Young Aditya Narayan is the anchor of Zee's 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007-Sangeet ka Pratham Vishwa-Yudh'

Aditya Narayan : Son of the famous singer Udit Narayan had been in the headlines since his childhood for his wonderful voice and acting skills.

We now have the small kid as the smart, young and cheerful Udit Narayan who signed as the anchor of Zee's 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007-Sangeet ka Pratham Vishwa-Yudh'.

Q: How is it feeling hosting Zee 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007-Sangeet ka Pratham Vishwa-Yudh'?
A: It is feeling nice that I have got the opportunity of hosting such a good show. It is not a new show; it has been on television since the past thirteen years now and has done very well.

So when I was approached by the channel, initially I thought about it but I guess there was no need of thinking. I accepted the show even though I was not planning to begin my career before my studies. Also it is a musical based show, and I'm passionate about music.

Q: So that must be adding a greater responsibility on your shoulders as an anchor?
A: Yes it does add a sense of responsibility. Earlier too the anchors were Sonu bhaiya and Shaan bhaiya who did a very good job here on the show. Actually it is a show which does not have any usual anchors.

I'm not pointing my fingers at other anchors, but here the anchors here have been related to music so as an anchor too one can comment on the performance of the participants. But I will try to do my best.

Q: Do you have any prior experience of anchoring?
A: No I do not have any prior experience.

Q: So are you undergoing any kind of homework or training?
A: I have been watching the show for a long time now and so have a bit of cue. Also I have been with the team of Zee where I had been briefed about how to go about it.

I do have an experience of acting but it is different from anchoring. So I do not have to worry when professionals are guiding me. Also I will learn as time passes by.

Q: Tell us a bit about your academic background?
A: I was doing my graduation here but in between I left for London where I did a Diploma in English Contemporary Music. Now I'm in Mumbai for the past three month and willing to complete my graduation. I have also learnt Indian classical music from Satyanarayan Mishra and also took training under Kalyanji Anandji.

Q: Why Diploma in English Contemporary Music? Was it your choice?
A: See I want to know music to the fullest. Not just Indian or classical, I want to learn international music and in truly international way. It was purely my choice; Uditji did not want me to go abroad, but I forced my decision on him.

Q: So what are your future plans?
A: I have a lot planned for future. I want to do good work where I can utilize my capabilities to the fullest. I want to do good work and put in my best efforts in whatever I would do.

Q: Does it include films too?
A: Yes why not. I have acted before and will do films if I get good work which I can identify with. But my first preference would always be music. But I tell you it will not only be in films but also in other aspects. I want to spread my wings.

Q: So how much does Uditji guide you?
A: Frankly speaking, Uditji guides me in only one way. He only reminds me of my roots. He tells me that there is nothing compared to hard work and effort. He tells me that 'power comes with hard work'. That is all that he guides me about.

Q: Does being Udit Narayan's son help you in some way?
A: If I tell you frankly it does help and it doesn't. See if I did not have talent, I would have still managed some work considering that I was Unit Narayan's son. But till when? At some point, they would have known that I do not have the talent. Now since I'm his son, there is more expectation from me. So there is a plus side and a negative side too.

Q: So do people treat you differently since you are his son?
A: Yes they do sometimes.

Q: Coming on a lighter note, now that you are back, have you united with your old friends?
A: Yes I have and I'm happy to be back with them. I'm enjoying my time here with them.

Q: United with girlfriends too. Do you have girlfriends?
A: See it would be wrong if I say that I don't enjoy the company of men (laughs). I'm just 19 so I do have friends who are girls but basically I'm a reserved person and do not have a girlfriend. But see women following makes a person star (laughs again).

Q: Uditji is a judge in Indian Idol and you are the anchor of challenge 2007. Do you think you will be able to attract more eyeballs?
A: (laughs) I hope so. But I also wish the other show success because my father is a part of it.

Q: We have heard that you wish to work with Jiah Khan?
A: (laughs out loud) Actually I was asked as to who I would like to work with and since I'm young so I think that I would look good with Jiah since even she is young. I don't think I would look good with Rani Mukherjee at this age. Moreover she acts well so what is the problem. (SAMPURN)

Preity Zinta refuses to talk about Ness Wadia

We start, as usual. Preity Zinta begins by announcing categorically that she doesn’t want to talk about her personal life and certainly not about boyfriend Ness Wadia. With some coaxing, she grumbles, “Do I have to talk about my personal life each time I give an interview?”

