Mumbai:
Sophie Choudry, The Singer, The VJ, The Performer, The Actress who was discovered by Ace Musician Biddu goes one-on-one in conversation with Pardaphash.com correspondent Faisal Saif.

Question: Tell us about Sophie Choudry, The world doesn’t know.
Answer: I am an absolute nerd.. I love reading, i have always been a straight A student, i speak fluent French. I have written the lyrics for almost all of my songs, i speak fluent urdu and i prefer spending time at home rather than going out partying.

Question: You were born and brought up in London, How was your Journey in Bollywood as a VJ, Singer and Actress?
Answer: I was discovered by the music director Biddu when i was 12. I always wanted to sing and he launched me in the girl band Sansara when i was still studying! I became a VJ in London with ZEE TV while i was at college and when i decided to move to MUMBAI, MTV hired me! My solo songs “Mera Babu Chail Chabila” and “Ek Pardesi” became massive hits and i decided to stay in india. David Dhawan called and offered to launch me in “Shaadi No1”.. i was a huge Govinda Karisma fan and this opportunity was a dream come true for me!

Question: Why was the sudden Split Up from Sansara Band despite of ‘Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai’ becoming a Chartbuster?
Answer: We had too many ego issues. generally it’s tough for girls to get along and unfortunately even though we sang really well together, we all had different ideas about how to take things forward. I was dedicated to making it work, even move to India. they werent.

Question: Your reactions when ‘Baby Love’ and ‘Sound Of Sophie’ became talk of the Music Trade?
Answer: Yes, that was incredible for me. Ek Pardesi got me immense popularity, i started doing lots of shows and like i mentioned it got me Shaadi No.1 and even Pyar Ke Side effects. I can never forget that album and T-series promoted it so well!

Question: What about Acting Side? We don’t see much of Sophie nowadays?
Answer: I wasnt getting the kind of roles i wanted so i had to take a step back and focus on myself, my music and my shows. However people thought i didn’t want to do films because i wasn’t signing anything. That isn’t true. Thankfully i signed something recently and hope to do more movies next year!

Question: Did ‘Pyaar Ke Side Effects’ appreciations came as a Surprise?
Answer: Yes it did. I loved the script because it was so different… it was a new kind of cinema with an unusual casting and it made me realize that even if i wasnt the heroine of the project i could make a lasting impact! Til this day, no one has forgotten my character Babygirl volume 3 or the famous coffee!

Question: Was the Raunchy Act video scandal was again any part of Promotional Activity?
Answer: NO!! Not at all! I didnt even know about the video until one of my twitter followers told me about it. then i got more and more tweets! I have no idea how that got out!!! If i wanted to leak something, i would have leaked the song because i want that to get popular not a raunchy clip!!!!

Question: Hows was you convinced for ‘Hungama Ho Gaya’?
Answer: It’s an amazing song which i thought we could work with to create something absolutely new! It was Vishal dadlani’s idea and me and JohnStewart the arranger worked on it for a couple of months to get it just right.. I even wrote new lyrics. I just had a feeling this song would cause a Hungama of sorts and it has!

Question: What took you so long to come up with this Song?
Answer: Non film songs dont get much exposure on TV and radio anymore and since you have to produce the project yourself it takes time to out things together. Also im a perfectionst!

Question: What preparations you went through in the Making of the Video for ‘Hungama Ho Gaya’?
Answer: I got as fit as i could by working out, we did dance rehearsals with my choreographer Arvind, Rocky S spent time on the styling, i even met him in London for some of the shopping. We worked very hard on all the planning with the video director Shiraz Bhattacharya. Most peole can believe we shot the videoin one day because it’s on such a grand scale! I wanted it to be my hottest video ever!

Question: Future for Sophie Choudry.
Answer: I take each day as it comes. You cant make plans in this career or in life. You just have to be true to yourself, live life to the max .. But i will keep doing what i love..making more music, performing on stage and even some films! I m blessed to be able to do what i love!!

source: http://www.pardaphash.com / Homepage> Entertainment / Published by: Nitish Kapoor / Friday, December 21st, 2012

View to a thrill The outdoor restaurant
You can do Coorg in several ways. You could stay in a luxury resort, camp in a tent pitched on the cool hillside, enjoy a home-stay in Raj-style bungalows of coffee estates, or be a back-packer in a log room on a balcony that you reach by swinging yourself up on a rope and a prayer. Or, you could try a filthily opulent extravagance with heated pools, chocolate-dipped strawberries and champagne. I have tried Coorg in all the above ways and I must confess that while my soul might think otherwise, my body could quite easily get used to this whole filthy luxury thing.

At the slick resort that it unveiled in Madikeri last week, Taj Vivanta has pulled out all the stops to how you can experience this verdant part of the country. While we can go on about all the little details such as service, rooms and banquets that the Taj, and indeed most major hotel groups, do so well, the moment when the resort takes your breath away happens elsewhere. At the moment you enter it, in fact. You step through wide doors to a stunning wide-open, semi-circular lobby that’s perched like an eyrie on the very edge of a high hill with a spectacular view of the Western Ghats and valley spread out below. Standing there on that open terrace edged with a narrow pool of pebbled water, the strong wind tugging at your hair and nothing but sky between you and the view, it’s easy to forget humdrum earth. You could be a bird, resting before taking wing again to tumble freely in the clouds.

A cup of hot bella kaapi — Coorgi black coffee sweetened with jaggery — brings you back to earth but in a comforting way, and you are now ready for the more mundane moments. Not that I can really call the deep tissue massage that follows mundane, as the Tibetan masseuse kneads every kink out of my aching muscles most satisfyingly. I need it, especially after that very long drive (seven hours) from Bangalore that tested patience and fortitude severely. Later that evening, I find that I also definitely need the exotic cocktails concocted by celebrated flair bartender Attila. It’s getting easier to see just why all these little hedonistic details are so indispensable.

The nature walk next morning makes hardly a ripple on the surface of this lotus-eating. It’s a sweet little exercise designed to make us feel all outdoorsy while ensuring we don’t break a single pretty fingernail. But nothing can take away from the sheer beauty of a shola forest and its denizens, and our guide is a genius. We see funnel spider webs and wild cinnamon and learn about the annoyingly pushy bracken. The resort has tied up with Muddy Boots for forest walks and birding sessions and it’s a brilliant idea.

You can’t avoid Nature here — it’s vast, stunningly beautiful, and all around you. And the resort celebrates this in the best possible way. The restaurants, cottages and activity centres, sprawled across 180 acres of rainforest, are all tucked away into the hills and landscape, almost organically blended in. My cottage has three walls of windows that look out on the forest, with both bed and bath-tub facing outdoors. I wake up to the call of a Malabar whistling thrush. We have strawberries at breakfast that are grown on the property.

Of course, they organise activities — there’s pottery and meditation, yoga, tours and walks. For the launch, we even had a champagne dinner serenaded by Grammy award-winning group Deep Forest and santoor star Rahul Sharma. Left to myself, though, I would use every minute to just soak in the amazing atmosphere of the place. Read a book on that breathtaking lobby balcony, look down at a wind-rippled patch of satiny paddy or lazily track swallows wheeling in the sky. Nights would be spent star-gazing, something the manager assures me is very much on the cards. You could call me lazy and you wouldn’t be wrong. But honestly, what better place to be lazy in?

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Life & Style> Travel / by Vaishna Roy / Chennai, December 21st, 2012