Gulshan Devaiah, who has featured in films like Hate Story and Shaitan, is all set to don his bad guy avatar again, this time for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ram-Leela. The actor, who plays Deepika Padukone’s cousin in the film, says, “Casting director Shruti Mahajan spotted me. She arranged a meeting with Mr Bhansali who had not seen a single film of mine. He was looking at me with a director’s eye and by the end of the meeting he finalised me for the part. I didn’t have to audition for it.”

The actor reveals his first meeting with co-star Deepika Padukone was an interesting one too. He reveals, “I am good friends with my Shaitan co-star Kalki Koechlin. She was shooting for Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and invited me over to the sets. I went and sat near the monitor next to Deepika but was tongue-tied. I wanted to say something intelligent and didn’t want to make a fool of myself. My dilemma finally ended when she initiated the conversation and said hello. I then told her that I’m in Ram- Leela too.”
While the actor’s big break came with Shaitan he says filming it wasn’t an easy experience. He reveals, “The most horrifying moments were the underwater shots as I can barely swim. Bejoy would make us shoot at the deep end of the pool as you get the best camera angle there. Every time I would almost drown somebody would grab my hand. Once I almost drifted away and Kalki rescued me.”

While Gulshan is all set to be the new bad guy in Bollywood and shares his name with iconic villain Gulshan Grover, he tells us that he is often confused with the veteran actor. “He is definitely a legend and I respect him. I am often confused with him because of my name. When Yash Chopra passed away, from 8 am to midnight, I got calls asking for my reactions since Gulshan Grover had worked with him.”

The actor reveals he has had no formal training in acting but puts his theatre experience to use in his films as well. “I had no formal training and didn’t know how to put it across to my parents that I want to take up acting as a career. I started out by working with theatre practitioners in Bengaluru. I worked on a lot of different and breathtaking folk theatre where I had to learn art forms like Kalaripayattu and Kathakali and I still use a lot of that experience for my film characters.”

Theatre has also played another important role in the actor’s life with him meeting wife Kallirroi Tziafeta, through it. He says, “My wife is an actress too and I met her during a play in Lucknow. That day I was filling in for Neil Bhopalam who didn’t have dates for a play he was doing . My now wife knew some people connected to the play so she came to watch the show and that’s where someone introduced us. We kept in touch after that and after some time I proposed marriage.”

While Gulshan has been appreciated for his negative roles he says that Ram-Leela may just be his last film as a villain. He says, “I have no plans of sticking to my bad guy image. Ram- Leela is my last role as a villain. I have just completed film, which is a romantic comedy. I have signed two films with Pooja Bhatt and these parts are not negative roles either. I never thought I’d make something my niche. I aim to be different. I have four films coming up which are different from each other. There is a possibility of being typecast but I wish to break away from that.”

source: http://www.asianage.com / The Asian Age / Home> Life and Style / by Natasha Coutinho, The Asian Age / November 05th, 2013

It’s been five years since actress Harshika Poonacha has been in Sandalwood, playing roles ranging from supporting actress to being a part of multi-starrers. The actress, who not long ago made the transition to playing lead heroine, recently bagged her first-ever state award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Shivarajkumar-starrer Thamassu. And that, the actress says, has taken her career to the next level. “No more supporting roles. I’ve arrived as a solo actress,” she says. Excerpts from the interview:

Your fifth film Thamassu gort you a State Award. Is it beginner’s luck?
I started my career as a solo heroine with PUC, but it was a supporting character that got me a State Award. I wouldn’t say I got lucky, as I have worked hard for my role in Thamassu. I feel honoured to receive one of the most prestigious awards so early in my career. There will be pressure to choose good roles from now on. I am looking forward to doing solo female leads.

What are the challenges you faced in the industry?
In my five years in Sandalwood, I have maintained a decent track record. While my initial films saw me paired with newcomers, I wanted to work with top heroes like Puneeth Rajkumar and Shivarajkumar. I got to work with them, but as their sister. I have no complaints, though, as I was able to perform well in the roles that I got. I wanted to establish myself as a solo lead, as I was getting only roles to play the hero’s sister. In fact, I missed out on playing the female lead opposite Puneeth because I had played his sister in Jackie. It was a challenge to break free of that image.

