellow Boots with director Anurag Kashyap; has written a new (untitled) play recently and engages in a spot of blogging. “It’s something very sporadic; I feel very focused on my acting. Writing is therapeutic for me.”

It’s difficult to imagine someone so soft-spoken having firm opinions about things; it’s unnatural to imagine Kalki as a movie star. She does and she isn’t. She’s an artiste, an actor, married to the craft, and understands and loves it for what it is. Having participated in various shoots and covers for Verve magazine, including a glamorous Best-Dressed issue last October, you find nothing has changed, no airs have appeared. She’s matured ever so slightly, or is it your imagination that the pixie-like features are just a bit worldlier post her recent estrangement from director-husband Anurag Kashyap? But the childlike innocence, the carefree spirit and the charming personality are all intact. She turns up post a leisurely holiday in Greece, with an enviable figure, abs to die for, dressed unobtrusively in pastel shorts and a shirt. She lounges around photographer Jatin Kampani’s studio, waiting for the shoot to commence, and is completely at ease, with herself and the people around her. She doesn’t mind being captured on candid camera without any make-up or work on her hair, while her contemporaries wouldn’t accept being seen without make-up. She takes photos of the crew on her own nifty camera and is easily amused with the results – promising to email them out. I am not surprised when, true to grain, the email arrives, intact with artistic filters that pick up the mustard yellow from my jumpsuit and spread it in a slow fire around my face. After all, what is art if not living life on your own terms with a little bit of experimentation?

KALKI’S COLLECTION
ON HER WALLS

  1. French artist Marie Tissot (original, inherited from her grandmother).
  2. Modernist Marc Chagall (replicas, he’s one of her favourites).
  3. Dhiraj Choudhury (painting of clowns, gifted to her by her mother).
  4. Amrita Bagchi (given by the artist in repayment for a favour).

IN HER LIBRARY

  1. Lots of books on philosophy, history and people.
  2. Leonard Cohen’s biography (“I am a fan of his music…not his personality!”).
  3. Non-fiction like Rana Dagupta’s Capital.
  4. Classics like those by Oscar Wilde and Edith Wharton.
  5. Kurt Vonnegut (“When he died, I was like, ‘What, I won’t get any more books?’”)

Watch Kalki live in Verve‘s quirky behind-the-scenes shoot here.

Cool Crusader

10 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by in Interviews (All), Interviews: Cinema, Publication: Verve Magazine

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Published: Verve Magazine, March 2014
Photograph by Toranj Kavyon

Theatre personality, Bollywood actress and American television star Poorna Jagannathan is passionate, driven and well on her way to achieving her own definition of success

Poorna Jagannathan for Verve Magazine

“I’m sick of hearing myself talk about things I’d love to do. I’m trying to just shut up and actually do them.”

And she has gone ahead and done exactly that. Poorna Jagannathan, 41, best known locally for her irreverent role in Delhi Belly (2011) and her character role in last year’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, juggles working in America and India while also being a mother to her seven-year-old son. “Straddling two continents and living a gypsy lifestyle isn’t easy, but I am drawn to excellent writing and for now, it’s still coming out of the States for me. And raising a child when both parents are working is like a dance where everyone has two left feet!”

Jagannathan was born in Tunisia, grew up in various parts of the world, before calling America home. The American television and film actor begins shooting for HBO’s new series, Criminal Justice, opposite Robert De Niro this summer. But closest to her heart is the critically acclaimed human-rights-theatre-project Nirbhaya, which is a play she has initiated, produced and is acting in. The gang rape in Delhi left her with an unnerving feeling of complicity – reminding her about the times she remained silent about the sexual violence she had dealt with. She felt it is silence that sustains a culture of violence and unaccountability.

Five women (including Jagannathan) come forward to talk about their own personal experience with sexual violence. The hope is that by them breaking their silence, the audience members will too. The play premiered abroad where it won the 2013 Amnesty International award, including several others. It was also listed by The Guardian’s critics as one of the ‘best plays of 2013’. Leaning on crowd funding for their India run, Nirbhaya tours Mumbai (Tata Theatre, 17-20), Delhi (FICCI Auditorium, 22-25) and Bengaluru (Rangshankara, 26-30) this month. “Producing Nirbhaya was a complete paradigm shift. I stopped waiting for something or someone to come along and change things. It’s also when I stopped talking about wanting to do something and actually did it – that was hugely liberating.”

She’s constantly looking to be the voice of dissent. Jagannathan has added a new dimension to the Bollywood red carpet look, and that’s because she likes character in everything that she wears or does. She treasures her wedding ring, which is her mother’s old, traditional South Indian, U-shaped ring. Her sense of humour serves her well as she navigates the Indian film industry, and she admires people who play the ‘David vs. Goliath’ game. “It takes a lot to go up against the system here.”