Well, interest in the personal life of a star is only natural, isn’t it? “I agree,” she says, “But at the end of the day, we end up speaking only about our personal life. I don’t bar the press from asking me personal questions, but I think this constant speculation and intervention in someone else’s life is just not done.”

Does that mean that Preity and Ness have not split, contrary to what the grapevine says? We are greeted with silence. Later, we gather that they are very much in touch with each other.

However, Preity is more than forthcoming about her work. She has just completed her first schedule of Rituparno Ghosh’s English film The Last Lear. She says, “It’s too early to talk about the film, because we have just begun shooting. I think Rituda is a fantastic director, who emphasises on small details. Plus, it is my first English language film, so I am extra-excited,” she says.

Shabana Azmi, Aishwarya Rai, and Sushmita Sen have already worked in films in English. How has Preity’s experience been? “It’s different,” she laughs. “In so many years, I have worked only in Hindi. So, when Rituda gave me the dialogue, I felt somewhat different. Look, I don’t want to give any lectures on cinema and its language, I am too much of a rookie to talk about that,” she smiles.

Preity says visiting Kolkata after many years was a fun-filled experience. She went there last when she was in the eighth standard. “I was too small, and my memory was quite hazy,” she says. “I remember that the roads were narrow and there was too much traffic. But now the city has got a drastic makeover, there are many over bridges and bypass roads. The city is cleaner,” she says. Next time around, she intends to visit the Kali temple. “I will be coming back to Kolkata to shoot some scenes with Amitji,” she adds.

The actress is busy learning Bengali just to communicate with the unit members. “I don’t see any difference between Kolkata and Mumbai as far the work culture goes. In Kolkata they speak Bengali, and I have managed to learn few words so that I can survive comfortably,” she says.

Preity also like to gorge on fish cooked in mustard. “It’s just mouth-watering. Rituda gets yummy food from his place, and pampers me a lot on the sets,” she giggles.

"Coffee with Neha Dhupia"

" I never left my sexy image: Neha Dhupia "

Q: Tell us about your character in 'Ek Chalis Ki Last Local'?

A: I play a character named Madhu. She is the girl who is coming back from her friend's engagement and she misses her last local. She has to go to Vikhorli and tries desperately hard to do so.Here at the station she meets Nilesh, who works in a call centre and has also missed his last local. The story is about how they earn two and a half crore in two and a half hours.

Q: So do you people divide the money?

A: (Laughs aloud) We will do that in the sequel. Don't take it seriously there is nothing planned yet.

Q: You had earlier said that you had a dream of traveling in the locals so you took up this film?

A: I have! I don't see a connection between my dream and the film. I have traveled a lot on trains. Actually we lived in Delhi and the rest of our family lived in Kerala.So I used to travel a lot between the two places. As far as the locals are concerned, I came to Mumbai after I was crowned Miss India. So I did not have to travel on trains.

Q: The locals are the lifeline of Mumbai and you sure would have understood it by now. What else did you learn about Mumbai?

A: I'm glad you asked me this question. I have learnt a lot about Mumbai as a city. There were lots of good and bad. There was an incident when we were shooting at Bhayandar in the middle of the night and there was a huge crowd who was pelting stones at us because we were not meeting them.It was overwhelming for me but we had a job to finish before sunrise and could not give them so much time. There was a day we were shooting in a chawl and this is the place where it is like a maze, one you get in but cannot come out. So we had a lot of difficulty since it was getting hot and mucky and we needed tea. The people there were helping us out in the wee hours of the morning. There was no reason for them to do that but it showed the spirit of Mumbai, the helping attitude for the people.

Q: How was your experience in the chawls?

A: When I saw the chawls, I was shocked. I realized that even after making money why people want to come back to the place. There is so much warmth there. Every one knows everyone and ready to help. I saw six people sleeping in a row in a small house! The more I know the more I learn, the more I discover, the more I want to stay in the city.

Q: Do you think that we ignore this aspect of Mumbai?

A: See I think a lot of us know about this part of Mumbai. It is a matter of convenience. Ignoring is not something that one does out of choice. There is so much that I can voice today but tomorrow I get busy with my work and I might just end up ignoring that. It is convenient for me because I would do what I'm supposed to do rather than take up a cause. But it is very important that people in certain positions should take up that cause. Had it been within my capacity, I would have done it. It is not that people don't think about it. People do lot of social work but it is not getting channelized in the right direction.