You rarely make it to the gossip columns even though you are quite the party animal. But when you did, it was after a spat with Aviva Bidapa over who had the meatier role in Ale…
I don’t want to comment about it. Once the film released, it became clear just who had the better role. This is exactly why I don’t want to do multi-starrers. In fact, my upcoming films — B-3 and an upcoming Telugu film (which marks her Telugu debut) — will see me playing solo female lead. As for the partying bit, well, I have a group of friends who I am close to. I don’t party with people from the industry, but I am nice to people when I meet them at filmi events and share a cordial relationship with everyone. Jealousy comes when you know them too well. I’d like to party and stay close only with my friends.

Tell us about your role in B-3…
It is the most special film in my career. B-3 revolves around three characters — hero, heroine and one more character (which will be the suspense). Sriki (Srikanth) plays a psychopath and I play a college student. I fall in love with him and what happens then forms the crux of the story. Since Sriki’s character is mentally unstable, he gets physically abusive with me. Throughout the film, we compete against each other and both of us had a lot of scope to perform. In fact, Ghana Shyam ( director) didn’t even allow us to talk to each other. I also did a lot of stunts in the film, which is one of the highlights. I have just won a state award and this role will definitely elevate me to the next level. In fact, I am hoping to receive an award for my performance in B-3.

You have also done some intimate scenes in the film…
I have taken a lot of risk for this film and one among them is the intimate scene. I have kissed and even did lovemaking scenes for the first time. I asked Ghana if it was really required for the film and he convinced me that it is important. I just trusted him and went ahead with the scene. We shot for nearly half a day and the scene appears for just 15 seconds in the film. I was comfortable doing lovemaking scenes. Ghana showed me the edited version and I must say that it looks more romantic than vulgar.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Regional> Kannada / by Sharanya CR / November 02nd, 2013

One of the biggest festivals of the country, Sunburn will no longer have one of the country’s popular favourite artistes, Nikhil Chinapa. Instead, Chinapa will be seen collaborating with LIVE Viacom18 as the festival director, “I am going to be working with them as an artist. I do not aim to make the festival bigger and better than Sunburn,” he begins. As for the new festival, Chinapa says, “We haven’t decided a name. I want the festival to be amazing. Order a masala dosa but what matters is who you are eating it with, what time of the day it is, what music is running in the background and if the girl at the opposite table looked at you and smiled. I think all these factors make the experience amazing.”

The festival, scheduled from December 26 to 30 will be electronic and may coincide with Sunburn’s dates. “My vision is to have 17 screens at the end of 10 years. I will also include camping in the third year of the festival,” he adds. Chinapa promises a lot of new talent, artistes from abroad and of course his wife and DJ Pearl.

The venue will remain the same, Goa, though Chinapa agrees that down South, the East Coast Road in Chennai could also be a great spot to host the festival. “I think go-MAD is doing pretty good when it comes to Chennai. They should make it the biggest festival in Chennai. I did come for the latest version and it was well done.” He is also organising a festival for 21 year olds. “This fest has no alcohol and will teach youngsters to be music producers. The fest will be conducted by professionals,” he concludes. More information about the new festival will be announced later this month.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Mrinalini Sundar / ENS – Hyderabad / October 25th, 2013

The story of Ganesh’s character in Auto Raja — which is based on a collection of tales about several auto drivers in Bangalore — is not the only one that has been inspired by elements of reality. The film’s female characters — who are played by Bhamaa and Deepika Kamaiah — are also based on real-life people.

Director Udayprakash says, “Deepika’s character is a strong corporate woman and I’ve met a person like her when I was working at a television channel. Our company started a radio wing and appointed a lady to head the channel. Her way of handling work was very different. She seemed more like a commanding person, and wanted to get work done at the earliest. However, this attitude didn’t go down well with her subordinates. But little did people know that she was a good-hearted person. I gave Deepika shades of her character.”

Bhamaa plays a village belle in the film, and this character has also been inspired by a real-life person. “Bhamaa’s role is loosely based on a girl who used to sell coconut water near a hospital in Rajajinagar. She later become an actress and did pretty well in the industry. I wanted someone who has certain innocence and Bhamaa fit the role perfectly. She comes in as a village girl and transforms herself by the end of the film. She has even lost some weight for the role,” says Uday.

The director also says that all the characters in the film are based on real-life people. “Even the supporting characters are based on real-life people. The film is a take on reality,” he says.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Regional> Kannada> Coconut Water / by Sharanya CR, TNN / June 17th, 2013