The Rose Code #1 Neha Dhupia: ‘A Higher State of Being’

03 Monday Mar 2014

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Published: Verve Magazine, February 2014, Luxe Select
Photograph by Toranj Kavyon

Actor and former Miss India, Neha Dhupia is a grounded celebrity. She carries herself with grace, works hard at her chosen profession and embodies a strong sense of self-worth, making her one of The Rose Code’s ambassadors of style and substance

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I’m a very stable person. When my head packs up, my body takes over; when my body packs up, my mind takes over.”

She’s confident, sorted and self-assured. Neha Dhupia has no qualms about speaking her mind, knows what she wants and comes across as balanced. The actor is in a good place right now with three films up for release before the summer: Ungli produced by Karan Johar (releasing next month), Viacom’s Santa Banta and Nautanki Film’s 21 Topo Ki Salaami, which she is currently shooting for.

She was all set to be an IAS officer – she had just chosen her subject – when a call from her uncle changed her path. He asked if she would be interested in trying out for the Miss India pageant. She missed the cut-off date that year, but kept an eye out for it the next. “When the other hopeful girls were starving to stay thin, I was having a ham-and-cheese multigrain club sandwich. Then I got selected, I won (2002) and things changed! I never thought I would last so many years.” She’s “had the pancake on for a long time”, been an actor in the Indian film industry for a decade, done theatre, modelling and the pageant before that. “The job that I do is most unstable and unforgiving. A bad photo is published more than a good one. But it’s also rewarding. I maintain a huge amount of stability in my head and heart. I’ve been in the tunnel and can always see the light.”

She counts her milestones in all her experiences, the first of everything achieved – getting on stage, walking the ramp, facing the camera, having a film release, running for the first time; and finding that life often comes a full circle. She’s been associated with charitable projects along the way – she’s run the Mumbai Marathon for the Concern India Foundation, she’s helped raise money for the Sikkim earthquake victims and for the last five years she has been a spokesperson for Shiksha, a philanthropic venture by Procter & Gamble.

Running is something very close to her heart. She ran the 2014 Marathon last month for a cause as important as any: herself. “I find my sense of spirituality in running. I never start or end my day without a run, even when I am travelling. Being in the industry you want to get away, to clear and relax your mind, not have it ticking like a time bomb. Running, to me, has almost become a religion. It’s a higher state of being. It balances me, personally and professionally. Being single, even on days that I lack companionship, running provides me that.”

Neha Dhupia, a previous cover girl for Verve’s Best Dressed issue, likes to dress “for the occasion and the weather,” always choosing to wear something that gets her personality out. Very certain about what she likes and what will suit her, she laughs and dismisses it saying, “It’s just clothes after all.” She treasures her grandmother’s pearl-and-gold bracelet, that she never wears because she’s afraid of losing it, and remains inspired by her own success and failure all at once, while believing that success is entirely relative.

Cover Story with Priyanka Chopra: “Little Grown-Up Girl”

17 Tuesday Dec 2013

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Published: Verve Magazine, Dec 2013 (18th year anniversary issue)
Photograph by: Dabboo Ratnani

Priyanka Chopra has had to take leaps and become an adult when her peers were bunking school. She’s tumbled into several coming-of-age moments; ones that define her and some that continue to plague her. The top-rung Hindi film actor and experimental singer opens up about her self-esteem issues, growing up, making mistakes and finding herself

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She’s sexy, glamorous and unbelievably graceful. As she walks into the cover shoot, every single head turns. And if you catch her eye, the look can be distant or it can pierce your soul, entirely dependent upon how interested she may be in knowing you. She’s warm but has her personal space and boundaries clearly defined. Her husky voice is muted, as she remains engrossed in long, involved conversations with her Verve cover co-stars, Karan Johar and Ekta Kapoor. Later, you struggle to reconcile the raw vulnerability of the girl to the exterior of this poised and spirited woman, as she reveals the moments of the past that define her today….

JUST INTO THE AWKWARD TEENS, I WAS VERY CONSCIOUS OF THE WAY I LOOKED. I was very dusky and skinny to my Punjabi family’s fair, fat and pretty. I always felt left out. With all those insecurities in mind, I landed up in America in high school (ninth grade), which took a big toll on me as a teenager.

TO BE IN HIGH SCHOOL IN AMERICA IS JUST LIKE MEAN GIRLS, THE MOVIE. I came from Bareilly, didn’t understand anything and had so many emotional and self-esteem issues; and around me the girls looked so grown-up. I looked 12 to their 16. They were dressed up, developed, wore make-up, had blow-dried hair, and I was in pigtails. I realised that grooming is the only thing that will make you look the best that you can be and I started learning how to take care of myself.

THE WAY YOU LOOK, UNFORTUNATELY, MAKES YOU FEEL A CERTAIN WAY. Everybody doesn’t like certain things about themselves and as soon as you start accepting yourself for who you are, or be the best that you can be then you start feeling confident. It is something I still do. I have improved upon my skin, my looks. There is nothing wrong with that skin tone; in fact, I photograph really well because of it. But my skin, unlike Smita Patil’s beautiful duskiness, for instance, used to be an unclear dusky. I started taking care of it, which gave me a much clearer complexion; being more active and getting toned up so my body started developing the way I wanted it to; and I began wearing the right kind of clothes.

