Andhranews

The unofficial verdict is out. Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Kaalpurush has won the National Award for Best Film. Kaalpurush was one of the nominees under the Best Film category. “I know it has been unofficially declared, but I am very happy about it. Of course, I expect the film to help me gain mileage as an actress,” says Sameera Reddy.

The actress says that the National Award nomination and the eventual verdict has proved her detractors wrong that she could not do justice to the deglamourised role of a Bengali woman in the film. “I am glad that I could prove my versatility as an actress,” she says.

Sameera also puts an end to the rumours that she has acted in an explicit scene with Rahul Bose in the film. “What nonsense,” she screams. “In fact, the story of Kaalpurush has me and Rahul going through a broken marriage, so where is the question of a steamy scene? Forget an explicit scene there isn’t even a hug between Rahul and me in the film,” he says.

Tell her that there’s a scene that shows Rahul in a drunken state visiting a prostitute and he imagines her to be Sameera and she says, “Yes, but that scene just has me dancing in a sari. Believe me, there isn’t any explicit scene in the film. It just shows Rahul who is frustrated because our marriage is not working out and he goes to a prostitute.”

Sameera says that Dasgupta and she share a good working relationship and she is looking forward to his other films as well. “Dasgupta has signed me for his next venture. It is again a very different role. The plot of the film revolves around terrorism and I am very excited about it. The film will be made in Bengali and Hindi simultaneously,” he says.

Back home, Sameera is looking forward to Sachin Bajaj’s Naksha. “Naksha is a film full of adventure and has all the ingredients of an entertainer. The special effects and stunts are amazing.” Talking about stunts, much has been written about the adventures the actress has had in real life while making this film. “There was a river rafting scene and we shot the scene while it was freezing and I was dressed in a black halter top and short skirt. The guys were asked to wear heavy jackets and that saved them from the cold,” she says.

Sameera claims that she has always believed in doing her own stunts. “Even during Musafir I performed my own stunts. The scene that has me smashing my face against glass, I did it without the aid of a duplicate,” she says.

Sonu Nigam is in the US performing in live shows, after a break of five years. “I had done a show three years ago, but I was a part of the A.R. Rahman show. It was not a ‘Sonu Nigam’ show,” he smiles. He says that the shows gave him a chance to sing all those songs that he had recorded for Hindi films from the time he had performed last in the US.
The singer-actor clarifies that he is not going to quit singing as some media reports have claimed.

“That piece of information is untrue. The media has misunderstood what I said. I said that I was not going to continue ‘wholesale singing’. What I meant was I would prefer to sing ten quality songs in a year, rather than sing 100 nonsensical songs,” he says. The singer said that his decision will upset several composers.

Sonu was also accused of demanding an exorbitant amount to sing. “I agree, I charge a price that’s higher compared to other singers, but I think I am completely justified because I want to maintain exclusivity,” he declares.

Shilpa Shetty is making news, but for all the wrong reasons. The leggy beauty seems to have developed a knack for raking up controversies. So, be it a case on vulgar photographs or a legal notice to a tabloid, Shilpa has her hands full. “I think more than my films, these things keep me busy,” says Shilpa, who was in the capital recently.

That’s not all. Shilpa’s name has been linked with a host of men in her 13-year-long career. Now, her rumoured love affair with Dus director Anubhav Sinha is making headlines. But ask Shilpa about her marriage and she scotches rumours with a defiant “No”. She says, “There is no truth to these things. The day I find someone, I’ll announce it six months in advance.”

Currently, the actress with the best figure in Bollywood is concentrating on her professional career. At the moment, Shilpa is busy with Anil Sharma’s Apne and Metro by Anurag Kashyap. In Metro, Shilpa plays a woman, whose marriage is falling apart. “I am looking forward to both the films as my roles are completely different,” she says.

But what about the minuscule number of films? “Well, I am not the only one who is doing less movies. Today, nobody is signing more than two to three films at a time,” she opines.
Shilpa holds more up her sleeve. The actress, who spread AIDS awareness through her film Phir Milenge, recently travelled to the Northeast and met army men for HIV awareness.

“More soldiers are killed by AIDS than bullets in the region. So, I should use my celeb status to bring about a small change,” she asserts. In her latest avatar, Shilpa is set to judge Sony’s dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. “I love to dance. So, I will enjoy judging it,” she wraps up.

Actress Manisha Koirala might be doing fewer films, but her stint with tinselville remains “steady”. Last seen in J.D. Chakravarthy’s Darwaza Bandh Rakho starring Aftab Shivdasani, Chunky Pandey and Isha Sharvani, Manisha was in the capital to inaugurate an exhibition of contemporary art at the Travancore Palace on Friday.

Manisha, who is ready with Anwar, directed by Manish Jha (of Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women fame), scheduled to be released in September this year, is pinning her hopes on the film. “I play a journalist in Anwar. It was great fun working with my brother Siddharth Koirala and Manish,” she says, adding that the film revolves around a Muslim boy and depicts how the media overplays certain incidents.

Apart from Anwar, Manisha has a slew of other films in her kitty: Jai Prakash’s Ganga, Ajay Kumar’s Tulsi and Rituparno Ghosh’s Bengali film Khela. In Ganga, Manisha’s third film with Prakash after Market and Chaahat, she plays the title role. In Tulsi, with Irfaan Khan as a co-star, she plays the mother of three children and wife of an ailing husband and in Khela, she is cast opposite Prosenjit. Manisha plays his wife in the film which also stars Raima Sen.

So, what is it that makes Manisha do fewer movies? “I have always been selective about the kind of films I do. I am not doing very many films because there are hardly any good scripts,” she avers. Asked where has the actress of films like Mani Ratnam’s Bombay and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Khamoshi: The Musical gone, she quips, “I have come very, very far.” The actress, when not doing movies, likes to travel a lot.

Parents of Eminem fans can relax as the controversial rapper may actually be preaching a more peaceful eastern philosophy with his lyrics.According to pagesix.com, author Perry Garfinkel in his new book Buddha or Bust says that Buddhist philosophy is cryptically encoded in Eminem’s hit song Lose Yourself.

The line You better lose yourself in the music, the moment actually “mirrors the Buddhist meditative practice of mindfulness, in which the practitioner lives in the here and now. By being present in the moment, he finds himself”. He adds, “I highly doubt Eminem would know a boddhisatva from a bodacious babe.”

Singer Beyonce is embroiled in a row after an expert accused her of abusing an alligator during a photo shoot for her upcoming album B’day. According to contactmusic.com, Beyonce told a magazine, “There was a shot where I held an alligator. It had its mouth taped, that was my bright idea, he was really cute but since his mouth was taped he didn’t have any way to defend himself. That was an experience.”

British biologist Clifford Warwick wrote to Beyonce, “As a specialist in reptile biology and welfare I’m concerned about your posing with a terrified baby alligator for your album cover. Humans and alligators are not natural bedfellows and the two should not mix at events such as photo shoots. In my view, doing so is arguably abusive to an animal.”