Q: How do you get attracted to Abhay in the movie?

A: Why? Are you saying that he is not attractive (Laughs)? Wait till I tell him. See it is a situation where we are alone and there is no distraction. It was just he and me. So in such situations one can get attracted to someone in jut fifteen minutes.

Q: Is there any situation where he fights and saves you from goons?

A: No, in fact I was the one who was fighting and saving him (Laughs aloud). Ask the director, he has written the script!

Q: What homework did you have to undergo?

A: It was challenging for me. Of course Sanjay helped me a lot with everything. I have not stayed in Mumbai and so I had to work on my accent. I had to change my Delhi ka Hindi to Mumbaiya Hindi. I had to learn the mannerisms of Madhu because she is different from me. There were times when Sanjay was spoon-feeding me. We had a week-long workshop which was very exciting.

Q: How was the experience with Sanjay?

A: Sanjay is a pretty young man and the entire unit was young and energetic. He is only 28 and the senior most person on the floor. There was no hierarchy that we were following and enjoyed our work.

Q: How do you rate this film of yours?

A: I can't honestly compare this film to any other film because I have not done anything like this before. It is a cliché when somebody says 'Oh this is something different, its mind blowing' and things like that. But I cannot do that. It is for you to decide. My job is to do a good work and do my best. And from my side I cannot compare my work or any other film made in the past.

Q: Tell us about your look.

A: Well I was very bored of wearing the same costume everyday. There is only one costume but in that I had to break the monotony by knocking off the ear ring, change the style of the dupatta, and open the hair out just to look different. It is Indian look but a grungy Indian look. I have never had this look before. We have tried to make the character look as convincing as possible.

Q: What re you upcoming projects?

A: There is 'Shootout at Lokhandwala' where I'm opposite Sanjay Dutt, 'Mithiya' with Naseer Saab and Ranveer Shourie, 'Kuch Love Kuch Drama' where I play Rajpal Yadav's wife. Here my character's name is Shanti but I actually do not have any shanti in life and Rajpal's name is Santosh and he does not have that too.

Q: You had a sex image which you have changed. Has it affected your career?

A: No, it has not affected anything; it has just made me better. It wasn't a sort of departure from the sex symbol and landing into doing something else. The fact is that as long as work has taken off for me I'm happy.You know people are recognizing me as somebody who does different things as an actress and who is involved in playing her character 100%. And I'm enjoying that. Honestly, today I'm a lot more confident and talented than what I was yesterday and as long as every day is better at work, whether it is for you or for me, we are going to be happy. (SAMPURN)

RAI SUMMONED TO COURT OVER 'OBSCENE' SCREEN KISS

Newly-married Bollywood star AISHWARYA RAI has been ordered to appear in an Indian court next month (May07), after a kiss with co-star Hrithik Roshan in movie Dhoom-II was deemed "obscene".

Rai - who wed actor Abhishek Bachchan in a modest ceremony at the Bachchan family home in Mumbai, India, earlier this month (20Apr07) - is accused by a local lawyer of "offending public sensibility" in the scene where she is kissed lightly on the cheek.

Public displays of affection are taboo in India where under the country's law, a conviction of public obscenity means a potential three months behind bars or a fine. Roshan, along with the owners of the cinema which screened the action film, has also been summoned to court in Muzaffarpur in the eastern state of Bihar, on 30 May (07).

A court official says, "The court also sent notices to the Bihar government for allowing screening of the film despite its 'obscene' content."

The new row over obscenity comes just days after a similar case was brought against Hollywood star Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty, after the Pretty Woman actor swept the beauty into his arms and kissed her several times at an HIV/AIDS awareness event in New Delhi on 15 April (07).

BREAKING NEWS : Abhishek and Aishwarya in New Zealand

Honeymoon in Tahiti for Aishwarya rai and Abhishek Bachchan

Aish abi couple were married 10 days ago in Mumbai and last Saturday morning a Stuff reader said he saw Ms Rai at Papeete Airport. He was boarding an Air New Zealand flight home while she had just come in on the inbound flight.

She was seen to give an autograph to a person at the airport.

