Curious Case: By Radhika Bhirani

Radhika Bhirani -- rbhirani@gmail.com -- Irrfan Khan was a deep thinker, a reservoir of thoughts... thoughts worth thinking about, thoughts worth sharing. There was beauty in the simplicity he found in complexities and expressed what he truly felt. And in that sense, I would always remember him as an interviewer's delight who left you with more than you would ask for. One of my conversations with the actor struck me particularly as I scrolled through some memories. Over the years and after experiencing controversies around some of his films or remarks, Irrfan admitted he had become very careful about what he would say. He also resented not having a place to express or say what he wanted to. Social media, he felt, wasn't best suited either. "Social media is 'wahiyaad'," he told me in his inimitable style, one that I can almost hear as I type. Explaining why, he shared, "One feels that the Internet exposes you to different things in life. But it...

Radhika Bhirani ~~ rbhirani@gmail.com ~~ "I live in New Delhi and working as a good writer looking for good gigs to write." Don't go by the grammar! On a Monday morning, I'm just curious... and I wonder if taking a leaf out of actor Neena Gupta's famous, career-altering appeal for work on Instagram, would work for a common man? "I live in Mumbai and working as a good actor looking for good parts to play," the actor wrote back in 2017, after which there has been no looking back for her. The least she did was ask. The pandemic, unprecedented in its repercussions, and seemingly endless in its existence, has hit the country's employment sector hard. Every glance at the LinkedIn news feed shows up at least 10-20 posts -- all earnest in their "looking out for new opportunities" appeals, sadly not just because they are chasing better opportunities, roles and salary prospects, but because they were suddenly rendered jobless. Some got a day's no...

Radhika Bhirani for Zenger News ~~ rbhirani@gmail.com ~~ In 2018, 82 women climbed the Cannes’ Palais des Festivals’ steps — a striking statement by the French gender parity movement 5050×2020 against inequality in the movie industry. That image remains entrenched in the mind of Indian film producer Guneet Monga. On April 13, Monga, at 37, became one of the youngest film producers to be conferred the French honor Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans I’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) for her contribution to world cinema and her efforts towards women empowerment through her recently founded cinema collective Indian Women Rising . “It feels like life has come a full circle, and there’s so much to be grateful for,” Monga told Zenger News, reflecting on her journey from an intern on the set of French-Indian-German co-production “Valley Of Flowers” to a producer associated with Oscar-winning, globally lauded projects that have redefined the way the world looks at Indian ci...

Radhika Bhirani for Zenger News ~~ rbhirani@gmail.com ~~ Around the same week that Italy officially abolished film censorship, India scrapped its movie certification tribunal, leaving several filmmakers debating on whether this is a step forward or backward. The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalization and Conditions of Service) Ordinance , 2021, issued by India’s Ministry of Law and Justice on April 4, did away with the Appellate authorities across nine laws. The Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), established in 1983 under the Cinematograph Act 1952, served as a platform for filmmakers aggrieved by decisions of the country’s Central Board of Certification (CBFC). It would either reaffirm or reverse the CBFC’s decision. But now, the only recourse for filmmakers is to approach the high courts. Filmmaker Ritesh Batra, director of internationally acclaimed “The Lunchbox” (2013), wrote: “It’s not good for art or business to direct filmmakers to an overburdened judiciary.” “Such a sa...

Radhika Bhirani for The Man -- rbhirani@gmail.com His surname may not be Kapoor, but it's hard to miss the Kapooriyat in Aadar Jain. He spoke about his second film Hello Charlie with a sense of immense excitement very visible on his flushed face which was lit up by the glimmer in his eyes and a smile that stretches ear-to-ear. Cover Story for the April 2021 issue of The Man.

Radhika Bhirani for BW Businessworld ~~ rbhirani@gmail.com Her Bareilly to Bollywood, Mumbai to Montreal journey is what dreams are made of. But none of it came easy for Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Persistence, commitment, a desire to learn, a zeal to take on new opportunities, getting out of the comfort zone and being fearless are attributes that have led the former Miss World to set a precedent for a woman -- a South Asian -- in the global entertainment industry, and beyond. Today, apart from being a successful actor, she has authored her biography "Unfinished" and is a formidable entrepreneur who is finding her feet in the worlds of online dating, haircare, food and more. A glimpse into a #CuriousCaseByRadhikaBhirani interview with Priyanka Chopra Jonas for BW Businessworld's India's Most Influential Women 2021 issue. Full interview: Unstoppable as you are in your 'Unfinished' journey from Bareilly to Hollywood, and now beyond in the world of business, tell us w...

Radhika Bhirani for Zenger News ~~ rbhirani@gmail.com Indian actors and narratives are slowly, but steadily bringing in a shade of diversity in Hollywood, an industry often deemed “too white”, through multiple projects. It won’t be wrong to say this change is picking up the pace by a margin if one goes by the spate of announcements made in the past few months. British-Indian actor Dev Patel, who became a breakout star with the epochal, Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire”, has roped in two Indian actors for his directorial debut “Monkey Man”. Both artists — Sobhita Dhulipala of “Made In Heaven” fame and Sikander Kher from the 2019 movie “The Zoya Factor” — are making their international foray with the India-set project. “It is a wonderful feeling to belong in a variety of worlds as though they were all your own,” Dhulipala told Zenger News. “It is joyous to collaborate with people from varied cultural backgrounds and take note of their unique aesthetics that are born from their life exp...