THE UGLY DUCKLING USED TO BE MY FAVOURITE STORY, BECAUSE THAT WAS MY STORY. In high school, in four years, from 13 to 17 I changed from that gawky teenager to Miss World. And yet, even as Miss World, I didn’t feel like a pari. I had major self-esteem issues because it was in my head.

I CAUGHT A TV SHOW, JUST THIS MORNING, WHERE THEY TALKED ABOUT ‘PLASTIC CHOPRA’ about how my body, face and hair have changed over the years. My knees were circled in one picture pointing out that they had more gradation in skin colour (2005) and they circled my knees now, saying ‘knees pe plastic surgery karvaiyi hai, colour badal gaya hai unka! (She’s had plastic surgery on her knees, their colour has changed.)’ It hurts me so much, because it’s taken so much of me to go from that ugly duckling to be who I am today, to be in the movie business. For all the young girls out there – moisturise every day and watch your skin become smoother and it will start glowing. It’s the little things and I learnt that over time. There was no one to teach me….

WHEN I BECAME MISS WORLD THAT WAS A BIG COMING-OF-AGE MOMENT FOR ME. Suddenly from a school uniform in the 12th standard I went to talking about the economy of Zimbabwe to the press of the world. How am I supposed to know that at 17? I had to grow up instantly.

THE MOVIE INDUSTRY IS A HARD PLACE TO BE IN WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE A MENTOR OR A BOYFRIEND, SOMEONE WHO IS PROTECTING YOU. At the ages of 18-20 I had to deal with people the way an adult would, and in the movie business you meet a lot of strange people. I had my mom with me, and even though she didn’t know the ways of the industry either, we both knew how to live life on our terms.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN FORCED OR COERCED INTO DOING SOMETHING. I know how to protect myself as a woman. Even if it’s a big film, I know how to say no if I feel uncomfortable. Every movie that I have done has been an experience in making me the actor that I am today. Sometimes it’s hard, because it’s a male-dominated world. But nothing in life is worth your self-respect or your dignity.

I HAVE MY VALUES VERY INTACT. I HAVE A LOT OF COURAGE OF CONVICTION. EVEN IF I MAKE MISTAKES, THEY ARE MINE. I stand by them and I will take the lynching and the shooting and stand in front of the squad and say, ‘I did this. Now shoot me. I am not a saint. I haven’t come here to be one, and no one can be.’ I am someone who is happiest when I make people happy.

I HAVE A REALLY FIERCE SENSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH DOESN’T MEAN THAT I DRAW LINES AND STAY WITHIN THE PARAMETERS OF WHAT IS SAFE. I won’t say, ‘Yeh laxman rekha hai, and I won’t cross it.’ I am adventurous in life and I have done so many things out of my comfort zone whether it is my career or my personal life. But I stand by them. I don’t feel like I regret even the bad phases of my life. I may have wanted them not to happen. But I have never been ashamed of anything I have done.

I AM MOST UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN I AM IN GREY SITUATIONS. I am a very black-and-white kind of person. I need to make parallels and flow charts. I need to know life is headed a particular way; I need to know what is going to happen; I need to be prepared. But life is not like that, it throws googlies at you regularly…and I get thrown off. I am a very sensitive person, hugely emotional. Every time life throws a googly at me, I come of age. I grow up a little bit more.

THE ONE THING I MISSED OUT ON IS COLLEGE LIFE; MY MOM FEELS THAT THAT IS HER BIGGEST REGRET FOR ME. Bunking classes and running off with your friends. I never had that. I feel like I am regressing now, though. I am also a private, shy person. With my work I take all the risks, but with my personal life I am afraid to take the leap.

I’M LETTING LIFE PASS ME BY BECAUSE I ADORE MY JOB. It gives me the greatest joy, but maybe ten years down the line I will think, ‘I wish I had taken that holiday….’ I haven’t taken a holiday in 16 years. This phase – as you are talking to me – is a coming-of-age phase. I am happy and content professionally; I am blazing my own trail…whether it’s the wrong path, failure-ridden path, successful path…I don’t know. But at least it’s my own. I’m not following norms. It’s more fun that way. I always like running…or flying! I don’t ever want to take any steps back for any reason.

MY DAD’S GOING MADE ME GROW UP A LITTLE BIT. It’s too soon so I haven’t dealt with it in a way, but that changed me a lot. I’m still processing it. I will always remember my post 20s beginning like that.

MY 20S WERE VERY TURBULENT. I didn’t know who I was, what I wanted to be…not that I know now, but I am a little closer to understanding it. I know what I don’t want. You start living with an acceptance of who you are.