Indian media say the couple are honeymooning in France - and Tahiti is part of French Polynesia.

Ms Rai, a former Miss World, is one of India's top female leads while her new husband is the son of legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan.

According to Indian community sources in New Zealand, who did not want to be named, Abhishek has visited New Zealand several times and made movies here.

There were rumours they were honeymooning in New Zealand but these have been discounted.

"If he was coming here we would have heard, and we're 99.9 percent certain that they are not here," the source said.

'I'm glad I've no man in my life'

For those who are wondering how Rani Mukherjee managed to get into those short skirts in Siddharth Anand's Tara Rum Pum Pum Rani has the answer. "Getting slim, my dear.

That's the magic mantra," she reveals while shooting for Pradeep Sarkar's Laga Chunri Main Daag. "The minute I was told about what kind of look I'm supposed to carry off in a major part of Tara Rum Pum Pum I knew I had to get seriously slim. If I had put on those short skirts looking the way I did earlier, I'd have looked pretty cracked.

"For the period that Rani toned her physique for the skirts she made her trainer work over-time. " I made my trainer Satya's life a living hell. I don't think he has ever had a more demanding client."

Besides the slim and svelte look Rani also had to make sure the clothes went with the transitions in the character's life.

"See, at first Saif and I play collegians. Then I gradually go on to being the mother of two growing kids. So I had to have a specific before-and-after look. Surprisingly I've never played a mother before in any of my films."Says Rani, "My dress designer Sureeli Goel was driven up the wall by my demands. See, today the character's LOOK is very important. Not just the heroines, even the heroes devote a lot of time to getting the look right. Earlier I'd constantly have fights about my clothes with Manish Malhotra and Sabysachi. Now it was Sureeli's turn to get the brunt of my exacting nature. All three designers feel I'm one of the most quarrelsome heroines they've worked with."

Rani chuckles hard, and then sobers down when director Pradeep Sarkar drops in to brief her for the day's shooting. They converse in fluent Bengali and obviously have a lot of feelings to share.Sighs Rani, "I don't know where all those stories about me squabbling with Dada came from. Probably from people who want to see us fight and cannot bear to find me getting along with my directors.

Whether it's Siddharth Anand (who incidentally was in college with me) or Pradeep Sarkar, I'm the last person to create any problems." Rani will now finish her solo portions in Sarkar's film and then wait for Abhishek to return from his honeymoon in June before shooting with him. "Almost all of Abhishek's scenes in Laga Chunri Mein Daag are with me. So we'll be shooting together constantly in June. I'm looking forward to that. I'm really happy for Abhishek and Ash. They deserve all the happiness in the world."

What about romantic love in Rani's own life? "I'm not holding my breath for it. Love isn't something that obeys a time frame. When it happens, it'll happen.In a way I'm glad I don't have a man in my life. It gives me the chance to focus completely on my work.

But if and when it happens, I'm not going say no to love just because I'm busy with my career. No way."

Bollywood finds its way on London map

As Bollywood's love affair with London continues with films being shot at various locations there, British film authorities have now unveiled a new map that lists venues where recent blockbusters were shot.

So the next time tourists from India come visiting, they can visit locations where popular films such as Kabhi Khushie Kabhi Gham, Mujhse Dosti Karoge (Starford Station) were shot.

The new movie map is eighth in a series of maps designed to encourage tourists and cinema-lovers alike to discover the Capital through films. More than 40 Hindi films were shot in London last year.

Some of the most popular locations for Indian films have been Trafalgar Square, Natural History Museum, Tower Bridge, The Royal Albert Hall, Millennium Dome, the Houses of Parliament, Nelson's Column and the London Eye.


Some of the better-known films shot at London locations are:

* Southall is home to one of the largest Indian communities in London and was the setting for Kajol's home in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995).

* Hyde Park was one of one of the locations for a song in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. The song culminates with an early morning dance sequence shot at the British Museum.

Several cinemas in London screen Bollywood films, including the Himalaya Palace, Southall; Safarai Cinema, Harrow; Belle-Vue Cinema, Willesden Green, and the Boleyn Cinema, Upton Park. Cineworld Cinemas in Wood Green, Wandsworth and Feltham also have regular Bollywood screenings.

To celebrate the partnership between the Indian and British film industries, the International Film Academy is coming to Yorkshire for a weekend of film premieres, festivals, special events and awards June 7-10.